Browsing by Author "Mazamisa, Welile L"

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    Land is heaven and earth: toward an ethics of land for South Africa: an exegetical study of Revelation 21:1-8
    (1994) Masondo, Sibusiso Theophilus; Mazamisa, Welile L
    This is an exegetical-hermeneutical study of Rev. 21:1- 8. The purpose of the present study is to develop an ethics of land for South Africa. Land is a hermeneutical key to understanding Rev. 21:1-8. One of the concerns in this study is that, although models have been proposed to deal with the land problem [be they legal, political, economic, agricultural], they have failed to deal with the ethical dimension. In this study a sociolinguistic methodology, particularly anti-language, has been adopted. Sociolingistics looks at connections between language and society. Language is a social and cultural phenomenon shaped by the values and norms of society and is used to construct social reality. Anti-language is the language generated by a group of people who do not see themselves as part of the mainstream social order. This language is anti-status quo. The African understanding of land is anti-language because it negates the mainstream Western understanding of land. To Africans land is not simply real estate but it has surplus value, and the surplus value is that which connects people to the land. It is this surplus value which many a model has failed to address. The idea of Newness in Revelation 21:1-8, is a classic case of the use of anti-language. It negates the present order of things. It shows a complete break with the past and the creation of the new reality which will serve the interests of the anti-social group. Despite the hardships experienced by the Johannine group, John is able to see the creation of a new order. This is the language of resistance to an oppressive system. There will be a qualitative difference between the Old and the New. God, in the new reality, is not transcendent or removed from the people, but He resides among His people. There is hope for the future.
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    Towards a feminist hermeneutic of Mark 7: 24-30
    (1988) Guttler, Michele; Mazamisa, Welile L
    Behind the overt sexism and racism exhibited in Mk7.24-30, lies a message of Liberation. This message of liberation is discerned through understanding the text as primarily reflecting its context of origin. This thesis argues that inherent in the bible is a message of liberation far all; and that this message has been lost through being written, redacted and interpreted, in a primarily androcentric environment. The task of this thesis is thus to discern whether this message of liberation is reflected in Mk7.24-30, and if so, to expose it and develop a feminist hermeneutic based on this understanding. Mark must be recognised as existing specifically as a text, and recognising its textual nature is crucial to understanding Mk7.24-30. This thesis holds that every text is shaped by the environment in which it in set and created, it is also shaped by the anticipated readers. In examining Mk7.24-3), the setting of the story is recognised as Palestine, and the audience for which it was written is seen to be the Roman Christians. Both Palestine and Rome are examined from a Historical Materialist perspective, in an attempt to discern ways in which the two environments contributed toward the shaping of the text. Once the text is recognised as primarily reflecting the dominant patriarchal ideology of the day, this thesis attempts to discern whether Mk7.24-30 contains a message of liberation. In reading the text from the perspective of the Syro-Phonoecian woman, and by examining the actions of both Jesus and the woman, we show how the text may indeed be liberatory to women, and all marginalised people, despite the harsh racist and sexist overtones.
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    Woman is a Parable
    (1996) Manona, Ncumisa Theodora; Mazamisa, Welile L
    This study is a contribution to the New Testament hermeneutics. It is a reinterpretation of the Parable of the "Ten Maidens" from an African Womanist Perspective consonant with an Epideictic Rhetoric approach. Through this perspective the social position of women in parables based on an androcentric world is explored. However, this position is challenged by a womanist perspective. Because it is challenged, the process of conscientization has begun and the struggle for the lack of self-worth follows. With African womanist epideictic perspective the intended effect is to respond to the needs of particular individuals or communities, and to persuade the readers to bring about a change of attitude and behaviour in their situation. This thesis opens with an exploration of the socio-historical experience of women revealed in literature of the first century Greco-Roman world; the Jewish world as well as ancient African world. A search in the literature betrays that women's experiences from different societies are generally based on a patriarchal ideology - that of women's supposed position in society. Women's view of the world was therefore along these patriarchal standards. An African womanist epideictic approach, therefore is employed as a liberative tool in dealing with this problem. The second chapter presents women's portrayal in parables, especially those found in African literature and in the synoptic gospels. Luke, in particular, deals with women in parables very positively bringing up the whole question of relationality, that is, practising good relations with one another. This is explored further in the concluding section. In African parables there are two sets of women behaviour. Firstly, there are those who are very much inclined with the socialization of the obedience and loyalty to males in an African cultural tradition. Secondly, there are also those who try to pull out of the patriarchal normative instructions. The behaviour of these two sets is similar to the behaviour of women found in Matthean parables. These behavioural tendencies become so significant for an African womanist that the "Parable of the Ten Maidens" in Matthew is further explored in chapter three. The concluding chapter includes an overview of the thesis and a discussion of the ethical considerations raised when one reads the parables, especially of the "Ten Maidens" from an African womanist epideictic perspective.