Terms of engaging and project-ing Africa (ns): an ethnographic encounter with African studies through Curate Africa

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dc.contributor.advisorHamilton, Carolynen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorShoro, Kathleho Kanoen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2014-09-02T09:44:54Z
dc.date.available2014-09-02T09:44:54Z
dc.date.issued2013en_ZA
dc.description.abstractIn May 2012 Curate Africa - an ongoing project centered on photography and curation in Africa - was pre-launched at the University of Cape Town (UCT) within the University's Africa Month Celebrations. The project aimed- conceptually and visually - to re-imagine, re-image and re-envision Africa from within Africa and through the lenses of Africans. While this research began as an examination of Curate Africa, the project became a heuristic device through which I began exploring how UCT, on a day-to-day basis, negotiated and continues to negotiate its African identity. In this respect, this dissertation illustrates how Curate Africa and its project leaders - who are also academics within the University - problematised the study and representation of Africa through the intentions of their project, through their individual scholarly pursuits - where they attempt to reimagine the study of Africa(ns) and through the tight scholarly networks that they formed through their scholarly inclinations. Furthermore, this dissertation offers an historical account of the African Studies at UCT as well as an ethnographic account of how the developments and debates around the formation of the "New School" (2012) and around UCT's Afropolitan ambition unfolded within the University and affected those operating in the departments concerned. The principle argument within this dissertation is that projects, however flexible and decolonial in intention, cannot escape being projections of the project leaders' imaginings. Furthermore, projections and ideas of Africa (Mudimbe, 1994) are shaped by perceiving Africa from particular vantage points and within particular contexts laden with histories and complex presents. Perceptions of what "Africa" means and in the case of this research what postcolonial African Studies means continue to be debated from different vantage points within UCT. By and large, this ethnography therefore articulates the scale and challenges of knowledge production centred on the continent in general but, more specifically, the complexities embedded in knowledge production that seeks to be decolonial in its very nature.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationShoro, K. K. (2013). <i>Terms of engaging and project-ing Africa (ns): an ethnographic encounter with African studies through Curate Africa</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Social Anthropology. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6794en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationShoro, Kathleho Kano. <i>"Terms of engaging and project-ing Africa (ns): an ethnographic encounter with African studies through Curate Africa."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Social Anthropology, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6794en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationShoro, K. 2013. Terms of engaging and project-ing Africa (ns): an ethnographic encounter with African studies through Curate Africa. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Shoro, Kathleho Kano AB - In May 2012 Curate Africa - an ongoing project centered on photography and curation in Africa - was pre-launched at the University of Cape Town (UCT) within the University's Africa Month Celebrations. The project aimed- conceptually and visually - to re-imagine, re-image and re-envision Africa from within Africa and through the lenses of Africans. While this research began as an examination of Curate Africa, the project became a heuristic device through which I began exploring how UCT, on a day-to-day basis, negotiated and continues to negotiate its African identity. In this respect, this dissertation illustrates how Curate Africa and its project leaders - who are also academics within the University - problematised the study and representation of Africa through the intentions of their project, through their individual scholarly pursuits - where they attempt to reimagine the study of Africa(ns) and through the tight scholarly networks that they formed through their scholarly inclinations. Furthermore, this dissertation offers an historical account of the African Studies at UCT as well as an ethnographic account of how the developments and debates around the formation of the "New School" (2012) and around UCT's Afropolitan ambition unfolded within the University and affected those operating in the departments concerned. The principle argument within this dissertation is that projects, however flexible and decolonial in intention, cannot escape being projections of the project leaders' imaginings. Furthermore, projections and ideas of Africa (Mudimbe, 1994) are shaped by perceiving Africa from particular vantage points and within particular contexts laden with histories and complex presents. Perceptions of what "Africa" means and in the case of this research what postcolonial African Studies means continue to be debated from different vantage points within UCT. By and large, this ethnography therefore articulates the scale and challenges of knowledge production centred on the continent in general but, more specifically, the complexities embedded in knowledge production that seeks to be decolonial in its very nature. DA - 2013 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2013 T1 - Terms of engaging and project-ing Africa (ns): an ethnographic encounter with African studies through Curate Africa TI - Terms of engaging and project-ing Africa (ns): an ethnographic encounter with African studies through Curate Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6794 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/6794
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationShoro KK. Terms of engaging and project-ing Africa (ns): an ethnographic encounter with African studies through Curate Africa. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Social Anthropology, 2013 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/6794en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentSocial Anthropologyen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.titleTerms of engaging and project-ing Africa (ns): an ethnographic encounter with African studies through Curate Africaen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMSocScen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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