Academic research
LitNet Akademies is LitNet's accredited academic journal. An extended English abstract is published with every article.
An appropriate legal framework for automated facial recognition in South Africa
2021-02-15"The South African legal framework gives too much discretion to individual operators, which increases the possibility of human rights violations. Secondly, it appears that ordinary CCTV footage can be used as a data source for AFR systems."
"Look at me": Nataniël’s self-fashioning
2021-02-01"As (apparently) genderless outsider, Nataniël’s artistic meta-text thus simultaneously mediates exceptional visibility and invisibility. Such self-fashioning, underlining contrasting aspects of his persona, empowers him to engage in a wide range of role play."
Groen van Prinsterer as the father of Christian democratic politics and his role in the consolidation of the Dutch constitutional democracy
2021-01-26"He thereby consolidated the Dutch constitutional democracy at a time when the system was still young and, given the revolutionary climate at the time, still vulnerable. By means of his narrative emphasis on principled political engagement within a constitutional democratic framework he laid the foundations of the Dutch political party system."
Mother-tongue education: mother’s milk for accounting students?
2021-01-18"Given the challenges of the terminology, we advise that universities should teach in English and the prevalent local language, but use the English terminology as a form of standardisation. In doing so, students will get the proverbial best of both worlds: the English terminology and the best possible understanding."
Afrikaans students’ perceptions and use of WhatsApp as platform for (language) learning: a new norm(al)?
2021-01-14"In conclusion, it is important to note that using WhatsApp in this way not only gave students an opportunity to interact with the lesson content, their peers and tutors, but also allowed them to create a community of inquiry, forging significant relationships that allowed them to learn from and with each other."
The off-screen and that which surpasses all understanding: Witnessing László Nemes’s Son of Saul (2015)
2020-12-11"What distinguishes Son of Saul from other mainstream Holocaust films, however, is how Nemes juxtaposes the film’s content with its form. Nemes opts for a modernist form of representation that rejects an omnipresent point of view and, instead, limits the film’s scope to Saul’s perspective."
The origin and development of Science of Religion: A genealogical investigation
2020-12-11"The purpose of this article is not to critique this biological approach to religion, but to draw attention to the questionable origin and influence of a key assumption at the basis of it, namely that religion can be defined only with reference to the supernatural and/or the extraordinary."
The portrayal of King Shaka in South African literature (ca. 1781–1828)
2020-12-07"Historians must interpret with care these contributions, which have informed the way Shaka has been portrayed as a child born out of wedlock who grew up under difficult circumstances but nonetheless became the king and founder of the Zulu nation in 1817."
Music and dance as text in three novels by Karel Schoeman: Na die geliefde land, ’n Ander land and Verliesfontein
2020-12-04"Reading the oeuvre of Schoeman’s novels from the perspective of music and dancing commands the reader’s admiration. The three extracts, studied from different musical, dancing and textual viewpoints, demonstrate his unique virtuosity."
Pre-service teaching students’ motivation to learn Afrikaans as L2 in a minority context: A case study
2020-12-03"Participants’ perceptions revealed that they prefer smaller language classes that would allow greater opportunity to get to know one another, which could lead to their feeling more comfortable speaking Afrikaans in the classroom."
Soft skills of teachers: a transcendental phenomenological study
2020-12-02"Examples of intrapersonal-behavioural skills provided by participants are that teachers are “congruent inside and outside school” and that they possess the “ability to evaluate the problems [that] learners have”. This intrapersonal skill becomes evident in how a teacher acts towards learners."
Eschatology and vita Christiana – a Biblical-spiritual reading of Luke 21:20–24
2020-11-30"Times of crisis always lead to re-evaluation and restructuring of priorities. Luke 21:24 interprets the catastrophe of 70 A.D. as the end of an era: the special position of Israel. But it is also the beginning of a new era: the time of the nations."
The flexibility of democratic elections in Africa: Manipulation in the interests of factional protection or people-oriented security?
2020-11-23"Indications are that autocratic states rely heavily on ethnic sentiments and ideological loyalties to consolidate a political ruling class."
Chrysostom’s understanding and evaluation of occupations and skills
2020-11-23"All the Church Fathers believed that it was expected of Christians to work hard. Chrysostom denounced those who were idle or unwilling to work. He then referred to Paul who was even willing to be a tentmaker, and he added that people who were craftsmen did not have to be ashamed of their craft."
Is the spectre of nuclear terrorism justified?
2020-11-18"Is the spectre of nuclear terrorism and, concurrently, the depiction of nuclear terrorism as an existential crisis by the media, government officials and nuclear experts, justified?"
Participatory decision-making in the establishment and promotion of a sustainable teaching and learning climate: the role of the school management team in South African primary schools
2020-11-17"To encourage the participation of post level 1 teachers in an expanded SMT and decision-making in a school-based management model would require that the roles and responsibilities of these teachers be developed and expanded. It was found that, to achieve effective change, a heightened focus on skills and abilities is important so as to make effective decisions as a team and not as individuals."
Reaping whirlwinds: Breath as a central metaphor in the development of a personal symbolism in the oeuvre of Willem Boshoff
2020-11-16"According to Boshoff this language is the Word, or rather words, spoken by God when the world was created and that as spoken words they are closely related to breath: 'Creation happened when the creator broke the silence with his sound [breath or spoken words].'"
Feelings, well-being and religion: An application of António Damásio’s conception of the role of feelings in well-being to the origin of religion
2020-11-09"In this article the ideas of António Damásio, one of the most influential neuroscientists of our age, about the role of feelings in well-being is developed as a theoretical framework for a speculative inquiry into the evolutionary pressures that would lead to the development of this ability."
In retrospect: Thoughts on the Old Testament (1979–2019)
2020-11-09"In the light of knowledge gained about how the Old Testament in particular originated, current theories on biblical inspiration can no longer be upheld. The concept of inspiration should rather be broadened to include the entire process of the forming of the canon of Scripture, the translation, and even the proclamation of the message of the Bible."
The role of partnerships in strengthening storytelling as a teaching strategy in a community
2020-11-06"Storytelling must be carried out in such a way that it can achieve a specific purpose, namely to fill the gap left by the school curriculum and strategic role players. To this end, the family, the community and the school act in partnership because the education and teaching of an individual require the cooperation and involvement of teachers, parents and the community."