Of late I've been intrigued as to why Thabo Mbeki's annual speech is termed The State of the Nation Address. One almost expects a diagnosis on behalf of the President in terms of the position the country is in, and I suppose the Address does touch on that to some extent. Even more intriguing is what happens in the pulse of South Africans (and Americans for that matter in the lead up to Bush's address) as the Address looms.  read more »

One of the premises I held as I grew up was to believe that history, as reported to me in my History classes, was factual and accurate. It was an important premise, I believe, that helped me formulate my view of reality and aided me in making sense of what was happening in the world around me.

I happened to grow up in a time when the history of my country was being manipulated by the government. As a privileged white kid, my parents had to by history text books that told me endless stories of how the white people "discovered" South Africa, fought the dangerous, barbarian native black people and subsequently settled in "their" country.  read more »

I've never really given much attention to Madonna and the way she constructs her albums, songs and lyrics. But there is someone, Boyang Zhang , who has put some heavy thinking into how Madonna and her music is a representation of what is happening in our society.

***WARNING***

This article may disturb the academic bones in your body. If you don't understand what he's saying just fake it, while humming "I'm a material girl ...".

President Bush has a fascinating public narrative. Public opinion is divided over his place in current day politics and leadership. Markos Zúniga over at Daily Kos has noted how Bush's narrative has changed from one of being a Stalwart to now being Stubborn.

From Daily Kos:

The legend of George Bush, the narrative that underlaid his Presidential campaigns and set the tone for media stories, was that he was the resolute leader, who would not be shaken from his chosen path by minor setbacks and the yapping dogs (that would be us...) biting at his legs. That was his chief strength, from the 2000 campaign, through 9/11, through reelection in 2004.

That narrative is changing, and it's probably the most dangerous thing to happen to BushCo besides the election outcome. Now, instead of "stalwart", Bush is increasingly being portrayed in the media as "stubborn", which carries with it the connotation of "Refuses to acknowledge reality". Once the narrative changes from "bold leader" to "petulant child", he's really in trouble, because that will be the new lens through which the country will see him.

One of the forms of narrative that is capturing my attention, and weaving its way into my writing, is that of the public narrative. The public narrative is the evolving story of an individual that makes it into the public limelight for a particular reason. Current examples that come to mind are the local public narratives of Police Commissioner Selebi, Schabir Shaik, Jacob Zuma. There are also great examples of global narratives of George W. Bush and Tiger Woods, to name but a few.  read more »