The Humanities Awards 2020: Book, Creative Collection and Digital Contribution has attracted more than 100 entries from creatives across the country
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The call for submissions for the 2020
Humanities and Social Sciences Awards: Book, Creative Collection and Digital
Contribution (HSS Awards) has attracted more than 100 entries from creatives across
the country within the humanities and social sciences (HSS) disciplines.
The fifth installation of the annual HSS
Awards, which will take place on March 12 this year at Constitution Hill in
Johannesburg, will honour scholarly works based on their social relevance and
contribution to the humanities and social sciences.
The awards categories include fiction
(novel, as well as poetry and short stories), non-fiction (monograph, edited
volume); creative collections (musical compositions/arrangements, public
performances, visual arts), as well as digital humanities, visualisations and
infographics. This year’s qualifying entries
feature 67 book entries and 18 creative collections and digital
contributions.
As the host of the awards, the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) is pleased with the expansive contribution of submissions. The chief executive of the NIHSS, Professor Sarah Mosoetsa, expressed her appreciation of the “focus by the [entrees] to motivate their work”; she notes that the submissions indicated that “[the creatives] take their work and their contribution to the humanities seriously”.
Professor Sarah Mosoetsa, NIHSS chief executive
“We are pleased to note the phenomenal
growth and interest in the HSS Awards over the years as we celebrate the fifth
golden year of the awards and the NIHSS,” she said.
A
non-fiction collection that challenges the status quo of higher education
institutions
Mosoetsa noted a gradual increase in the
biographical submissions for the awards over the past two years, and this
upsurge has started a welcome conversation among the judges on biographies as
one of the subcategories. “This development sees growing interest in
biographies, proving that it is always interesting to read about people who
have made an impact on our history, and that South Africans should read this
genre to learn more about what it took to have the democracy that we all enjoy
today.”
This year’s literature in the non-fiction
category was hailed for challenging the status quo of higher education
institutions in terms of the demographic representation, in addition to such
spaces being perceived as the only primary sources of knowledge and research
production. Decolonisation of knowledge and art and the intersectional nature
of black and African lived experiences continue as prevailing themes.
Acts
of Transgression – Contemporary Live Art in South Africa by Jay Pather and Catherine Boulle (Wits University Press) captures
the feelings and complexities of democratic South African society and shifts
that the country has experienced with the passage of time. The judges noted the
book’s demonstration of live art as more than just experiential, rather
highlighting art as a tool and methodology of furthering social justice.
Among those entries that depict the lived
experiences of Africans, Black Academic
Voices – the South African Experience, by Grace Khunou, Hugo Canham,
Katijah Khoza-Shangase and Edith Dinong Phaswana (HSRC Press) is hailed for its
contribution to the HSS. It is a biographical rendition of black academic experiences
in South African institutions that focuses on the experiences of black women in
previously white institutions. Its notable theme of racialised and gendered
bias and discrimination warns of possible dire consequences for academia.
Sumaya Laher, Angelo Fynn and Sherianne
Kramer’s edition of Transforming Research
Methods in the Social Sciences (Wits University Press) is noted for its
identification of improving access to research resources as a necessity and as
a means of capacitating research in the Global South.
Plaatje:
A Life of Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje (1876 –1932)
(Jacana Media) by Brian Willan and A
political biography of Selby Msimang – Principle and Pragmatism in the
Liberation Struggle (HSRC Press) describe the lives of two important men in
the history of South Africa.
A
Political Biography of Selby Msimang by Sibongiseni
Mkhize captures new knowledge and decolonises history from Msimang’s
perspective. The biography sheds new light by describing the contradictions of
the politics and personal life of a man who witnessed more than 70 years of the
country’s history and had an influence on the period himself. Willan’s rendition of Plaatje’s life is an
apt reflection of the socio-political times that Plaatje lived through.
Relating the political hero’s life as more than just a set of occupational and
personal roles, it also encompasses Plaatje’s interpretation of Shakespeare’s
work into Setswana and is a fitting synthesis of new academic developments
based upon Plaatje’s life.
Wits University Press’s Writing the Ancestral River: A Biography of
the Kowie (Jacklyn Cock), Dance of
the Dung Beetles: their Role in our Changing World (Marcus Bryne and Helen
Lunn), and Civilising Grass: The Art of
the Lawn on the South African Highveld (Jonathan Cane) respectively focus
on the Kowie River, dung beetles and lawns. They weave together the
intersectional landscapes of history, literature, ecology and more in
intriguing and insightful ways.
A
fictional range of identity, ethics, social issues and poetry
This year’s collection of fiction covers
topics that include identity, ethics, social issues and poetry.
Called
to Song (Kwela) is Kharnita Mohamed’s fictional depiction
that is based on real-life experiences on the Western Cape’s Cape Flats. A
poetic and lyrical rendition of the lifestyle and experiences of coloured Muslims
in apartheid South Africa, the book explores relevant themes such as gender,
masculinity, culture and identity that are currently in discussion at both high
schools and tertiary institutions.
Fiona Snyckers’ Lacuna (Pan Macmillan SA) takes to task an existing novel (Disgrace by JM Coetzee), whose themes
are established from a gang-rape incident.
Here the author creatively challenges the writer of Disgrace as well as its readers to answer the question of who can
tell whose story and make a profit from it.
A Tree for the Birds by Vernon
Head (Jacana Media) is described as “a rare literary work [whose] story is a
reading adventure dipping into global environmental issues”. The novel’s intricately
and poetic style sheds light on communities impacted by capitalism and the plundering
of African countries.
The
History of Intimacy by Gabeba Baderoon (Kwela) is
an illustration of South Africa’s many personalities, histories, present conflicts
and future anxieties, all beautifully layered in a smorgasbord of poetic
reflections.
Inspiring
creative and digital collections, contributing to ongoing discourse on freedom
This year’s creative collections and
digital contributions category comprises an impressive collection. Liminal
– Reza Khota is a guitar-led instrumental by an ensemble that features a
saxophone, bass, and drums and is hailed as a musical contribution “that will
stand the test of time”. Mantombi Matotiyana’s Songs of Greeting, Healing and Heritage reflects multi-disciplinary
engagement with the international icon’s work. There’s No Disappointment in Heaven by Kgomotso Moshugi is a
composition of American Protestant “historical repertoire” popularised in South
Africa during the 20th century.
Among the interesting collection there
are live performances such as The
Institute for Creative Arts (ICA) Live Art Festival 2018 by Jay Pather, Yet to be Determined by Gavin Krastin,
and The Tree Song by Kristina Helena
Johnstone. Nduka Mntambo’s Asymmetries
Exhibition is a relevant, topical, thought-provoking stance on African urbanity.
Multiplicity is echoed in multiple voices and the imagery of the city from
African perspectives, contributing to an on-going discourse on freedom and how
it looks from an African perspective. Speaking
Through Walls by Sethembile Msezane addresses contemporary issues such as
land reform and her position as a black woman. This work reads as a document of
current issues without presuming the outcomes, but acknowledging the necessity
of where we currently are within the lens of social, historical, traditional
and contemporary ideas.
The
Chronicles of Sketch and Etha, the Oxford Digital Thematic Atlas series,
and Azimutha: An Experiment of Virtual
Reality for the Fashion Film Genre
are creative digital works produced by Gregory Koole, Elaine Williams, and
Nirma Dolly Madhoo respectively. The Chronicles
of Sketch and Etha is garnering acclaim as a well written novel with great
illustrations, and Oxford’s digital atlas is commended for its contribution to
the facilitation of education.
Once again, the Humanities and Social Sciences Awards 2020 live up to the expectation of bringing together a cluster of impactful and insightful literary and creative works that are truly worthy of recognition. — Anele Ngcoya
HSS Awards 2020 shortlist
Books: Non-Fiction
A Political Biography of Selby Msimang, Principle and Acts of Transgression by Sibonginesi Mkhize, HSRC Press
Black Academic Voices – The South African Experience by Grace Khunou, Hugo Canham, Katijah Khoza-Shangse and Edith Dinong Phaswana, HSRC Press
Contemporary Live Art in South Africa, Pragmatism in the Liberation Struggle by Jay Pather and Catherine Boulle, Wits University Press
Civilizing Grass: The Art of the Lawn on the South African Highveld by Jonathan Cane, Wits University Press
Dance of the Dung Beetles: Their Role in the Changing World by Marcus Byrne and Helen Lunn, Wits University Press
Sol Plaatjie: A Life of Solomon Tshekisho Plaatjie 1876-1932 by Brian Willan, Jacana Media
Transforming Research Methods in the Social Sciences: Case Studies from South Africa by Sumaya Laher, Angelo Fynn and Sherianne Kramer, Wits University Press
Writing the Ancestral River: A Biography of the Kowie by Jaclyn Cock, Wits University Press
Books: Fiction
A Tree for the Birds by Vernon Head, Jacana Media
Called to Song by Kharnita Mohamed, Kwela
Lacuna by Fiona Snyckers, Pan Macmillan SA
The History of Intimacy by Gabeda Baderoon, Kwela
Creative Collections & Digital Contributions
Asymmetries Exhibition by Nduka Mntambo
Azimutha: An Experiment of Virtual Reality for the Fashion Film Genre by Nirma Dolly Madhoo
Institute for Creative Arts (ICA) Live Arts Festival by Jay Pather
Liminal by Rheza Khota
Songs of Greeting, Healing and Heritage by Mantombi Matotiyana
Oxford Digital Thematic Atlas series by Elaine Williams
There’s no Disappointment in Heaven by Kgomotso Moshugi
The Tree Song by Kristina Helena
The Chronicles of Sketch and Etha by Gregory Koole
Speaking Through Walls by Sethembile Msezane
Yet to be Determined by Gavin Krastin
For more information, write to [email protected] or visit nihss.ac.za