Title page for ETD etd-08052010-161114
Grobler, Marelize Email
Towards a legal history of white women in the Transvaal, 1877-1899
Prof K L Harris
Prof L Kriel
gender legal resources
This dissertation creates a background for studying white women in the Transvaal between 1877 and 1899. Legal documents are used as primary sources, as they are invaluable for researching women�s history, in that they provide a new perspective. When writing women�s history, it must be grounded in theory, as, especially when it comes to history in court cases, concepts like �history as performance� and �occasionalism� are significant. Of course, an eye must also firmly be held on concepts such as �gender� and �deconstruction�, since it dictates how one should approach one�s sources. A history of the Transvaal is necessary, for when studying the court cases one must be able to position the women within a framework of their lives, and what type of living they made. Therefore, part of the dissertation is a political, but also social and economic, history of the Transvaal, written with specifically white women in mind. Sources for the socio-economic historical framework include literary accounts and secondary works on the period. The framework for the court cases further includes creating a legal stage on which to position women, which is accomplished by using legal sources like law reports, but also laws and resolutions. It is only once a detailed framework has been created that one can scrutinise court cases for issues surrounding white Transvaal women�s legal position, and agency.
AFRIKAANS : Hierdie verhandeling skep die agtergrond vir �n studie van wit vroue in Transvaal tussen 1877 en 1899. Regsdokumente word as prim�re bronne gebruik, aangesien dit van onskatbare waarde is in die ondersoek van vrouegeskiedenis, deurdat dit �n nuwe perspektief bied. Die skryf van vrouegeskiedenis moet in teorie gegrond wees, aangesien konsepte soos �history as a performance� en �occasionalism� belangrik is, veral wanneer dit kom by geskiedenis in hofsake. �n Ferm blik moet natuurlik ook gehou word op konsepte soos �gender� en �dekonstruksie� aangesien dit bepaal hoe die bronne benader moet word. �n Geskiedenis van Transvaal is nodig, want dit moet moontlik wees om vroue te posisioneeer binne die raamwerk van hulle lewens en die tipe bestaan wat hulle gevoer het. �n Gedeelte van die verhandeling behels derhalwe �n politieke, maar ook �n sosiale en ekonomiese geskiedenis van Transvaal, geskryf spesifiek met wit vroue in gedagte. Bronne vir die sosio-ekonomiese historiese raamwerk sluit verder in die skep van �n regsverhoog waarop die vroue geposisioneer kan word. Dit word daargestel deur gebruik te maak van regsbronne soos wetsverslae, asook wette en besluite. Eers wanneer so �n uitvoerige raamwerk gekonstrueer is, kan die hofsake bestudeer word vir kwessies rondom wit Transvaalse vroue se regsposisie, en hulle betrokkenheid by hulle eie agenda.
Grobler, M 2009, Towards a legal history of white women in the Transvaal, 1877-1899, MHCS dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-08052010-161114/ >