Preface

Phil van Schalkwyk holds a PhD in Linguistics and Literary Theory from NWU, South Africa. He is an NRF-rated professor in the School of Languages at NWU, where he lectures on Afrikaans and Dutch literature. His previous experience includes almost five years teaching South African Studies at the Institute of English Philology, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland (2001–2006). Mainly active in the field of comparative literature, he focuses on relationality and rhetorical constructions in Afrikaans, South African and Dutch prose and poetry. Van Schalkwyk has presented research papers at conferences in South Africa, the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland and the USA and published in the following peer-reviewed journals: Dutch Crossing, Konteksty Kultury, Critical Arts, Journal of Humanities, Stilet, Literator, Tydskrif vir Nederlands en Afrikaans and South African Journal of Linguistics. His book chapters include contributions to: Anna M. Louw: Fassinerende, veelkantige skrywer (South African Academy for Arts and Sciences, 2021); Verbintenis en venster: Die Nederlandstalige letterkunde van aanvang tot hede (Van Schaik Publishers, 2019); Perspektief en profiel: ’n Afrikaanse literatuurgeskiedenis (Van Schaik Publishers, 2015); Crossing Borders, Dissolving Boundaries (Brill, 2013); Shifting the Compass: Pluricontinental Connections in Dutch Colonial and Postcolonial Literature (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013), and Beyond the Threshold: Explorations of Liminality in Literature (Peter Lang, 2007). Van Schalkwyk was awarded the 2019 South African Academy’s Esther Greeff Prize for his article on the novel Wolf, wolf in the context of Eben Venter’s oeuvre, published in the Journal of Humanities in 2017. He has been co-editor-in-chief of the accredited journal Literator since 2017. In June 2021, he was appointed research director of the Languages and Literature in the South African Context research unit at NWU.

Abiodun Salawu is a professor of journalism, communication and media studies and the director of the Indigenous Language Media in Africa (ILMA) research entity at NWU, South Africa. He has lectured and researched journalism, media and communication for 30 years in Nigeria and South Africa. Before his academic career, he practised journalism in several print media organisations in Nigeria. Salawu has published many scholarly publications in academic journals and books, edited and co-edited eleven books and authored one. He regularly presents research papers at local and international conferences. Salawu has also attended fellowships as a visiting researcher at the University of Oxford, UK (Oppenheimer Fund Academic Exchange); the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (CODESRIA/ Carnegie African Diaspora Academic Support to African Universities); Lincoln University, UK (IRG/UK – SA Researcher Links Grants Programme); Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia; and the University of Goroka, Papua New Guinea. He has also won several research grants. He is a co-vice chair of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) journalism section and a member of the editorial/advisory boards of many journals. He was involved in founding the International Association for Minority Language Media Research. He is an NRF C1-rated researcher and a member of CODESRIA’s College of Senior Academic Mentors. He is also a distinguished professor in the School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, Woxsen University, Hyderabad, India.

Gustav Butler started his academic career at Vista University in Bloemfontein, South Africa. After that, he was employed at Technikon Northern Gauteng (now known as Tshwane University of Technology) and the University of Pretoria, both located in Pretoria, South Africa, lecturing on academic language ability and literacy. He completed his PhD in 2007 with a focus on developing the academic writing ability of postgraduate students. Butler joined NWU as senior lecturer and subject chair of the Subject Group: Academic Literacy at the Vanderbijlpark campus in 2009 and served as the director of the School of Languages at the Vanderbijlpark campus from 2015 to 2018. He is the director of the Understanding and Processing Language in Complex Settings (UPSET) research entity affiliated with North-West University’s School of Languages. His research falls within the Applied Language Studies sub-programme, one of three sub-programmes within UPSET. Butler’s primary research interests include the design of academic literacy interventions and determining the impact of such interventions on student success. His research further focuses on the development of academic writing, explicitly referring to the writing difficulties experienced by postgraduate writers. He is also a permanent staff member of the School of Languages in the Subject Group: Academic Literacy, which focuses on providing support to first-year students towards developing the specific academic literacy abilities required for successful study at the tertiary level of education.

Gilbert Motsaathebe is a full professor at NWU affiliated with the Indigenous Language Media in Africa (ILMA) research entity. He obtained his PhD in Film and Media Studies from the University of the Witwatersrand. He was, until recently, the editor-in-chief of Communicare – Journal for Communication Studies in Africa. Motsaathebe previously lectured at the University of Johannesburg (Johannesburg) and the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) (Cape Town) in South Africa, the United Arab Emirates University (Al Ain, United Arab Emirates), and several higher education institutions (HEIs) in Nagasaki, Japan, before working in the Media Relations Directorate in the Office of the Premier of the North West province of South Africa. He started his career at Bop Television, which later merged with the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), where he was a news producer and sub-editor for the station’s primetime news before being recruited by e-TV in 1999. After a time at e-TV, Motsaathebe left for the United Kingdom on a two-year working holiday visa, and upon returning to South Africa, he joined CPUT, where he worked for ten years as a senior lecturer. He serves on the Panel of Judges for South Africa’s premier competition for journalists: the Vodacom Journalist of the Year (VJOY). He is an NRF-rated researcher with numerous peer-reviewed articles published in acclaimed journals. Motsaathebe has published eight books with publishers such as Palgrave Macmillan, Rowman & Littlefield/Lexington Books and Routledge.