1,720,983 research outputs found
Sabhuku vharazipi’ (2012) and the cultural imperatives of community theatre
No full textThe aim of this paper is to explore the dramatic and thematic possibilities of a theatrical piece, Sabhuku Vharazipi, written and directed by Wellington Chindara of Ziya Cultural Theatre Club. Rendered in the Shona language, this theatrical piece is a social commentary that caricatures the corruptible tendencies of the local leadership in Zimbabwe. Through its dramatic text, Sabhuku Vharazipi comments on lust, greed, corruption, bribery, nepotism, gender struggles and the slow pace of community development in Zimbabwe. The theme of corruption that is very visible and prominent in this theatrical piece mirrors the depth of moral “rottenness†that is threatening to destroy Zimbabweans as a nation. As a meta-narrative, Sabhuku Vharazipi is saying that unless something positive is done to “nip corruption in the budâ€, Zimbabwe is unlikely to relive those golden years (early 1980s) when people used to be rewarded through merit or hardworking, not through corruption and laziness
HIV and AIDS: The violence of visuality and the visuality of violence
No full textThis article explores the expression of violence through verbal and visual representations of HIV and AIDS in the film ‘Musinsimuke’ which literary means ‘change’ (Markham, 2001). The epistemological understanding of violence embraces two important strands: the symbolic and the physical. These two facets are intertwined and feed into each other. The manifestations of violence are played out onto the body which is a contestable terrain that reflects possibilities for both hope and social abjectivity. Violence destabilizes the normal: it is the politics of representation in which people infected can be viewed as hopeless and useless, and destined for death. In its psychological dimension, violence is the unstable condition in which infected people may begin to undermine themselves instead of living positively with the disease by leading a healthy life. This article will argue that extreme cinematic representations of diseased bodies gloss over the realities and methods of preventing HIV and AIDS. We will also conceptualize the violence of representation as metaphorically depicting Zimbabwe as a contaminated nation, undergoing challenging times and in need of serious attention. Most donor-funded films have a tendency to hit out at the government by proffering macabre images of diseased bodies, creating stereotypes and reinforcing damaging myths about African sexuality. Such myths need to be challenged and deconstructed through visual images working as counter-cultures
Playing the politics of erasure: (post)colonial film images and cultural genocide in Zimbabwe
No full textCultural genocide is much maligned and often simply ignored. Yet it is an epistemic condition powerful enough to cause a physical elimination of a targeted “tribe†or group of people. The aim of this article is to highlight cultural genocide and explore how this type of genocide was used in images in European colonial films to destroy or “erase†some important cultural and traditional activities of black people in Africa.
It also critically examines how images in some postcolonial films, directed and produced by white film-makers, are used to perpetuate cultural genocide. Special reference will be made to the film Strike Back Zimbabwe (2010), produced by white film-makers, which insinuates the possible assassination of Zimbabwe’s president. This article will argue that it is critical to study the nature and manifestations of cultural genocide, which is often relegated to the margins, as a way of understanding the genesis of this condition
Genocide in Rwanda and Chile : from Manchuca (2004) to Sometimes in April (2005)
No full textThe aim of this article is to establish lessons that can benefit Africa from the Chilean experiences of violence and mass murder in the 1970s. The search for lessons is done through a comparative exploration of the Chilean film Machuca (2004) and the Rwandan film Sometimes in April (2005). The importance of Manchuca (2004) is that it traces and represents the epistemic conditions that can lead to violence and mass murder while Sometimes in April (2005) depicts the actual occurrences of mass murder which characterized the Rwandan genocide. The argument of this article is that although Chile experienced mass murder in the 1970s, Rwanda in particular, and Africa in general, failed to capitalize on the Chilean experiences in order to avoid a genocide which occurred in Rwanda in 1994. To support this argument, this article highlights points of intersection, commonalities and differences between the Latin American social conditions and Africa that can encourage violence and mass murder. The Chilean mass murder and the Rwandan genocide are important to research on so that the two countries provide lessons that can be used to denounce the use of violence to solve political issues in Third World countries
Censorship and economic film in Zimbabwe
No full textThis article explores the link between censorship and films on economic issues in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwean nationalist discourses monopolise the land as the only theme that authorities feel constitute an important subject for film or artistic expression. This is a form of censorship. However, the films also undermine this assumption that put salience on the land issue only. The films do so clandestinely, first circulating in circuits where censoring discourses of public officials are not able to patrol at all times and, second, through informed debates by academics and intellectuals discussing issues that range from democracy, corruption, land and women’s role
(Re)inventing african oral traditions and national heritage[s] through film images: the case of Keita! The heritage of the Griot [1995] and Kare kare zvako: Mother’s day [2004]
No full textThe aim of this article is to explore how African films such as Keita! The Heritage of the Griot and Kare Kare Zvako: Mother’s Day reinvent oral traditions on-screen, so that the traditions are revitalised and given new life in a contemporary world where visual and literary narratives have tended to dominate the collection and dissemination of information. The ontological and cosmological dimensions of African oral traditions provide the cultural humus that continues to feed the narrative structures of most African films. It is argued that the films’ conscious refusal to be totally submerged in European modernism or their capacity to merge some traditional aspects with modern values is what constructs the multiple subjectivities that most African filmmakers strive to bring out. By using oral narrative structures embedded in songs, storytelling, myths,
legends, poems, riddles, anecdotes and proverbs, the selected African films recreate traditions and heritage; they help to preserve African values that face a Western onslaught, promoted through European languages. Oral narratives carry a freight of cultural meanings infused in different modes of expression, while articulating the philosophies and beliefs of African people. It is important to recognise and [re]discover the critical role played by oral narratives in order to understand the epistemologies and ontologies that inform the construction of African films. A study of this nature is critical in that it builds on the existing indigenous knowledge systems embedded in orature (oral literature) that remain threatened by European cultural imperialism, which is promoted through the Hollywood film paradigm
Singing peace and forgiveness: The case of Jah Prayzah, Sulumani Chimbetu, Chiwoniso Maraire and Edith Weutonga
No full textThe album Moyo Munyoro (2013) is a product of a collaborative effort in which four Zimbabwean musicians, Jah Prayzah, Sulumani Chimbetu, Edith Weutonga and the late Chioniso Maraire combined skill and commitment to sing about peace, forgiveness and development in Zimbabwe. The July 31st elections of 2013 have come and gone. Yet before the elections, there was a general anxiety and fear among Zimbabweans that the July 31st elections would simply replay the template of political violence that marred the 2008 harmonised presidential elections. The aim of this article is to explore Moyo Munyoro (2013) in order to find how, through its varied songs, the album has helped to spread the “gospel†on peace, forgiveness and development among Zimbabweans. This was mainly a response to the commitment and maturity demonstrated by both ZANU PF and MDC politicians who preached about peace during most of their political campaigns as the country moved towards 2013 general elections. This article is going to argue that it is important for musicians to echo and question politicians’ discourses on matters regarding peace building in Zimbabwe, and yet one can get the impression that Zimbabwean musicians rarely sing about the need for peace to prevail unless that discourse is started and popularized by politicians. The idea of “automatically†and “uncritically†responding to meta narratives on peace and forgiveness cascading from government officials creates aporia
between the discourses that tap from “top-down†or “elitist†approaches to peace building against those discourses that support “grass-roots and participatory†methodologies that stress the idea that peace building and forgiveness should start with members of the community bearing the scars and memories of political violence. This demonstrates that Zimbabwean musicians are part of the “grass-roots†communities who should not wait for violence to occur so that they sing about peace or play second fiddle to politicians in condemning acts of political violence
An encounter with the enigma: Some philosophical reflections on Hosiah Chipanga’s music
No full texthttp://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/18125980.2015.1031455,Hosiah Chipanga is dubbed one of the most controversial musicians to have emerged in post-independent Zimbabwe. His music strongly condemns acts of corruption, avariciousness, bribery, nepotism and political power struggles that threaten to tear apart the moral fibre of the Zimbabwean society. Through the songs “Gushungoâ€, “Dafi†and “Vatsigiri vanguâ€, Chipanga attempts to salvage truth and sanity out of the “debris†of moral laxity that makes some Zimbabweans fail to go beyond their own limitations. This epistemic search for
the “truth†makes Chipanga’s music generate new levels of social, economic and political consciousness at a time when all hope on redeeming Zimbabwe from possible self-destruction seemed to have been lost. Through what one can call “painful political truth†and “liberation theologyâ€, Chipanga calls forth for Zimbabweans to reflect upon their lives and desist from the habit of “blame shifting†by confronting the problems that afflict them
Theorising Mandela
No full textNelson Mandela can be said to be the most celebrated leader so far to have emerged from the African continent. He has been variously written about in literary works and history books, differently presented in [auto] biographies and the mainstream media [newspapers and television], fictionalized and actualised in film, immortalised through art work such as painting and sculpture. In liberal-driven South African and Western media, Mandela is/was presented as a “messiah”, a superhuman character, a humanist, a philanthropist, and a persona who works as an ideal model for what should constitute modern African political leadership. Yet in some academic circles Mandela is viewed as “a terrorist-turned-politician” (Willcock 2013: 1), a political and ideological “construct” of the Western world; a framed “dramatis persona” by the Western media to project and deepen the colonialist agenda in Africa. This article seeks to theorise Mandela and in the process draw some justifications to the worthiness or the shallowness of labels attributed to Mandela as a symbolic figure that embodied the values of “Africanness” and “ubuntuism” or as an “African Cyborg” that was created and controlled by the Western world. The article also attempts to locate and expose to the surface the different layers of present day South African challenges ‒ which can be attributed to the legacy left by Mandela, but are often concealed by the ruling government under the carpet of “Rainbow Nation” and a blind celebration of “National reconciliation”.
Opsomming
Nelson Mandela kan beskryf word as die beroemdste leier wat die Afrika-kontinent nóg opgelewer het. Daar is wyd oor hom geskryf in literêre werke en geskiedenis-boeke, en hy word verskillend uitgebeeld in (outo-) biografieë en die hoofstroommedia (koerante en die televisie), fiktief gemaak en verwerklik in films, onsterflik gemaak deur kunswerke soos skilderye en beeldhouwerke. In liberaalgedrewe Suid-Afrikaanse en Westerse media is/was Mandela uitgebeeld as ʼn “messias”, ʼn bomenslike karakter, ʼn humanis, ʼn filantroop, en ʼn persona wat werk as ʼn ideale model vir wat moderne politieke leierskap in Afrika behoort te wees. Tog word Mandela in sommige akademiese sirkels beskou as “ʼn terroris wat ʼn politikus geword het” (Willcock 2013: 1), ʼn politieke en ideologiese “idee” van die Westerse wêreld; ʼn dramatis persona wat deur die Westerse media aangewend is om die kolonialistiese agenda in Afrika te projekteer en te verdiep. Hierdie artikel het ten doel om Mandela te teoretiseer en in die proses ʼn mate van regverdiging te gee vir die verdienstelikheid of vlakheid van etikette wat aan Mandela as ʼn simboliese figuur toegeken is – wat die waardes van “Afrika uitleef en ubuntu uitleef” vergestalt; of as ʼn “Afrika-kuborg” wat deur die Westerse wêreld geskep en beheer is. Die artikel poog ook om die verskillende lae van hedendaagse uitdagings in Suid-Afrika, te vind en na die oppervlak te bring – uitdagings wat toegeskryf kan word aan Mandela se nalatenskap, maar wat dikwels verskans word deur die regering aan bewind, onder die mat van “reënboognasie” en ʼn blinde viering van “nasionale versoening”.
Beacons of hope : youths and their contribution to the development of the theatre industry in Zimbabwe
No full textSince independence (attained in 1980), the theatre industry in Zimbabwe has experienced some tremendous changes due to the involvement of youths who have the capacity to experiment with different genres, such as theatre in the park, street theatre, forum theatre, proscenium theatre and community theatre. All these forms of theatre continue to explore different themes and perspectives that affect Zimbabwean youths in both positive and negative ways. This article explores factors that affect the productive life of theatrical productions in Zimbabwe paying particular attention to the extent to which youths were/are involved in contributing to the growth of the theatre industry in Zimbabwe. In this endeavour, the article will focus on education and training aspects, networking, collaborations, funding, research, theatre impact and advocacy. A better understanding of how the above-mentioned factors affect the developmental skills of youths and the growth of Zimbabwean theatre industry will create awareness among youths, who should make informed decisions if they are to survive 'cut-throat' competition in Zimbabwe's theatre industry
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