33 research outputs found
Utopian places/spaces in selected Bongani Sibanda's short stories
No full textThe dire socio-political and economic landscape in Zimbabwe has forced many Zimbabweans, young and old, to relocate to various and different diasporic locations. When these diaspora-based Zimbabweans “visit” or literarly represent their rural villages, disparate spatial metaphors emerge. Writing from Johannesburg, Bongani Sibanda ambivalently locates and dislocates his characters from the literary places and space he creates for them. Drawing on various utopian spatial theoretical perspectives, this article examines the significance of Sibanda’s creative overlay of his spatial ambivalence to his rural Matabeleland home on the relationship(s) his characters have with their spaces, creating a utopian landscape. This article argues that the characters’ (and by extension Sibanda’s) dislocation and breaking away from the traditional life and places that he creates for them, instigate a dystopian longing for a new life, one that is a conglomeration of history and time. Using three short stories by Sibanda (Grace, The Service, and Death by a Cell Phone), this article explores this dislocation, metaphorical and real, highlighting the plight of young people from Matabeleland who are either caught up in this utopian world or long to escape to a dystopian modern world.https://www.metacriticjournal.comam2020Dram
Gukurahundi as a Cultural Event: Cultural Politics and the Culture of Violence in Matabeleland
No full textThe desire of Gukurahundi survivors for cultural platforms that enable them to discuss, mourn, and commemorate their loved ones is now very loud in Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland and Midlands provinces. While community-based organisations have provided platforms for Gukurahundi survivors, the children of survivors, and academics to interface and interact, the government’s gatekeeping processes remain a challenge for the community-wide memorialisation and documentation of the genocide. In this conceptual paper, I frame Gukurahundi as a meteorological event within a general Zimbabwean cultural context, foregrounding the desecration of the Ndebele people’s cultural practices, rituals, and ceremonies. Drawing from the documented legacies of this cultural violence within Matabeleland and south-western parts of the Midlands, through videos and the literature, I argue that this cultural violence resulted in the silencing of the remembrance of Gukurahundi, which remains critical to the resolution of the stand-off between the ZANU-PF government and the communities. In this paper, I further argue that this ecological symbolism provided a justification and legitimated direct brutal violence on presumed ZAPU and ex-ZPRA veterans who were largely Ndebele-speaking or of ethnic descent. Finally, I argue that it is not that the absence of alternative narratives but the sociopolitical and cultural environment that constrains these from being available and implemented
British Party Politics and Foreign Policy: The Case of Zimbabwe
No full textThe basic tenets of International Relations have become subject to uncertainty and debate. The academic consensus that dominated the field has cracked with further questions arising on the conventional assumptions’ claim to universality. Post-modernist thinkers, who have challenged its foundation on structured thinking, affirm that normalising discourses within traditional foreign policy position restricts academic advancement in the area. They challenge the notion that geopolitics and national politics are mutually exclusive. They argue for an interpretive approach of IR, which could show that some principles and understanding that shape domestic policymaking may affect foreign policy positions. Their interpretation of politics, including IR, is that, its fundamentals require an interpretive review of actions and their consequences. These reveal the socio-political and environmental influences that help shape policy, which traditional approaches to foreign relations fail to reveal. In over a century, the political situation in Rhodesia and Zimbabwe tilted towards the ideological position of the party in Britain. A debate about the nature of government, human rights, economics and Britain’s role in these, has characterised the foreign policy debate between the two states. The definition of these concepts has depended on the party running Downing Street. The emphasis on similar issues in the 1970s and 1980s differed to that of the late 1990s, indicating divergent interpretations of national interests, which most scholars regard as causal of the apolitical nature of IR. The high levels of public interest Rhodesian/Zimbabwean interests pushed foreign policy into the ideological field of domestic politics. This challenges the IR premises established by convention IR approaches. Thus, using the case study it is clear that dominated views of foreign relations are unable to verify the whole picture of what transpires in a political field
'The politics of design' in community theatre circles : a comparative analysis of the creative design processes employed by Intuba Arts Development in Tears of Death (2013) and Bambelela Arts Ensemble in Just Because (1999; 2013)
No full textMaster of Arts in Drama and Performance Studies.This dissertation positions the ‘politics of design’ at the centre of scenographic practice within the community theatre circles. The dissertation argues that the understanding of the ‘politics of design’ enables community theatre groups to develop designs that serve the specific needs and objectives of their productions. This dissertation hypothesizes that the practice of scenography by community theatre groups can be enhanced and enriched through mastering the politics of design. Mastering the politics of design enables theatre practitioners to understand design theory, apply it in practice and use the design terminology correctly.
The dissertation has two components: the creative project and the theoretical reflex paper. The creative project is made up of two productions: Tears of Death (2013) by Intuba Arts Development and Just Because (1999; 2013) by Bambelela Arts Ensemble. The main performance of Tears of Death was at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown from the 27th of June and 7th of July 2013 while that of Just Because by Bambelela Arts Ensemble was presented on 20th and 22nd of August 2013 in Bulawayo. The reflection paper will focus on documenting and comparatively analysing the design processes, approaches, influences and the “politics of design” (Quesenbury 2004: 2) at play within the community theatre group case studies
Language use in postcolonial Zimbabwean alternative theatre performance
No full textThis paper deploys the sociolinguistic concepts of indexicality and language ideologies to examine Amakhosi Theatre Productions and Rooftop Promotions’ use of language and linguistic frames as a performance resistive strategy in the postcolonial Zimbabwean landscape. These concepts offer a framework to critically appraise the political, social, ideological and cultural meanings latent in language/s used in alternative theatre performances, which have the ability to influence and define identities and ideological structures. From this lens, colonial residual hegemony, dominance and cultural subjugation expressed through English and/or Shona are challenged and re-framed through code- switching, translanguaging and language mixing. From an interpretive approach, this paper shows that the creative linguistic methods employed by Amakhosi Theatre Productions and Rooftop Promotions to reject normative and metropolitan power enforced by English purists (Ndebele and Shona in the context of Zimbabwe) over means of communication. In essence, this paper provides deeper insights into syncretic linguistic forms, and culture vis-à-vis colonial residual domination, hegemony and cultural subjugation in postcolonial Zimbabwean alternative theatre.https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rcsa202021-10-15hj2020Dram
Gukurahundi em retrospecto: performance teatral como esfera pública cultural
No full textResistance during Gukurahundi was virtually impossible especially in holding camps such as Bhalagwe and Matopo. Gukurahundi refers to the 1983-1987 period in Zimbabwean history characterised by an unconfirmed genocide of the Ndebele minority. Upon the deployment of the 5th Brigade in Matabeleland and some parts of Midlands, the government of the day closed off media access to these areas, banning access to journalists without formal permission. While some survivors of the holding camps and Gukurahundi brutality have over the years shared their experiences with family members, some have chosen to remain quiet. Out of the firsthand narratives from Gukurahundi emerging through various platforms, an ‘alternative’ narrative is beginning to infect public opinion and discourse. It is considered ‘alternative’ because it contests the official ‘moment of madness’ (GAIDZANWA, 2015) government meta-narrative. In this article, I examine Victory Siyanqoba’s Talitha Koum-Someone Lied! (here in after referred to as Talita Koum) as one instance of a cultural public sphere’s ability to give a voice to those who have lost theirs such as the survivors and their children in a manner that unsettles the past, bringing alternative narratives to the public and instigating debates and discourses around Gukurahundi.Resistir durante o Gukurahundi era virtualmente impossível, especialmente em campos de detenção como Bhalagwe e Matopo. Até o lançamento da Quinta Brigada em Matabeleland e em algumas regiões centrais, o governo da época impediu o acesso da imprensa a essas áreas, banindo jornalistas sem permissão formal. Enquanto alguns sobreviventes dos campos de detenção e da brutalidade no Gukurahundi compartilharam suas experiências com familiares ao longo dos anos, outros escolheram o silêncio. Dentre as narrativas feitas em primeira mão sobre o Gukurahundi que emergiram de várias plataformas, uma narrativa “alternativa” começa a infectar a opinião e o discurso públicos. É considerada “alternativa” porque contesta a meta-narrativa governamental de “momento de loucura” (Gaidzanwa, 2015). Neste artigo, Eu examino o espetáculo de Victory Siyanqoba denominado Talitha Koum (Alguém mentiu) enquanto exemplo da habilidade de uma esfera pública cultural em dar vozes àqueles que perderam as suas próprias, como os sobreviventes e seus filhos, de uma forma que perturba o passado, trazendo ao público narrativas alternativas, além de instigar debates e discursos em torno do Gukurahundi
Conceptualizing Alternative Theater and Alternative Performance Space in Postindependence Zimbabwe
No full textTheatre practitioners as unionists : art workers in post-independence Zimbabwe’s theatre sector (1980–1999)
No full textThis article attempts to frame and examine the structuring of labour struggles from the precarious subject position of theatre workers, without isolating these struggles into the occupational sector of the creative industries in the Zimbabwean context between 1980 and 1999. In this article, I frame theatre practitioners as ‘art – workers’ and collectives such as the NTO and ZACT as mobilising and organising agencies operating within the postcolonial Zimbabwean theatre industry. On the one hand, the NTO controlled and administered purpose-built theatres, provided funding as well as organised affiliates into a unity. On the other hand, ZACT organised multi-racial Zimbabwean theatre groups into a collective, providing and mobilising financial and organisational support towards the creation of a ‘national theatre’ narrative. Deploying resource mobilisation and rational choice theories, this paper submits that NTO and ZACT mobilized and coordinated their stakeholders towards addressing the precarious work conditions in the sector. This paper argues while attempts, through theatre associations, have been undertaken to organise the creative sector, this paper submits that the precarious nature of the work, employer-employee non-distinction, lack of legal rights knowledge and fierce inter-and intra-organisational competition complicates the process of re-mobilising and organising creatives in Zimbabwe.https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/rstp20hj2024DramaNon
