This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Framing the Sacred: An Analysis of Religious Films in Zimbabwe Adam T. Shreve Doctor of Philosophy The University of Edinburgh 2016 ABSTRACT Framing the Sacred: An Analysis of Religious Films in Zimbabwe This is a study of the production, content, distribution, and reception of different religious films in Zimbabwe, with an emphasis on the audience’s initial reception of the films. Informants’ self-identified religious beliefs and their reception of these selected films are analyzed primarily by using qualitative methods to understand better the interplay between film and religion in Zimbabwe. The films studied in this research are The Jesus Film (1979) created by Campus Crusade for Christ and indigenous, short Jesus films created locally in Zimbabwe in 2012. In order to answer the central research questions of this study, two main approaches are employed: the first is a holistic approach to the analysis of these films. The primary question within this approach is: in what ways do the production, content, and distribution of The Jesus Film and indigenous, short Jesus films affect the reception of the films among informants in Zimbabwe today? The second approach specifically addresses the interchange between the audience members’ self-identified religious beliefs and their reception of the films. There are two central research questions within this approach. First, in what ways may pre-existing perceptions of Jesus shape informants’ responses to and interpretations of Jesus as he is portrayed in The Jesus Film and in indigenous, short Jesus films in Zimbabwe today? Secondly, how might the viewing of these films affect those perceptions of Jesus? Based upon the careful analysis of the original data that emerges from the field work of this research, the conclusion provides a series of answers to these questions, revealing new insights into the interplay of film and religion in Zimbabwe. 2 DECLARATION I, Adam T. Shreve, declare that I have composed this thesis, the work is my own, and it has not been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification except as specified. ________________________ __________________3 June 2016 Adam T. Shreve Date 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Firstly, I am thankful for my primary PhD supervisor, Professor Jolyon Mitchell. He has given me constant encouragement and motivation in progressing my ideas and research. I am indebted to him for helping me define my thesis, and for being such an excellent role model as a husband, father, friend, and scholar. I am also grateful for Professor Brian Stanley, my secondary PhD supervisor, whose guidance helped to shape the foundations of my research. I am thankful for Professor Afe Adogame, who guided me early on in my research in Edinburgh and showed me what a successful scholar working on religion and Africa looks like. I appreciate the University of Edinburgh for providing one of the best places in the world to complete my research. Beyond these three eminent scholars and the University of Edinburgh, I have several others to acknowledge. I am grateful for Chris Deacy and Geoffrey Stevenson, who served as the examiners during my viva. Their critical assessment and valuable feedback helped to sharpen this research and expand its reach. I thank Christine Otte for helping draw my attention to the need for critical analysis of The Jesus Film, Chris Keith for pointing me towards Edinburgh, and Jody Otte for remaining a good friend as I completed this research. My sincere thanks also goes to Professor Paul Friskney, Dan Lang, Linda Waugh, Randy Koehler, Penny Fernandez, Karen Cox, Loretta Robinson, Tom Hunt, and other friends over the years. Their encouragement helped me in successfully completing this project. I am grateful for the example of academic excellence and professional mentoring that Professor Sarah McFarland Taylor has provided me over the years. I am appreciative of Professors Tom Thatcher, Jon Weatherly, and Jamie Smith who exemplified academic scholarship and, with the aid of Dave Parker, helped me to secure a place at the University of Edinburgh. I am appreciative of Paul Pennington and Charlie Delaney for helping to foster my love for Africa and Zimbabwe. I owe a debt of gratitude to the people I have met through the University of Edinburgh who have encouraged my research and scholarship, including Professors 4 Larry Hurtado, N.T. Wright, James D.G. Dunn, Michael Northcott, Paul Foster, Helen Bond, Mona Siddiqui, Oliver O'Donovan, James Cox, and Andrew Walls, as well as Elizabeth Koepping, Nick Higgins, Alex Chow, Matthew Novenson, David Reimer, Philippa Townsend, Jack Thompson, Karoline McLean, Felicity Smail, Linda Blackwood, Amos Chewachong, Michael Perry Tettey, SungKuk Kim, Farhana Nazir, Tom Breimaier, Milja Radovic, Corey Williams, Jeremy Kidwell, Eric Williams, E.R. Haire, Frank Dicken, Blair Wilgus, James Goldspink, Brad Bow, Emma Gallagher, and Stuart and Paula Glegg. I am thankful for Iain Robertson, Audrey Mills, and others at Buchanan Street who supported my family for years in Glasgow, as well as Andy Lamb and others at Princes Street in Edinburgh for helping us with all of our transitions. In Zimbabwe, I am indebted to all the people who helped facilitate and navigate my field work, including Denford Chizanga, Peter Hotyo, Fireball Hove, Teresa Makaye, Christopher Malehe, Lameck Marozva, Sunset and Jeritha Mhindiko, Lynnete Mushosho, Wadza Wisikoti, and Priviledge Yesaya. To my informants in Zimbabwe, I am the most grateful. This includes Antony Bandera, Caseas Chishiri, Confidence Makaye, Eliot Madzima, Emelina Shumba, Esiria Tavengwa, Friendship Muda, Fungai Savniya, Hendrick Lubinda, Jesca Magudu, Joseph Chadehumbe, Joseph Chenjerai Munkaka, Leonard Kwaramba, Maidei Mucheki, Mary Chibarinya, Moreblessing Dzinomwa, Musindo Ephraim Tafira, Patience Mudimu, Ropafadzo Tanyongana, Rufaro Misi, Stanley Madiye, Tambudzai Remba, and Tavonga Mugabe. I have done my best to humbly and accurately represent their perspectives in this thesis and help to magnify their voices to the rest of the world. I am beholden to Lorraine Montanari and Ron Gore for their tireless efforts in commenting on this thesis, and to Al and Ruth Swegan, as this project would have been much more difficult without their encouragement and support in Scotland and Zimbabwe. I am appreciative for my family (Ron and Betty Dickson, Terry and Brenda Shreve, and Ron, Rebecca, and Aiden Gore) and their support of my research in both Scotland and Zimbabwe over the years. I am thankful for my sons, Ephram and Josiah Shreve. They make life new everyday, and they teach me about selflessness and love. Finally, there are no adequate words to thank my wife, Amanda Shreve. She is the best human example in my life of love, sacrifice, steadfastness, humility, dedication, patience, and perseverance. I am thankful for her vital role in seeing this research through to its completion. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................... 7 CHAPTER TWO: FOUNDATIONS: LITERATURE REVIEW, SHONA PEOPLES, AND METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................... 20 CHAPTER THREE: PRODUCTION, CONTENT, AND DISTRIBUTION OF INDIGENOUS, SHORT JESUS FILMS IN ZIMBABWE ................................. 75 CHAPTER FOUR: RECEPTION ANALYSIS OF INDIGENOUS, SHORT JESUS FILMS IN ZIMBABWE ............................................................................................ 113 CHAPTER FIVE: PRODUCTION, CONTENT, AND DISTRIBUTION OF THE JESUS FILM IN ZIMBABWE ................................................................................ 165 CHAPTER SIX: RECEPTION ANALYSIS OF THE JESUS FILM AND COMPARISONS OF JESUS FILMS IN ZIMBABWE ...................................... 193 CHAPTER SEVEN: CONCLUSION .................................................................................. 239 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................... 265 APPENDIX ............................................................................................................................... 276 6 CHAPTER ONE Introduction Personal Prologue There I was in the sweltering heat of Melanesia. It was 2008 and I was hiking into the remote village of Angguna, which is located in the Aiome district of the Madang Province of Papua New Guinea.1 It was a six-hour trek from the airstrip to the village. As I traveled over log bridges and waded through deep waters, I was the most exhausted I had been in my entire life. After six grueling hours, I arrived in the Angguna village of the Apali