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A STUDY of SHONA WAR FICTION: the WRITERS' PERSPECTIVES By A STUDY OF SHONA WAR FICTION: THE WRITERS’ PERSPECTIVES by WILLIAM LUNGISANI CHIGIDI UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA NOVEMBER 2009 A STUDY OF SHONA WAR FICTION: THE WRITERS’ PERSPECTIVES by WILLIAM LUNGISANI CHIGIDI Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY in the subject AFRICAN LANGUAGES at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA PROMOTER: PROF. DE MUTASA JOINT-PROMOTER: PROF. PM SEBATE NOVEMBER 2009 DECLARATION Student number: 0650-426-4 I declare that A study of Shona war fiction: The writers’ perspectives is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. 23 September 2009 SIGNATURE DATE (WL CHIGIDI) i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I sincerely feel indebted to a number of people that played various roles and helped me while I was working on this thesis. First and foremost, my grateful indebtedness is due to my promoter Professor D.E. Mutasa and to Professor P.M. Sebate, the co- promoter, who read and corrected my work. I found their comments and suggestions helpful and encouraging. Indeed their criticism helped to shape this thesis. Thank you for your patience and scholarly guidance. Secondly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to the Financial Aid Bureau (Unisa) for awarding and re-awarding me the post-graduate bursary throughout my studies. Without this bursary it is inconceivable to imagine how I could have managed to complete my thesis. I am more than grateful to those authors of Shona war fiction, namely, Professor Vitalis Nyawaranda, Aaron Chiundura Moyo, and Charles Makari, and to Bisset Chitsike, former Editor-in-Chief of the Literature Bureau, who sacrificed their time to give me lengthy interviews. I also wish to acknowledge the following: Hleziphi Napaai and her colleagues at UNISA library for all the services rendered over a long time going back to my years as a Unisa Masters student; the Great Zimbabwe University for the use of their library while I was a sabbaticant there from 2006 to 2007; and the Midlands State University library staff and particularly Faith Munyama for their patience with me when I needed books very urgently. My acknowledgements would not be complete without mentioning two other people. My wife, Esther Atirarami, was a great source of inspiration. Her own academic pursuits, though in a different and unrelated discipline, inspired me a lot. Her absence from home while doing her own doctoral studies also provided the setting both in time and space for me to work. Lastly, but not least, I pay tribute to Sevi Mutema, our housemaid for thirty years now, for looking after the home and the children while I worked on my thesis. To all these institutions and people my indebtedness is everlasting. ii SUMMARY This thesis is an in-depth study of Shona fiction about the liberation war in Zimbabwe. It looks at the way Zimbabwe’s liberation war is portrayed in Shona fiction and focuses on the factors that shaped writers’ perspectives on that war. It is argued that Shona war fiction writers romanticised the war and in the process simplified and distorted history. The researcher postulates that writers’ perspectives on this liberation war were shaped by factors that include the mood of celebration and euphoria, the dominant ideology of the time, the situations of independence and freedom, and literary competitions. The thesis further raises and illustrates the point that writers produced romances of adventure because they were writing on the theme of war, and if one writes on the theme of war one ends up writing an adventure story. However, it is also acknowledged that because authors were writing on a historical event they could not ignore history completely. Some aspects of history are incorporated into the fiction, thereby retaining a semblance of historical realism. The post-independence period is also seen as a time of cultural revival and this is considered as the reason behind the authors’ tendency to celebrate Shona traditional institutions and culture. The celebration of Shona traditional religion and culture introduced into the fiction the element of the supernatural that strengthened the romance aspect of the novels. Shona war fiction writers also perpetuate female stereotyping. Female characters are depicted as everything except guerrilla fighters. It is argued that there are no female characters that play roles of guerrilla fighters because during the actual war women were not visible at the war front, fighting. The thesis argues that men, who were pioneers of the guerrilla war and writers of the war stories, excluded women from liberation war discourse and ultimately from literary discourse as well. A few writers who comment on the quality of Zimbabwe’s independence and freedom show the disillusionment and despair of the peasants and ex-combatants as they struggled to settle down and recover from the war. Key terms Writers’ perspectives, Shona war fiction, romances of adventure, fictionalisation of history, cultural revival, theme of war, guerrilla war, war of liberation, collective heroism, post-independence celebration, politics of naming, female guerrillas. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration…………………………………………………………………………………..i Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………...ii Summary and key terms…………………………………………………………………...iii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Preamble .......................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Aims of the research ......................................................................................... 3 1.3 Objectives of the research ................................................................................ 4 1.4 Justification of the research .............................................................................. 4 1.5 Research methods............................................................................................ 5 1.6 Literature review ............................................................................................... 7 1.7 Theoretical framework .................................................................................... 22 1.8 Scope of research .......................................................................................... 25 1.9 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 28 CHAPTER 2 POST-INDEPENDENCE SITUATIONS AND THE BIRTH OF SHONA WAR FICTION .................................................................................................................... 29 2.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 29 2.2 War actions and memories: The unpublished materials ................................. 30 2.3 Independence and freedom ............................................................................ 34 2.4 Euphoria and celebration ................................................................................ 39 2.5 Dominant ideology of post-independence era ................................................ 48 2.6 Literary competitions....................................................................................... 52 2.7 Conclusion ...................................................................................................... 56 CHAPTER 3 WAR FICTION AS ROMANCE OF ADVENTURE .................................................... 58 3.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................... 58 3.2 The theme of war ............................................................................................ 58 3.3 War as adventure ........................................................................................... 60 iv 3.4 Spirit of bravado and adventure ...................................................................... 64 3.5 The call ........................................................................................................... 66 3.6 Test of adequacy ............................................................................................ 74 3.7 The crisis (the hero must not die) ................................................................... 76 3.7.1 Choto’s Vavariro: a place for the marvelous ......................................... 78 3.7.2 Sungano’s Kuda Muhondo: the hero’s perilous journey of fame .......... 78 3.7.3 Makata’s Gona ReChimurenga and Pesanai’s Gukurahundi: placing the hero under ‘divine protection’ ............................................. 79 3.7.4 Makari’s Zvaida Kushinga: Wandering in the land of the ideal ............. 81 Story 1 .................................................................................................. 81 Story 2 .................................................................................................. 83 Story 3 .................................................................................................. 84 Story 4 .................................................................................................. 84 3.8 The folktale motif ............................................................................................ 88 3.9 Fighting a duel ................................................................................................ 92 3.10 Exaltation and fulfilment of
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