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The Family As a Contested Arena: Voices of Discontent in Charles Mungoshi’S Works in Shona and English

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The Family As a Contested Arena: Voices of Discontent in Charles Mungoshi’S Works in Shona and English View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Wits Institutional Repository on DSPACE The Family as a Contested Arena: Voices of Discontent in Charles Mungoshi’s Works in Shona and English Thabisani Ndlovu A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, June 2011 Declaration I declare that this thesis is my own unaided work. It is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. It has not been submitted before for any other degree or examination at any other university. ------------------------------ Thabisani Ndlovu -------- DAY OF ------- 2011 i Dedication To my wife Siphathisiwe and our sons, Malcolm and Thando. If there are words to thank you for your love and patience, I haven‟t found them yet. ii Abstract This thesis explores ideologies of intimate attachments and offers an overall critique of the ideology(ies) of family as evinced by Mungoshi‟s ironic treatment of this theme. A close reading of Zimbabwe through the oft-cherished institution of family, an argument is made here, multiplies fields and possibilities of meaning beyond the struggle against colonialism and cultural imperialism. It is suggested that instead of viewing the family as political allegory and unitary, it is profitable to perceive it as consisting of a multiplicity of contesting voices and/or interests. These voices include those of children, women, young adults, lone parents, homosexuals and heterosexual men with thwarted gender identities. Through familial contestation and conflict, Mungoshi offers for critique various matrices of power located within the family and affords us an opportunity to read a country and its literature from the “everydayness” of characters‟ lived experience especially the confusions, anxieties and ambiguities. Thus, much as the thesis is cognizant of wider socio-political contexts in the work of Charles Mungoshi, more attention is given to conflict or contestation within the institution of the family in which, as Mungoshi suggests, there is a fluid configuration of power and authority. Conflict and contestation express a desire to reformulate familial and, by extension, social relationships. Similarly, Mungoshi suggests that gendered identities are subject to various claims, negotiations, resistance and refutations. This thesis is the one attempt that discusses Mungoshi‟s work in one volume, across the two languages and three genres he writes in to generate a more subtle, more layered reading by examining the family trope. In other words, there has been no systematic and lengthy discussion of the family and its related concepts of home, belonging, childhood, parenthood, gender and sexualities – all of which Mungoshi explores to address particular familial and societal concerns. This thesis then is an attempt to systematically evaluate Mungoshi‟s representation of family and issues attendant to this subject by paying particular attention to voices of discontent. iii Acknowledgements My foremost debt is to my supervisor, Dr Dan Ojwang for his mentorship as well as thoughtful and meticulous reading of my ideas. Thanks are also due to the Financial Aid Office and the Tothill Scholarship for three years of financial support. I am likewise indebted to Robert Muponde for pointers and advice. To mzala, Fortune Thembo, thanks for the too numerous to mention kindnesses that made the writing of this thesis possible. iv Note on Translation This study necessitated a translation from Shona into English. In spite of the challenges of translation, I am competent in both languages. All the Shona to English translations in this thesis, with the exception of some titles of Mungoshi‟s texts, are mine. v Contents Declaration ........................................................................................................................... i Dedication ....................................................................................................................... ii Abstract .............................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ iv Note on Translation......................................................................................................... v Chapter 1 ............................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.0 Aim and Rationale of the Study ................................................................................ 1 1.1 The Concept of Family and Mungoshi‟s Interest in Conflicted Familial Relationships ................................................................................................................... 7 1.2 Charles Mungoshi and his Works – a Brief Profile ................................................ 15 1.3 Paradigms and Paradoxes of Writing in both Shona and English .......................... 19 1.4 Mungoshi‟s Craft, Vision and Stature in Zimbabwean Literature .......................... 25 1.5 Reading for Intertextuality ...................................................................................... 37 1.6 Reading across Different Genres ............................................................................ 41 1.7 Chapters .................................................................................................................. 44 Chapter 2 ........................................................................................................................... 48 The Battle for Children ..................................................................................................... 48 2.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 48 2.1 Dominant Imaginaries of Childhood ...................................................................... 52 2.2 Significance of Children and Fertility in Shona Society and Mungoshi‟s writing . 54 2.3 Images of Childhood in Literature .......................................................................... 57 2.4 Child Narration as a Tool ........................................................................................ 62 2. 5 When Fathers Claim Sons ...................................................................................... 66 2.6 Macho Boys: “Boys will be Boys” ......................................................................... 75 2.7 When a Boy will not be a Boy and When Mothers become “Fathers” ................... 78 2.8 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 85 Chapter 3 ........................................................................................................................... 88 Adolescents and Young Men ............................................................................................ 88 3.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 88 3.1 Mapping Adolescence ............................................................................................. 91 3.2 The Search for an Ideal Family and Heroes ............................................................ 93 3.3 Formal Education – Alienation as Illumination .................................................... 100 3.4 Escaping Home ..................................................................................................... 107 vi 3.5 Family Histories, Legacies and Feuds .................................................................. 113 3.6 Tough Masculinities and Young Adults‟ Search for Affectionate and Sensitive Fathers ......................................................................................................................... 119 3.7 Demanding and Dangerous Mothers .................................................................... 127 3.8 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 130 Chapter 4 ......................................................................................................................... 132 Of Daughters, Wives, Mothers, and Female Patriarchs .................................................. 132 4.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 132 4.1 Images of Women in African and Zimbabwean literature .................................... 134 4.2 Gender (In) equality through History ................................................................... 139 4.3 Maidens with a Mark: The Imperative to Produce Children ................................ 145 4.4 Marriage, Wifehood and Motherhood – a General Overview .............................. 152 4.5 Ambitious Wives and Mothers ............................................................................. 155 4.6 Disaffected Wives ................................................................................................. 157 4.7 Single Women in the City ....................................................................................
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