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SHONA FICTION AND ITS TREATMENT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES IN ZIMBABWE by GODWIN MAKAUDZE 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. D. E. MUTASA JOINT-PROMOTER: PROF. P. M. SEBATE JUNE 2009 DECLARATION Student number: 3661-740-7 I declare that SHONA FICTION AND ITS TREATMENT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES IN ZIMBABWE is my own work and that all sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. ……………………………….. ……........................... DATE (Mr G Makaudze) ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the following: . My promoter Professor D. E. Mutasa and the joint promoter Professor P. M. Sebate for their untiring assistance, their detailed and insightful comments and criticisms that shaped this thesis. UNISA’s Financial Aid Bureau for granting me bursaries that enabled me to undertake my studies. Without their aid, my doctoral studies would never have materialised. Prof. M. T. Vambe for editing the thesis. The Makaudze family for their continuous encouragement and rare patience. Dr. J. Mapara who spurred me into furthering my studies and who sacrificed his precious time to read and help shape arguments in the thesis, together with Dr. S. Nyota who was also another source of inspiration. Ephiphania Nhamo for the moral support and for cheering me up when the chips were down. F. M. Gande for sacrificing her time as I made all the recommended changes to the document. Mrs. E. Maphosa for the moral support and typing part of the thesis. Mr. E. Mandova, a fellow lecturer in the Department of African Languages and Literature for interviewing C. M. Matsikiti. Miss. Ethel Chingombe and Mr. Godwin Mutsaro, research assistants who interviewed T. K. Tsodzo and I. M. Zvarevashe respectively. Mrs. Makurumidze, the HIV and AIDS coordinator at Great Zimbabwe University for the valuable information on the HIV and AIDS pandemic. All the interviewees who provided information on various issues relevant to the study. iii SUMMARY AND KEY TERMS SUMMARY Much of what has been researched on Shona fiction has been limited to literature published before independence. The current research endeavours to assess the treatment of socio-economic issues as conveyed through fiction published since 1990. This fiction focuses on socio-economic issues in both pre-colonial and independent Zimbabwe. The study endeavours to establish if writers who focus on these issues in the pre-colonial era have been able to reclaim a complicated picture of the African pasts. It also discusses fiction that focuses on post-independence experiences; such as extent of the impact of empowerment brought about by independence, continued poverty among Africans, emancipation of the female being and the HIV and AIDS pandemic. Here, it strives to ascertain if the writers have identified the causes and offer meaningful solutions to these. The study observes that contemporary novelists on the Shona pasts have reclaimed more realistic ‘worlds’ when compared to their predecessors who have largely presented distorted images of these pasts. On the outcome of independence, two groups portray it as a total success and a total failure respectively, whilst the third and more successful group gives a balanced exposition. Fiction on poverty among contemporary Africans falls into two classes, namely rural and urban. The former still suffers from the heavy influence of colonial myths as it only highlights the effects of poverty without situating them in their tension-ridden historical context. The latter provides important sociological information on the plight of the characters but is lacking when it comes to suggesting ways of alleviating such poverty. On female empowerment, it emerges that while some writers are for women empowerment, others are against it. Women writers are better at explaining problems of women. However, both groups are still unable to identify the root cause of the incapacitation of women. On HIV and AIDS, whilst male writers demonstrate a wider social vision on the factors that disempower society against the spread and curbing of the virus, female authors still fall in the trap of blaming both men and Shona traditional customs. Overall, it emerges that contemporary Shona writers reveal contradictory modes in articulating these issues. iv TITLE OF THESIS SHONA FICTION AND ITS TREATMENT OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES IN ZIMBABWE KEY TERMS Shona fiction, Shona past, socio-economic issues, responsibility, distorted images, early writers, contemporary writers, disempowerment, empowerment, incapacitation, colonial law, myth, causes, solutions. v CONTENTS Title page i Declaration ii Acknowledgements iii Summary iv Key terms v Chapter I 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Preamble 1 1.2 Aim of the study 3 1.3 Justification of the research 5 1.4 Observations 7 1.5 Methods of research 8 1.6 Literature review 12 1.7 Burning issues and their time 20 1.8 The Shona writer and his responsibility to society 24 1.9 Scope of research 31 1.10 Conclusion 33 Chapter II 35 Historical background to the socio-economic issues 35 2.0 Introduction 35 2.1 Background to decolonisation and cultural regeneration 36 2.2 Background to economic disempowerment and land reform 53 2.3 Background to women’s problems and their empowerment 67 2.4 Conclusion 82 Chapter III 84 Shona novelists and their treatment of socio-economic issues of the pre-colonial era 84 3.0 Introduction 84 3.1 Election and installation of traditional leaders 84 vi 3.2 Peace and peaceful coexistence 94 3.3 Depiction of Shona religion 103 3.3.1 Shona religion and its importance in people’s life 104 3.3.2 Contrasting images of traditional medicine and medicine men 110 3.4 The custom of killing triplets 116 3.5 Depiction of Shona marriage customs; kuzvarira (daughter-pledging) and kutema ugariri (mortgaging one’s labour to get a wife) 118 3.5.1 Kuzvarira, daughter-pledging 118 3.5.2 Kutema ugariri, mortgaging one’s labour to get a wife 120 3.6. Contrasting images of women 122 3.6.1 Images of women in N.M. Mutasa’s novels 122 3.6.2. Matsikiti’s portrayal of Shona women 127 3.7 Images of beer drinking 131 3.8 Myth about laziness countered 133 3.9 Let the past teach the present: lessons to draw from the Shona past 137 3.9.1 Election of a leader 138 3.9.2 Importance of religion 141 3.9.3 Position of women 144 3.9.4 Technological advancement 145 3.9.5 Superficial propagation of a custom 148 3.10 Conclusion 154 Chapter IV 157 Empowerment versus disempowerment in the new dispensation 157 4.0 Introduction 157 4.1 Independence and black empowerment 157 4.1.1 Tungamirai’s perception 158 4.1.2 Choto’s portrayal 160 4.1.3 Chimhundu’s depiction 165 4.2 Poverty among unempowered people 169 4.2.1 Lack of empowerment among rural Africans 169 4.2.2 Lack of empowerment among urban Africans 175 vii 4.3 Perceptions on emancipation of African women 192 4.3.1 Education and female empowerment 192 4.3.2 Land and women empowerment 203 4.3.3 Legislation and female empowerment - contrasting perceptions 206 4.3.3.1 Moyo’s perception of female empowerment 207 4.3.3.2 Chitsike’s presentation of female empowerment 214 4.4 Disempowerment and empowerment against the HIV and AIDS pandemic 222 4.4.1 Factors that disempower people against HIV and AIDS 222 4.4.2 Ways of empowering people against the HIV and AIDS pandemic 231 4.5 Conclusion 236 Chapter V 239 Conclusion, findings and recommendations 239 5.1 Conclusion and findings 239 5.2 Recommendations 248 Bibliography 249 Primary sources 249 Secondary sources 251 Theses, dissertations, seminar and conference papers 260 Journals, magazines, newspapers and pamphlets 261 Appendices 263 Appendix A: Questions for authors 263 Appendix B: Interview questions on HIV and AIDS 264 Appendix C: General questions for Zimbabwean citizens 265 viii Chapter I Introduction 1.1 Preamble From time immemorial, art has been man’s faithful companion. Through it, man has managed to come to terms with reality, exposing reality, explaining, criticising and changing it for the well- being of humankind. Fischer (1959: 15) has argued that it is through art that man has become fully human and without which he could still be animalistic in behaviour. In this regard, art has been viewed as a form of social consciousness, a mirror of society’s code of conduct, arising to explore, explain and shape life. The unquestionable truth about any work of art is that it is environmental. It “does not grow or develop in a vacuum but is given impetus, shape, direction and even area of concern by social, political and economic forces in a particular society” (Ngugi, 1972: xv). Thus, every work of art’s being is dictated by events and by life as lived in society. Hence, writers write what they see, hear or imagine to be transpiring in society and it is their undoubted responsibility to demonstrate commitment to this fact. The above is also true of written Shona fiction, which, from the time of its inception during the colonial period to today, has served to explore, explain and address pertinent issues in the Zimbabwean society. Writers have tackled historical events such as colonialism and the liberation struggle, though with varying degrees of competence. More importantly, these themes have constituted current issues of their time. Since independence, a new set of topical issues has cropped up. The Zimbabwean government has adopted a number of new policies that have culminated in a number of events as well as problems and conflicts in society.

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