An Analysis of the Reliability and Validity of the Shona Novel As a Historical Document
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
AN ANALYSIS OF THE RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF THE SHONA NOVEL AS A HISTORICAL DOCUMENT by JACOB MAPARA submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY in the subject AFRICAN LANGUAGES at the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 2007 DECLARATION Student number: 0815-959-9 I declare that AN ANALYSIS OF THE RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF THE SHONA NOVEL AS A HISTORICAL DOCUMENT is my own work and that all sources that I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. ………………………… ……………………… SIGNATURE DATE i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my promoter Professor D E Mutasa and the joint promoter Professor P M Sebate whose assistance and guidance helped to shape this thesis. I also extend my sincere gratitude to UNISA’s Financial Aid Bureau for granting me two bursaries that enabled me to undertake my studies. Without their assistance, my doctoral studies would have remained a pipe dream. My wife Beatrice, son Farai and daughter Varaidzo are also thanked for their encouragement. I as well thank my young brother Nangisai Clever who taught me to type. The skills he imparted to me became handy in the typing of this project, from inception up to the end. Special thanks are also extended to colleagues, Mrs. Shumirai Nyota and Mr. Godwin Makaudze fellow doctoral students at UNISA who encouraged me as well as discussed the novels with me. I also thank Messrs. Fidelis Duri, Fortune Sibanda and Kudzai Matereke for suggesting valuable historical books for reading. My gratitude is also extended to Ethel Chingombe, my research assistant who interviewed Tsodzo. Her efforts and those of others helped to ensure that my efforts came to fruition. ii SUMMARY AND KEY TERM SUMMARY A lot of research on the Shona novel has focussed on the influence of orature and the Bible. It has also focused on the influence that the Southern Rhodesia Literature Bureau had on its development. This research has endeavoured to highlight the reliability and validity of the Shona novel as a historical document. The dependability of the novel as an alternative site from which history can be deciphered is corroborated by historical documents. The history that comes out in the Shona novels that have been studied covers the pre-colonial period right up to the post-independence period. Among the issues that come up in the research that relate to history are the Rozvi state under Chirisamhuru, the economic activities in pre-colonial Shona society that include raids for cattle and women as well as hunting and external trade. The Shona novel has also proved historically reliable in as far as it relates to the navigability of the Save River. It has highlighted the living conditions and the wages that Blacks got in colonial Rhodesia and exposed the land imbalances that came into existence because of the Land Apportionment Act of 1930, which left Blacks living on the periphery and in overcrowded, hot and dry reserves that were hardly fertile. The Rhodesian authorities, as the novels have exposed, denied most Blacks access to education. When schools were provided, they were poorly staffed and those on farms functioned more as labour pools than schools. The novel has also proved its dependability when it highlights the early days of the nationalist movement and the unilateral declaration of independence of 1965. It has also brought to the fore the birth of the armed struggle and the Rhodesian responses to it. The Rhodesians responded politically and militarily. Politically, it was through the Internal Settlement Agreement of March 1978. Militarily they moved people into ‘protected villages’ in an effort to deny guerrillas access to food and clothing. The novel also highlights the post-independence period especially political intolerance. iii TITLE OF THESIS AN ANALYSIS OF THE RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY OF THE SHONA NOVEL AS A HISTORICAL DOCUMENT KEY TERMS History, historicity, reliability, validity, facticity, historitainment, faction, liberation war, ZANU (PF), the Shona novel. iv CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 PREAMBLE Literary products are environmental. They are time-framed and their coming into being is dictated by events of the past, present and by what the writers may hope to take place in future. When people sit down to write they take into account the political, economic, religious as well as other social conditions of their time. They may respond to these conditions by focusing on their current situation, past or their envisaged future. It is therefore necessary to point out the fact that it becomes clear that every novel, poem, short story or play is a product of its local history. Therefore, most writings of an imaginative nature are in some way historical documents. They record what the writer sees as the truth, or may wish to be seen as the truth, and most people end up accepting what writers put down as the truth about a given historical epoch. The same can be said of the Shona novel. It has elements of which students in schools, colleges and universities are required to decipher in their examinations. These elements may include an understanding of the Shona past among other issues. Some novels especially those that focus on pre-colonial Zimbabwe have been viewed by examiners and teachers as a reservoir of the lost and distant Shona past. It is true that some novels have been used as historical resources that are very useful in showing the Shona past. The past in these novels is not only that which relates to the Shona as portrayed in pre-colonial times but also relates to their experiences in colonial Zimbabwe. The novel also focuses on the period after independence. Questions such as the following may need to be asked: Are these reliable historical sources? Moreover, how valid are they as sources? It is therefore important to note that these are not the only questions that need to be answered. Other questions that relate to whose history is being recorded, may also need to be addressed. The next issue to ask is whether the authors of these novels deliberately wrote down history, or stumbled across historical facts when they were writing. The issue of whether or not the stories contained in novels met up with the conditions for the publication of works of an imaginative nature was 1 highly considered since this was part of the writing and publishing process in colonial Zimbabwe. In light of this observation, it can be argued that novels contain part of history. The study does not only focus on the history of pre-colonial Zimbabwe. Novels whose stories took place in colonial Zimbabwe, as well as those that focused on Zimbabwe's war of liberation and its aftermath are subjected to the same scrutiny in an effort to find out whether they are reliable or not, and if they are, to what extent. This helped the researcher appreciate why novelists are largely viewed as partners in historical processes. The study also highlights that some novelists avoid bringing out historical truths in their writings while others are interested in informing their readers on the historical processes that will be taking place. The novelists range from Solomon Mutswairo who wrote (Feso 1956), who because of his pioneering work most scholars regard him as the father of the Shona novel, to Mabasa the author of Mapenzi (1999) as well as Mutasa (Sekai: Minda Tave Nayo 2005); whose novels are in support of Zimbabwe’s Land Reform Programme launched in the year 2000. The study focuses on other issues besides that of the land question. Among these are trade with the Portuguese (pre-colonial Zimbabwe), the war of liberation and the post-independence period and the turmoil embedded in it. 1.2 AIM OF THE STUDY The main aim of this study is to show the reliability and validity of the Shona novel as a historical document. It is important to note that the thematic scope of the Shona novel spans a very broad spectrum. There are some novels that focus on life in pre-colonial Zimbabwe, during colonial rule, during the war of liberation, as well as after independence. This wide spectrum provides the sub-aims of this current study. Concerning life in pre-colonial Zimbabwe the focus was on novels such as Mutasa's Nhume Yamambo (1990), Misodzi, Dikita Neropa (1991) and Mapatya (1978) as well as Chakaipa's Pfumo Reropa (1961) and Karikoga Gumiremiseve (1959). Other novels in the same category that were studied are Jekanyika 2 (Mugugu 1968), Kutonhodzwa KwaChauruka (Chiguvare 1968), Pfuma Ndeyamaoko (Gutsa 1980), Gehena Harina Moto and Tambaoga Mwana’ngu (Kuimba 1965 and 1968), Musango Mune Nyama (Hamutyinei 1989) as well as Rakava Buno Risifemberi (Matsikiti 1995). The study reflected on what is written in these novels in an effort to find out whether what is contained in them corresponds to what is recorded in some historical documents, or whether these novels are but a manifestation of colonialism's attempt to demonise the Shona past, or whether the writers have wittingly or unwittingly distorted history. How accurate for example, is the story that one of the twins was supposed to be killed as is said in Mutasa's Mapatya (1978)? If what Mutasa says is true, what could have been the motive behind the killings? Given the fact that the purpose of literature is not only to entertain, there is also need to accept its moral function as a restraint on the wayward. It is in this light that Shona literature does not have to be studied for examination purposes only, as is the case nowadays.