LAND AND IDENTITY IN ZIMBABWEAN FICTION WRITINGS IN ENGLISH FROM 2000 TO 2010: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS RUBY MAGOSVONGWE Town Cape Thesis presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in the School of Languages and Literature, Departmentof of African Languages and Literatures Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town November 2013 University Supervisor: Professor Abner Nyamende, School of Languages and Literature, Department of African Languages and Literatures Co-Supervisor: Professor Zifikile Makwavarara, Department of African Languages and Literature/Post-Graduate Centre, University of Zimbabwe 1 The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgementTown of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Cape Published by the University ofof Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University Respectvie geographical settings of fictional narratives and site visits Field visits made across Zimbabwe include the following places: Chipinge, Town and Southdown Estates: August 2010 Mutare, Mutare Central, Mutare South and peri-urban, Penhalonga Marondera, Chihota Communal Lands Harare, Mbare, Chitingwiza, Harare North/Charlotte Brooke and Harare South Bindura Gweru Bulawayo Matabeland North, Hwange, Victoria Falls 2 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.0 Preamble Zimbabwean history has shown that land ownership and cultural identities are intertwined. Apart from it being the nexus of existence, land among the indigenous ethnic groupings, is viewed as an essential key to people’s sense of belonging and self- knowledge. Lineages trace lands previously traversed and settled upon, including forebears’ feats and foibles, which records are passed down through totemic recitations, rituals and land traditions that remind families, communities and individuals about their anchoring, bundle of duties, responsibilities and privileges within the geographical spaces that they occupy. Loss of land through colonial conquest of the indigenous population then entailed loss of an invaluable resource to life. The ancient law of survival that thou shall eat through the sweat of your brow was replaced by a new principle that thou shall be employed (Ramose, 2005: 8). As a result, land became, and has remained a hotly contested subject. Understood as finite piece of the earth surface that gives human beings authority and control over their lives and environments, land has demarcated power across the ages. In the African worldview, its access and ownership also largely influence perceptions about the significance of human worth, over and above the psycho-spiritual, environmental, cultural and political securities that it embodies. It is for this reason that land is viewed as an essential key to people’s sense of belonging and self-knowledge. It is also worth noting that conceptions of individual identities are deeply embedded in a people’s cultural values. Shona terms like muuyi/mutorwa1, mubvakure2, mupambevhu3, mubvandiripo4, mwanawevhu5, rukuvhute6, mukomana/musikana wekuseri7 and 1Stranger or alien in the country/land/community. 2Someone who does not belong with the community or an arrivant. 3 Usurper of the land; one who unlawfully appropriates the land. 4Illegitimate heir to the estate; a son born outside marriage that a husband adopts into his family. 5A child of the soil; rightful owners of the land. 3 nyikayaramba8 among others, buttress how conceptions of land underpin individual and community identities. These terms show that dignity, social status and identities that individuals and communities acquire are based on their relationship with the land. The terms also impact directly on people’s sense of un/belongingness, being, self-image, self- worth, and self-confidence, including guiding principles that may affirm or negate active participation and contribution in life. As far as land ownership is concerned, Zimbabwe’s history shows that settler conquest underpins the underlying turmoil and exploitative relationship between colonial settlers and original inhabitants. The new set-up demanded that the original inhabitants reorient themselves in line with their new realities of being “other people’s tenants even in their own lands”. (Abrahams, 2000: 376). By alienating the indigenous inhabitants from their land, the new system undermined their self-sufficiency, and also fractured and distorted relationships and identities. They were subjected to a negotiated social reality that dislocated them from cultural traditions, self-respect, spirit of place, as well as self- perceptions of history and lived experiences. Abrahams (Ibid) rightly observes that such a scenario “does not make for decency, pride, [and] self-respect”. The situation, unfortunately, was carried over into Zimbabwe’s post-independence era. As observed by Sachikonye (2012: 1), “The struggle between settler colonialism and African nationalism [over land] reverberate[s] well beyond [attainment of political independence in] 1980”. The aim of the current study then, is to critically analyse the interface between lived land realities and their impact on identities as depicted in selected texts of literature published between 2000 and 2010 against the backdrop of the realities explained above. The study also examines various responses to the land question, particularly the writers’ envisaged solutions regarding the challenges characterising the 6The umbilical cord. It symbolises a people’s link with the land; symbol of the right to heritage of the land. Dzvairo’s poem, “Birthright” (in Kadhani and Zimunya (eds), 1982) illustrates this symbolism. It is also a signifier of “traditions on which development should be founded” (Gambahaya, 1999:191). 7Backyarder; lodger; tenant. 8Nyikayaramba is a compound name. It means a distinct group of people have disowned, rejected or have shown complete disapproval of certain ideas, ideologies or practices that undermine or insult their culture and identity. 4 post-2000 era. For example, some support land redistribution for the cause of social justice in view of colonial land apartheid whilst others blame it for the deepening economic decline and political polarisation characterising relations in the country. Critics like Sachikonye (2012) similarly regard the aftermath of land occupations as a lost decade. On the other hand, others like Sadomba (2011), Scoones (2010) and Hanlon et al (2013) acknowledge the empowerment benefits arising from land redistribution for the marginalised majority. These disparate views represent lived realities that the selected narratives explore, confirming that Zimbabwean land issues are as complex as the diverse interests that the Zimbabwean society pursues. 1.2 Aim and scope of the study The major aim of this study is to analyse how Zimbabwean literary voices across the racial divide explore the land-identity conundrum that is hotly contested in the aftermath of Zimbabwe’s post-2000 land occupations and other redistribution processes. It aims to interrogate how the selected fictional narratives depict both long-held views and emerging perspectives on Zimbabwe’s land question. Further, the study examines the land realities that the writers depict with a view to promoting national dialogue. The latter aims to promote greater social cohesion, peace and oneness that are critical for more sustainable human development in post-independence Zimbabwe. The study analyses trajectories of land and identity in the selected Zimbabwean-authored post-2000 fictional narratives in English with a view to establishing the writers’ commitment to a sustainable future for the greater Zimbabwean society against the backdrop of the post-2000 land occupations. The choice of texts has been guided by the manner in which the texts cumulatively trace the historicity of Zimbabweans’ land issues and the land question itself as a continuum from pre-Independence through to post-2000 Zimbabwe. Specifically, the study examines writers’ images of belongingness and relationship with the land and its beneficiation. The research also examines the fictional trajectories’ sensitivity concerning how the grassroots relate to and benefit from the land and the various securities that it offers, including the psycho-spiritual, economic, socio- cultural, geophysical and political aspects that touch people’s daily lives. The research 5 also explores the writers’ views concerning the experiences and cultural agency of the marginalised majority in the history of the land question in Zimbabwe. It examines how these narratives re-image land and its impact on constructions of identity[ies]. The first ten years after 2000 are particularly important as they are perceived to be a watershed in the country’s history. The period “is ideologically and politically significant in the history of Zimbabwe in that it marks a radical change in terms of the state’s approach to land redistribution” (Magosvongwe, 2009: 83). Ngugi (1972: xv) observes: Literature does not grow in a vacuum; it is given impetus, shape, direction and even area of concern by social, political and economic forces in a particular society. It is therefore important to examine the interface between literature and the unfolding land developments. In analysing this interface using African-centred approaches, it is hoped it becomes relatively easier to locate and understand the Zimbabwean land question within its historical