‘The meaning of African Traditional Religion for modern society: Zimbabwe as a case study’ By Bernard Pindukai Humbe 2016349348 Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements in respect of the Doctoral Degree in Religion in the Department of Religion Studies in the Faculty of Theology at the University of the Free State 1stJune 2020 Promoter: Prof. L. Ntombana Co-promoter: Dr. N. Mndende DECLARATION I, Bernard Pindukai Humbe, declare that the thesis that I herewith submit for the Doctoral Degree in Religion at the University of the Free State, is my independent work, and that I have not previously submitted it for a qualification at another institution of higher education. I, Bernard Pindukai Humbe, hereby declare that I am aware that the copyright is vested in the University of the Free State. I, Bernard Pindukai Humbe, declare that all royalties as regards intellectual property that was developed during the course of and/or in connection with the study at the University of the Free State will accrue to the University. I, Bernard Pindukai Humbe, hereby declare that I am aware that the research may only be published with the promoter‘s approval. 1st June 2020 ii DEDICATION I dedicate my dissertation work to my parents, Felix Hamundityi Humbe and Cecelia Humbe, my loving wife Esther Humbe and my three daughters Chelsea, Cheryl and Chesleigh. iii AKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my Promoters Professor L. Ntombana and Dr N. Mndende for their assistance, constructive insightful perception and creative scholarship throughout my PhD study. They patiently guided me in all the time of research and writing of this thesis. Their valuable perceptive encouragement and indispensable suggestions helped me to sail through. With a sense of regard and reverence I take this opportunity to express my deep sense of gratitude to my parents for the love, care and inexhaustible help that always came my way. It gives me immense pleasure to thank my wife Esther and kids (Chelsea, Cheryl and Chesleigh) for their affectionate support and interminable motivation. I would like to warmly acknowledge the love I got form my brothers and sisters, it helped the progression and smoothness of my work. I am short of words to express my gratitude to Dr Chimeri and his Zimbabwe Theological Seminary (ZTS) team for providing me with valuable reading material. I wish to acknowledge my heartfelt thanks to Dr E. Konyana the Chairperson of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies and all my colleagues and friends in this Department for helping me directly and indirectly during my thesis work. Special thanks to Mai Nebvuma, the then Chairperson of Section 15 and other Section members whose spiritual support will always be treasured. Lastly I would like to thank the people of Buhera District for providing me with worthwhile information which I used in this study. iv v TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION........................................................................................................................... ii DEDICATION.............................................................................................................................. iii AKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................... iv ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................................................... xii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................ xiv CHAPTER ONE ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.0 Introduction and Background ................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Background of Zimbabwe and its historical overview.......................................................... 1 1.2.1 Gestalt of traditional r`eligious landscape in Zimbabwe ................................................ 2 1.3 The Shona People .................................................................................................................. 6 1.3.1 Cartography of the Shona People of Buhera ................................................................ 10 1.3.2 Motivation for choosing Buhera South ........................................................................ 14 1.4 A watershed of modernity: ATR in Zimbabwe‘s socio-political and economic crisis ....... 15 1.5 Statement of Problem .......................................................................................................... 23 1.6 Objectives of the Study ..................................................................................................... 223 1.7 Assumptions ........................................................................................................................ 24 1.8Major Question ................................................................................................................. 24 1.8.1Sub-Questions ................................................................................................................... 24 1.9 Justification ......................................................................................................................... 25 1.10 Delimitations of the Research Area .................................................................................. 27 1.11 Chapter Outline ................................................................................................................. 28 CHAPTER TWO ........................................................................................................................ 30 2.0 Literature review ................................................................................................................. 30 vi 2.1 Summary ............................................................................................................................. 59 CHAPTER THREE .................................................................................................................... 61 3.0 Framing the Theory and Concepts of Study........................................................................ 61 3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 61 3.2 Afrocentric Perspective ....................................................................................................... 61 3.2.1 Germaneness of Afrocentricism in interpretation of the meaning of ATR .................. 63 3.3 Symbolic Interactionism ..................................................................................................... 63 3.3.1 Relevance of Symbolic Interactionism in constructing meaning of ATR .................... 66 3.4 Framing a meaning of African Traditional Religion Theory .............................................. 69 3.4.1 An Alternative Approach .............................................................................................. 72 3.4.2 Meaning as a concept ................................................................................................... 72 3.4.3 Theory of religion ......................................................................................................... 74 3.4.4 Substantive theoretical meaning of religion ................................................................. 75 3.4.5 Affective meanings ....................................................................................................... 75 3.4.6 Functional designations ................................................................................................ 75 3.4.7 Conditions for a good meaning of ATR ....................................................................... 76 3.5. Conceptualizing African and Traditional ........................................................................... 76 3.5.1 Tradition ....................................................................................................................... 80 3.5.2 The classical dilemma in defining ATR ....................................................................... 82 3.5.3 Preliminary definition of ATR ..................................................................................... 82 3.6 Modernity ............................................................................................................................ 83 3.7 The nature of Shona Theism ............................................................................................... 84 3.8 Other Shona Religious Topographies ................................................................................. 87 3.9 Summary ............................................................................................................................. 95 CHAPTER FOUR ....................................................................................................................... 96 vii 4.0 Research Methodology and Instruments ............................................................................. 96 4.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 96 4.1 Research Paradigm .............................................................................................................