MULTILINGUALISM, LOCALISM AND THE NATION: IDENTITY POLITICS IN THE ZIMBABWE BROADCASTING CORPORATION BY PHILLIP MPOFU 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 SUPERVISOR: PROF. D.E. MUTASA JOINT- SUPERVISOR: DR. L.P. PHAAHLA NOVEMBER 2013 DECLARATION Student number- 5081-635-7 I, Phillip Mpofu, declare that MULTILINGUALISM, LOCALISM AND THE NATION: IDENTITY POLITICS IN THE ZIMBABWE BROADCASTING CORPORATION is my work and that the sources used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. 25 November 2013 Signature……………………………. Date…………………………………….. ii ABSTRACT This study examines the mediation of multilingualism, localism and the nation in the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, henceforth, ZBC as the local content and multilingual broadcasting policies subsumed in the Broadcasting Services Act (2001) and the Broadcasting Services Amendment Act (2007) respectively translated into radio and television programming. This purpose is pursued by analysing the language choices and practices on the ZBC radio and television stations and programming. This study is informed by an eclectic approach within the critical theory tradition and therefore it disapproves the domination, marginalisation and exclusion of the indigenous African languages in the ZBC as a public sphere. Against this backdrop, the study envisages the promotion of linguistic diversity and indigenous African languages in the ZBC broadcasting. Data for this study was gathered from the ZBC employees, academics and the ZBC audience using questionnaires, interviews, and focus group discussions. As the local content and multilingual broadcasting policies translated into ZBC programming, this study detected a hierarchical organisation of the languages spoken in Zimbabwe on the radio and television stations where English is the most dominant language, while Shona and Ndebele dominate the minority languages, Shona dominates Ndebele and the supremacy of the Zezuru dialect in the Shona language is easily felt. This is a confirmation of the fragility of Zimbabwean linguistic nationalism in the ZBC which is convoluted by the ideological and political nature of the media, electronic colonisation, the political economy of broadcasting, the transformation of the ZBC public sphere by the market and state interests, the influence of the global media firms, and the relentless hegemony of the western countries in the world system. This study established that broadcasting in indigenous African languages is obligatory if the informative, communicative and symbolic functions of the public service broadcasting are to be achieved. However, this study contends that it is remarkably insufficient for linguists to minimally identify, lament and deplore the marginalisation and exclusion of the indigenous African languages in the ZBC without taking into account the economic, political and technological factors which contribute to the marginalisation and exclusion of these languages in the ZBC broadcasting in the context of the local content and multilingual broadcasting policies. Therefore, this study implores scholars in the discipline of language studies to ameliorate their sophistication by espousing a multidisciplinary approach to the study of language if they are to make meaningful arguments which can influence meaningful language policy outcomes instead of parroting. iii KEY WORDS Indigenous African languages, local content broadcasting policy, multilingual broadcasting policy, multilingualism, localism, local content, nation, national identity, critical theory, hegemony, public sphere, electronic colonisation, ideology, nationalism, media economics, Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), political economy, Africana critical theory, glocalisation, globalisation. iv DEDICATION To My son Ethan Phillip Munenyasha and Daughter, Brooklyn Theresa Tadiwanashe v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This piece of work is evidence of years of research in the areas of language, the media and nationalism. Whereas the ultimate compilation of this thesis was a solitary undertaking, its content and organisation are products of my interaction with people from different backgrounds, including academic and professional gurus who assisted me shape my ideas. Some provided me with the information I needed and some reviewed and edited this work at different stages, while others identified the salient gaps and weak points in my research, and suggested the possible ways of improving my arguments. Here special appreciation is expressed to my supervisor Prof. D.E. Mutasa and my Joint- supervisor Dr. L.P. Phaahla for their patience and their constructive critiques and recommendations which progressively improved this thesis to this level. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the University of South Africa’s Financial Aid Bureau for the financial assistance during my years of studying at UNISA. I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to Dr. T. Charamba, Dr. T. Mashingaidze, Dr. N.A. Mhiripiri, Dr. C. Tembo, Mr. Z. Mugari, Prof. W.L Chigidi, Prof. W. Magwa, Dr. F. Ndhlovu, Mr A. Viriri, Dr. W. Zivenge and the little comrades Albert Chibuwe and Lyton Ncube for the insightful debates I had with these cadres during the years of my studies. The contents of this thesis also reflect the interaction I had with the ZBC employees, African Languages and Culture students at Midlands State University in Zimbabwe and the ZBC audience in Zimbabwe. The reference page of this thesis reveals how much I heavily leaned on the works of other scholars whose arguments gave me profound understanding of the theoretical issues I was dealing with in my thesis. Here, special thanks go to Ms. S.G.H. Napaai of the UNISA library for helping me locating the study material I wanted for my studies. God bless you all, not less. To Mr. M. Charamba, Madison Magocha, Taurai Harare, Taurai Bwerinofa, Nation Magoche and Wishart Mashipe you made my regular visits and stay in Pretoria blissful. Finally, the compilation of a doctoral thesis takes time. It requires support of a family which unselfishly gives time. I respect you Ethan and Loveness for your indulgence during my time in self- imposed ‘exile’. To the family members who have always desired the completion of this thesis particularly the late Mbuya Vamukute, Dr. F and Mrs Masukume, and my mother- I thank you all. Above all, in the name of Jesus Christ, praise to the almighty God for his grace is abundant. vi LIST OF TABLES Table 5.1: Shows the target population, number of respondents per population segment, total number of respondents/segment……………………………………….109 Table 5:2: Distribution of the ZBC Radio listeners/television viewers by gender……………………………………………………………………….111 Table 5:3: Questionnaire respondents’ age………………….………………………….112 Table 5.4: Distribution of the ZBC radio listeners and television viewers by the first language……………………………………………………………………114 Table 5.5: Shows the distribution of ZBC radio listenership……………………….…114 Table 5.6: Broad views and actual questionnaire responses from the ZBC television viewers and radio listeners on the handling of the language issue on the ZBC radio and television stations in the context of the BSA (2001)………………………………………………………………………116 Table 5.7: Broad views and actual questionnaire responses from the ZBC television viewers and radio listeners on the relevance of language in the localisation of broadcasting content on ZBC radio and television…………………………118 Table 5.8: Broad views and actual responses from the questionnaire responses from the ZBC radio listeners and television viewers on the distribution of languages on ZBC radio and television stations……………………………121 Table 5.9: Respondents’ responses on the relevance of the ZBC multilingual broadcasting………………………………………………………………...124 Table 5.10: Broad views and actual responses from the ZBC television viewers and radio listeners on the importance of ZBC multilingual broadcasting towards the representation of the multilingual character of Zimbabwe………………125 vii Table 5.11: Broad views and actual responses from the ZBC television viewers and radio listeners on the representation of the Zimbabwean nation by the ZBC’s language choices and practices……………………………………………127 Table 5.12: General recommendations on the management of the language question and the national question on the ZBC radio and television stations……………131 Table 5.13: Broad views and actual responses from questionnaires from the ZBC personnel on the contribution of the ZBC local content to the development of indigenous African languages……………………………………………...134 Table 5.14: Broad views and actual responses on the ZBC Employees’ views on the distribution of languages on ZBC radio and television…………………….136 Table 5.15: The ZBC employees’ views on multilingual broadcasting and multilingualism in Zimbabwe………………………………………………………………...138 Table 5.16 Broad views and actual responses on the challenges faced by the ZBC in implementing multilingual broadcasting……………………………………139 Table 5.17: Broad view and actual responses from the ZBC employees towards improving the ZBC’s representation of the languages in Zimbabwe…………………..140 Table 5:18: Shows the distribution of interviewees by profession………………………142 Table 5:19: Distribution of the focus group discussion participants by gender…………182 Table 5.20: Shows the focus group number, number of participants, the participants and their place of origin, and first language spoken…………………………….184