Abstract
One of the ways in which colonialism played out in Zimbabwe is illustrated by the fact that the demand for political control was conflated with a struggle for cultural emancipation, which was in turn driven by the centrality of orature. This centrality persists in postindependence Zimbabwe and its influence is discernible in “new” forms of cultural expressions such as television, radio, and film productions. A reason proffered for this is the idea that the dynamism of orature allows it to serve as a platform for both resistance and accommodation. The oral concept of hunhu/ubuntu (unhu in some dialects) has been proposed as a valid philosophical approach which represents the core ontological and epistemological foundation of Bantu-speaking people. This is because it is presumed to encompass the physical mode of existence as well as an array of values—moral, legal and esthetic in the collective consciousness. This chapter focuses on how Dangarembga uses the portrayal of the fragmented, mutilated body of a woman to draw attention to the limitations of hunhu/ubuntu by pointing out that while it might ostensibly apply to all community relations; this philosophical system does not quite focus on marital codes or gender interactions. As such, hunhu’s potential as a powerful tool for civic change remains handicapped.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Shona, a Bantu language is the language of the Shona people who are the largest ethnic group in Zimbabwe and they constitute about 70 % of the population of the country, which is located in the Southern African region. The Shona mostly occupy the northern and eastern parts of the country which attained independence in 1980 after a long-drawn-out struggle.
References
Bauman, R. (2004). A world of others’ words: Cross-cultural perspectives on intertextuality. Malden: Blackwell.
Bauman, R., & Briggs, C. (1990). Poetics and performance as critical perspectives on language and social Life. Annual Review of Anthropology, 19, 59–88. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2155959.
Buck, C. (1992). The Bloomsbury guide to women’s literature (pp. 247). New York: Prentice Hall General Reference.
Campbell, H. (2005). Reclaiming Zimbabwe: The exhaustion of the patriarchal model of liberation. Trenton: Africa World Press.
Chimuka, T. A. (2001). Ethics among the Shona. Zambezia, 28(1), 23–37.
Chimuka, T. A. (2008). Kugara Hunzwana: Conceptions of social cohesion in an African culture. In D. Kaulemu (Ed.), The struggles after the struggle: Zimbabwean philosophical studies. Washington, DC: Council for Research in Values and Philosophy.
Chinyowa, K. (2001). Orality in Shona religious rituals. In M. Vambe (Ed.), Orality and cultural identities in Zimbabwe. Gweru: Mambo Press.
Dangarembga, T. (Director), & Koschke, O. (Producer). (2005). Kare kare zvako (Mother’s Day). Zimbabwe: Pangolin Films.
Hadebe, S. (2001). The role of orature in the nationalist struggle in Zimbabwe. In M. Vambe (Ed.), Orality and cultural identities in Zimbabwe. Gweru: Mambo Press.
Hamer, J. (1994). Commensality, process and the moral order: An example from southern Ethiopia. Africa, 64, 126–144. doi:10.2307/1161097.
Iyasere, S. (1980). African oral traditions: Criticism as performance. In E. D. Jones (Ed.), African literature today: Myth and history. London: Heinemann.
Kotzin, M. (2008). Tsitsi Dangarembga, interview with Miriam Kotzin. Per Contra. Retrieved from http://www.percontra.net/10tsitsi.htm. Accessed 30 Nov 2010.
Mangena, F. (2009). The search for an African feminist ethic: A Zimbabwean perspective. Journal of International Women’s Studies, 11(2).
McClintock, A. (1995). Imperial leather: Race, gender and sexuality in the colonial contest. New York: Routledge.
Ncube, B. S. (2001). The effect of oral forms in Ndebele poetry. In M. Vambe (Ed.), Orality and cultural identities in Zimbabwe. Gweru: Mambo Press.
Nordic African Institute (NAI). (2003). Tsitsi Dangarembga. http://www.nai.uu.se/research/finalized_projects/cultural_images_in_and_of/zimbabwe/film/dangarembga/. Accessed 27 Nov 2009.
Nyathi, A. (2001). Imbongi arts production and promotion. In M. Vambe (Ed.), Orality and cultural identities in Zimbabwe. Gweru: Mambo Press.
Okpewho, I. (1992). African oral literature. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Opoku-Agyemang, N. J. (1999). Gender-role perceptions in the Akan folktale. Research in African Literatures, 30(1), 116–139. http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/journals/research_in_african_literatures/v030/30.1agyemang.pdf. Accessed 5 June 2007.
Pearce, C. (1990). Tsika, hunhu and the moral education of primary school children. Zambezia, 17(2). http://archive.lib.msu.edu/DMC/African%20Journals/pdfs/Journal%20of%20the%20University%20of%20Zimbabwe/vol17n2/juz017002004.pdf. Accessed 16 Nov 2009.
Pfukwa, C. (2001). Unwritten ethics and moral values: The human face of Chimurenga II. In M. Vambe (Ed.), Orality and cultural identities in Zimbabwe. Gweru: Mambo Press.
Ramose, M. (1999). African philosophy through ubuntu. Harare: Mond Books.
Rappaport, J. (1995). Empowerment meets narrative: Listening to stories and creating settings. American Journal of Community Psychology, 23(5), 795–807. http://dpss.psy.unipd.it/link/files/3-Rapport.1995.Empowerment.meets.narrative.AJCP1.pdf. Accessed 27 Nov 2010.
Rekopantswe, M. (2002). Wombs as God’s laboratories: Pentecostal discourses of femininity in Zimbabwe. Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, 72(4), 549–568. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3556701. Accessed 22 Sept 2010.
Schmidt, E. (1992). Peasants, traders, and wives: Shona women in the history of Zimbabwe, 1870–1939. Portsmouth: Heinemann Educational Books.
Vale, L., & White, L. (1991). Power and the praise poem: Southern African voices in history. Charlottesville: University of Virginia.
Vambe, M. (2001). Orality and cultural identities in Zimbabwe. In M. Vambe (Ed.), Orality and cultural identities in Zimbabwe. Gweru: Mambo Press.
Veit-Wild, F. (2005). Tsitsi Dangarembga’s film Kare Kare Zvako: The survival of the butchered woman. Research in African Literatures, 36(2), 132–138.
Wa Thiong’o, N. (2007). Notes towards a performance theory of orature. Performance Research, 12(3), 4–7.
Wiredu, K. (2009). An oral philosophy of personhood: Comments on philosophy and orality. Research in African Literatures, 40(1), 8–18. http://muse.jhu.edu.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/jounals/research_in_african_literatur es/v040/40.1.wiredu.pdf.
Xavier, I. (1997). Allegories of underdevelopment: Aesthetics and politics in modern Brazilian cinema. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Yue, G. (1999). The mouth that begs: hunger, cannibalism, and the politics of eating in modern China. Durham: Duke University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Oyinsan, B. (2014). Orature as a Site for Civil Contestation: Film and the Decolonization of Space and Place in Tsisti Dangarembga’s Kare Kare Zvako (Mother’s Day) 2005. In: Obadare, E. (eds) The Handbook of Civil Society in Africa. Nonprofit and Civil Society Studies, vol 20. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8262-8_22
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8262-8_22
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-8261-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-8262-8
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)