Academic literature on the topic 'Shona language – Social aspects – Zimbabwe'

This study investigates the Zimbabwean women listeners of a gender-focused radio programme Nguva yevanhukadzi (Time for Women) to find out what meanings they take from the programme. Located within the broad theoretical framework of cultural studies and drawing on audience reception theories, the study focuses on the ways in which Shona-speaking women bring their understandings of their social roles, derived from their lived socio-cultural experiences of patriarchy, to their decoding of the text. The study was set in Harare’s high-density suburb of Mbare and used the qualitative research methods of individual and focus group interviews. The study was conducted against the backdrop of the signing of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) of September 2008, which ended the impasse among the warring political parties, ZANU PF, MDC-T and MDC and introduced a new era of collectively tackling socio-economic development, including redressing gender disparities through women’s empowerment. This study examines the factors shaping the audiences’ readings of the programme and seeks to establish whether the mass media has determining power on its audience in the reception of messages or if the audiences (women) have interpretive freedom. Using Hall’s (1980) Encoding/ Decoding model, the study examines the factors that influence the audiences’ choice in making preferred, negotiated or oppositional readings and the arguments they advance in line with those readings. While the interviews revealed that most of the female listeners “negotiated” the dominant encoded meanings, seeking their relevance to their varied situations and contexts (O’ Sullivan et al. 1994:152; Ang 1990: 159), of interest is the manner in which the women dealt with the discourse of patriarchy within the context of promoting women empowerment. The contestation between women empowerment and addressing patriarchy reflected the subverted notions of maintaining the status quo, while applauding the women’s commitment and ability to interrogate the practicality of issues under discussion and drawing lessons relevant to their day to day lives prior to making the preferred reading. As such, the study revealed that preferred readings are not always automated, but can be a result of intense interrogation among media audiences.

Thesis (M. A. (Clinical Psychology)) --University of Limpopo, 2018<br>Studies by the World Health Organisation have shown that mental illness is an international health concern across the globe, with one in four people (25%) suffering from mental disorders in both developed and developing countries. In many African countries traditional health practitioners are the health care providers of choice for individuals, families and communities. The aim of this study was to explore methods used by Shona speaking traditional health practitioners in the prevention of mental illness in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. A qualitative research design was used in the present study. Ten Shona speaking traditional health practitioners (male=9; female=1) were selected through purposive sampling and requested to participate in the study. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews and analysed through thematic content analysis. It was found that traditional healers tend to commonly understand and conceptualise mental illness in terms of the causes instead attaching nosological labels to these conditions. The findings of the study also show that most of the traditional health practitioners interviewed had similar methods of preventing mental illness both in families and individuals. Culture was found to be central in shaping how the traditional health practitioners understand and prevent mental illness. Ancestors were found to be pivotal in specifically determining the methods to prevent mental illness for each client. The study is concluded by recommending closer collaboration between the dominant Western health care system and traditional healing in order to improve mental health care provision in Zimbabwe.

This dissertation investigates the role of media in the identity construction of minority language speakers in Botswana, with a focus on the Bakalanga. The study is informed by debates around the degree to which the media can be seen to play a central role in the way the Bakalanga define their own identity. As part of this, it considers how such individuals understand their own sense of identity to be located within processes of nation-building, and in particular in relation to the construction of a national identity. It focuses, more particularly, on the extent to which the absence of particular languages within media can be said to impact on such processes of identity formation. The study responds, at the same time, to the argument that people’s more general lived experiences and their broader social environment have a bearing on how they make sense of the media. As such, it can be seen to critique the assumption that the media necessarily play a central and defining role within processes of socialisation. In order to explore the significance of these debates for a study of the Bakalanga, the dissertation includes a contextual discussion of language policy in Botswana, the impact of colonial history on such policy and the implications that this has had for the linguistic identity of the media. It also reviews theoretical debates that help to make sense of the role that the media plays within the processes through which minority language speakers construct their own identity. Finally, it includes an empirical case study, consisting of qualitative interviews with individuals who identify themselves as Bakalanga. It is argued that, because of the absence of their own language from the media, the respondents do not describe the media as central to their own processes of identity formation. At the same time, the respondents recognise the importance of the media within society, and are preoccupied with their own marginalisation from the media. The study explores the way the respondents make sense of such marginalisation, as demonstrated by their attempts to seek alternative media platforms in which they can find recognition of their own language and social experience. The study thus reaffirms the significance of media in society – even for people who feel that they are not recognised within such media.

The study sought to explore possibilities of harmonising Shona-Nyai cross-border varieties in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Emerging from the responses were problems of attitudes, ignorance of what the harmonisation project entails and the different levels of development among the varieties to be harmonised. Participants believed that the challenges they faced could be resolved and they proposed some intervention strategies. Results from the questionnaire, the interview and documents analysed affirmed the generally held view that, the future of Shona-Nyai as a language and culture is securely in the hands of the speakers’ initiatives. The argument of the study has been that, the success of such a harmonisation project depends on the presence of favourable and conducive political and economic conditions through enabling language engineering activities. Information collected from the questionnaires was mainly presented in tables and information from interviews and document analysis was presented qualitatively in words. The language as a right and the language as resource orientations of language planning guided this study. The intention was to show that the preservation of linguistic diversity is important in the maintenance of group and individual identity and harmonisation should further this cause. Findings from this thesis indicate that for a successful harmonisation project to take place there is need for research in the documentation of underdeveloped Shona-Nyai varieties so that they have some presence in the education domain. The study recommends that people’s mindsets must be changed by packaging the harmonisation project in a way which they understand and appreciate. A holistic approach in solving the language problem can be achieved through a mixed approach of language policy formulation.<br>African Languages<br>D. Litt. et Phil. (African languages)

The aim of this study was to explore language censorship in Zimbabwean films in Shona and English. The study concentrated on the themes of politics, culture and economic in the genre of the documentary, feature and short film genres. It was demonstrated that the Zimbabwean laws enabled authorities to impose censorship strategies that ranged from banning, restriction, persecution of filmmakers, withdrawal of films from circulation, and threats of withdrawal of permits of film retailers. These visible, direct and banal forms of censorship have forced some filmmakers to flee the country. Most of the filmmakers who have remained in the country have been forced to deal with themes that appear harmless to the state. This state induced form of self-censorship on the filmmakers has resulted in the production of uncritical, and unreflective films whose staple diet were embedded in cultural stereotypes. The study argued that language is a signifying practice that cannot be interpreted in a single direction. Thus, despite these realities of film censorship some filmmakers deliberately encoded or used verbal and visual film language that generated surplus meanings with which the films could be re-read in ways that reveal new linguistic strategies to evade and challenge both the restrictive censorship laws as well as criticise the undemocratic political culture that has taken root in Zimbabwe. The study used eclectic theories such as Marxism, audience-reception approach, critical legal theories and language theories to analyse the films. The explanatory capacity of these theories helped to reveal the contradictory ways in which the desire to impose restrictions on film meanings was constantly undermined in the innovative language of the films.<br>African Languages<br>D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

MA (English)<br>Department of English<br>The study analysed the language used by The Herald and Daily News journalists to report on the marriage conflict between the former Prime Minister Morgan Richard Tsvangirai of Zimbabwe and Ms Locardia Karimatsenga. The Herald is a state-owned newspaper and Daily News is a privately-owned newspaper. An analysis of the marriage conflict enabled readers, in a magnified way, to see how ideological differences between the public and private media in Zimbabwe are represented. The study examined the similarities and/or differences in the manner in which the marriage conflict was represented in both papers. The study also examined the language used in the headlines, established the sources used and evaluated the ideological stances of the two newspapers. The study utilised the case study design. The researcher only focused on articles which were published during the month when the former Prime Minister married Ms Elizabeth Macheka in September 2012. It was also the month when the media published many articles about the marriage saga. Seventeen articles were analysed, eleven from The Herald and six from the Daily News. Framing and Representation theories were deemed appropriate to analyse the articles. Critical Discourse Analysis and semiotic analysis were used to analyse the selected articles and visuals which accompanied them. The findings of the study revealed that The Herald reports tended to be biased against the Prime Minister, while the Daily News was more objective in its use of language.

The thesis has investigated the place of Zimbabwean indigenous intangible heritage in a globalising environment. It used the Shona language and intangible heritage situation as a case study. It argued that Zimbabwean intangible heritage is continually being eroded by the agents of globalisation and that the only way of safeguarding it from extinction is through the preservation of Zimbabwean indigenous languages. The thesis has come to this conclusion after having established that there is an intimate and inseparable bond between language and its intangible values so much that it is not possible to talk of one devoid of the other. The relationship has been seen to be symbiotic. The Shona language has been established to embody, express and to be a carrier of all the intangible heritage of its speakers into the future by re-living them in the people’s daily life while these intangible values have been seen to conserve the language through their continued practice by the people. The research has also established that Zimbabwean intangible heritage marginalisation has roots in colonialism, dating as far back as the early Christian missionary days. The Shona intangible heritage has also been seen to be still of value despite the global threats as evidenced by the people’s continued re-living of it through language. The thesis has also noted that the Zimbabwean Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture is still using out-dated colonial language policies that still further the ascendancy of English and the intangible values it stands for while indigenous languages and values are marginalised in the education system, in government and in industry thereby worsening their predicament in the global environment. The current socio-economic and political developments in the country and some Shona novelists in Shona and in English are also culprits in this whole process as they continue to demonise and infantilise Zimbabwean intangible heritage. The thesis has therefore asserted that Zimbabwean intangible heritage is most likely to be eroded from the face of the earth if no measures are taken to safeguard it from extinction. It has therefore wound up by arguing that the survival of Zimbabwean intangible heritage lies in the survival of Zimbabwean indigenous languages through which it continues to be practised and felt by its people. The thesis has therefore recommended that the Zimbabwean government adopt sound language policies that safeguard the survival of Zimbabwean indigenous languages to enable the indigenous intangible heritage of the people to survive as well as the two are intricately related.<br>African Languages<br>(D.Litt.et.Phil.(African Languages))

Various researches across the world have established that graffiti writing is a universal social practice. The actual occurrence or manifestation of graffiti is however far from being universal cross-culturally. It varies based on a wide array of social variables. This research therefore set out to interrogate the occurrence of graffiti writing as a unique social practice in Zimbabwean urban areas. Three Zimbabwean urban areas (Harare, Chitungwiza and Gweru) were specifically sampled for the collection of graffiti inscriptions on various surfaces which included toilet walls, durawalls as well as road signs. Graffiti data collected from the various surfaces was complemented by reader feedback contributions from The Herald and Newsday. Focus group discussions provided a third tier of data aimed at establishing participants’ multiple reactions towards the practice of graffiti. Analysis of data was done based on three significant sections of participants’ attitudes towards graffiti, urban street protest graffiti as well as educational graffiti collected from various toilet surfaces in urban areas. Participants’ attitudes towards graffiti revealed varied reactions towards the practice of graffiti. The reactions were partly influenced by the participants’ ages as well as levels of education and maturity. Age and maturity proved to be predictors of the extent to which participants were willing to be pragmatic in so far as the appreciation of graffiti writing is concerned. Older and more experienced and mature participants were thus willing to look past the ‘deviant’ nature of graffiti writing to consider the various pressures that force writers to take to the wall. Urban street protest graffiti is a term coined in this research to capture the unique type of graffiti that is written on various surfaces along streets in urban areas. This highly textual graffiti is drastically different from the post-graffiti commonly found in Western urban cities and is aptly referred to as street art. Urban street protest mainly manifested itself in Zimbabwean urban areas in two main themes of protest inscriptions directed towards the operations of Zimbabwe’s electrical energy supplier (commonly referred to by its former name of the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority - ZESA) as well as through political inscriptions. Political inscriptions expose a high degree of nuances that have not been hitherto discussed in literature on political graffiti inscriptions. The research analysed how graffiti writing can be employed for both pro-hegemonic and anti-hegemonic purposes. Inscriptions in high schools and tertiary institutions highlighted a differential construction of discourse on a gendered basis. Inscriptions in female toilets indicated a tendency of graffiti writers to perpetuate dominant educational, health, traditional and religious discourses which assert male dominance. The inscriptions show a major preoccupation with restricting or policing of female sexuality by fellow students mainly through the discursive usages of social corrective Shona labels such as hure (prostitute) and gaba ([big] tin). These are labels that are virtually absent in graffiti inscriptions in male toilets which is suggestive of a situation whereby female inscriptions are conservative. A consequence of such conservatism in inscriptions in female toilets is that no new sexualities are reconstructed and negotiated through discourses in discursive spaces provided by the inherently private nature of toilets in general. Thus, cultural and religious normative expectations are regarded as still weighing heavily on female high school writers in the construction and negotiation of sexuality and gendered behaviours, attitudes, norms and values through discourses constructed through graffiti. In contrast, male inscriptions highlight a major subversion of dominant discourses on abstinence and responsible sexual behaviours and attitudes. Corrective social labels such as ngochani (gay person) are mainly employed to pressure males into indulging and engaging in heterosexual behaviours. Discourses constructed through graffiti inscriptions in male toilets also demonstrate how sexuality is constructed through debate on the appropriateness of marginalised sexualities such as masturbation and homosexuality.<br>African Languages<br>D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

Text in English with summaries in English, Shona and isiXhosa<br>Bibliography: leaves 140-144<br>Personal names carry significant meaning in African cultures. The research critically argues that among the Shona speaking people of Zimbabwe, given names are not just mere tags or labels but carry and convey a significant message to the family or society of the named person. The message is often descriptive of the person named or their family. It describes the circumstances around the birth of the named or the conditions of their parents or their country and or their environment. The research further shows that names derived from socio-cultural experiences may have a plurality of meanings and also that they may be used to predict or explain something about the person named, including their parents or environment. Philosophically then, to name is to confirm, or to negate, and to confer something to the person named or to describe the circumstances of their birth.<br>Mazita edungamunhu ane chirevo mutsika nemagariro evanhu vemuAfrica. Donzvo retsvakurudzo ino rinotaura nezvevanhu verudzi rweChiShona munyika yeZimbabwe, richiti mazita anopihwa vana haangova mazita chete, asi anetsanangudzo yakakosha zvikuru kumhuri kana kuti munzvimbo yaberekerwa munhu wacho, kana kuti kumuridzi wezita racho. Tsananguro yacho inotaura nezvemuridzi wezita kana kuti kumhuri yaaberekerwa. Tsananguro yacho inotsanangudza mamiriro enguva yaberekwa munhu wacho kana kuti tsika nemagariro evabereki vake kana mamiriro emunyika yaaberekwa kana kuti munzvimbo yaaberekerwa. Tsvakurudzo ino inoenderera mberi ichitaura kuti mazita evanhu anobva mutsika memagariro evanhu anoreva zvinhu zvakawanda nekuti dzimwe nguva anoshandiswa kutaura zvichauya kana kutsanangura nezvemuridzi wezita kana vabereki vake, dzimwe dzenguva nzvimbo yavanogara. Saka fungidziro inoti, kupa zita kubvumirana kana kupikisana, kana kuti kugadza chigaro pamunhu kana kuti katsanangudza mamiriro akaita nguva yaaberekwa.<br>gama lomntu linentsingiselo enzulu kwiinkcubeko zama-Afrika. Uphando lubonisa ngokucacileyo ukuba phakathi kwabantu baseZimbabwe abantetho isisiShona, igama alinikwayo umntu asinto nje yokuphawula, koko ngumyalezo obalulekileyo omalunga nosapho okanye uluntu lwalowo uthiywa igama. Lo myalezo ula ngokuchaza ngalowo uthiywayo okanye usapho lwakhe. Kuchazwa iimeko ezingqonge ukuzalwa kwakhe okanye imeko yabazali bakhe, isizwe sakhe okanye indalo ebangqongileyo. Uphando lubonakalisa ukuba amagama asekelwe kumava enkcubeko nezentlalo anganeentsingiselo eziliqela. Ngaphaya koko, la magma asenokusetyeniziselwa ukuqikelela okanye ukucacisa okuthile malunga nalo uthiywayo, abazali bakhe okanye indalo ebangqongileyo. Ngokwefilosofi ke ngoko, ukuthiya igama kukungqina okanye kukuphikisa, kukubethelela inyaniso ethile ngomntu othiywa igama, ikwakukuchaza iimeko zokuzalwa kwakhe.<br>Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology<br>M. Phil. (Philosophy)

The thesis has investigated the place of Zimbabwean indigenous intangible heritage in a globalising environment. It used the Shona language and intangible heritage situation as a case study. It argued that Zimbabwean intangible heritage is continually being eroded by the agents of globalisation and that the only way of safeguarding it from extinction is through the preservation of Zimbabwean indigenous languages. The thesis has come to this conclusion after having established that there is an intimate and inseparable bond between language and its intangible values so much that it is not possible to talk of one devoid of the other. The relationship has been seen to be symbiotic. The Shona language has been established to embody, express and to be a carrier of all the intangible heritage of its speakers into the future by re-living them in the people’s daily life while these intangible values have been seen to conserve the language through their continued practice by the people. The research has also established that Zimbabwean intangible heritage marginalisation has roots in colonialism, dating as far back as the early Christian missionary days. The Shona intangible heritage has also been seen to be still of value despite the global threats as evidenced by the people’s continued re-living of it through language. The thesis has also noted that the Zimbabwean Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture is still using out-dated colonial language policies that still further the ascendancy of English and the intangible values it stands for while indigenous languages and values are marginalised in the education system, in government and in industry thereby worsening their predicament in the global environment. The current socio-economic and political developments in the country and some Shona novelists in Shona and in English are also culprits in this whole process as they continue to demonise and infantilise Zimbabwean intangible heritage. The thesis has therefore asserted that Zimbabwean intangible heritage is most likely to be eroded from the face of the earth if no measures are taken to safeguard it from extinction. It has therefore wound up by arguing that the survival of Zimbabwean intangible heritage lies in the survival of Zimbabwean indigenous languages through which it continues to be practised and felt by its people. The thesis has therefore recommended that the Zimbabwean government adopt sound language policies that safeguard the survival of Zimbabwean indigenous languages to enable the indigenous intangible heritage of the people to survive as well as the two are intricately related.<br>African Languages<br>D. Litt. et. Phil.(African Languages)