Stultifying Gender Binaries in HIV and AIDS Related Novelistic Discourse: Implications for Gender Education

A ZJER article on gender and HIV- AIDS as depicted through the eyes of some Shona language novelists of Zimbabwe.The article is an exposition and a critique of selected novelistic voices in Shona, whose subject matter also includes HIV and AIDS. Yet the informing philosophy on HIV and AIDS in the novels is gender difference as the modus operandi and sine qua non of social existence. Such a conceptual mode leads the writers to place both genders on a grading scale to see which poses the greatest danger to society. The unequivocal position that emerges in the novels is that women are largely responsible for the transmission of HIV and AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. However, we argue that such a vision is narrow and narrowing, ideologically vapid, pedagogically subversive and dis-empowering especially considering that Shona literature (in particular the novels analyzed in this article) is taught in secondary schools , colleges and universities. Since the 'soul of a nation is found in the temple of its arts’, creative writers, who are the modern version of village storytellers are part of the national project on gender education, particularly in this HIV and AIDS era. Literary creators who discourse on HIV and AIDS cease to be mere ‘writers in fiction’ because these are incontrovertibly matters of life and death

Children's Literature, Child Engineering And The Search For An Ennobling Gender Paradigm

A ZJER article on children' s literature and child engineering.The article is an exegesis of selected works of Zimbabwean children’s literature in English. It discusses these works with a view to unravel perspectives on gender and child engineering. The conceptual and epistemological thrust in these works underlines the fact that they largely derive inspiration from and are coterminous with children’s oral narratives and games in which neither maleness nor femaleness is a handicap. This makes them an ideal sociological discourse and pedagogical resource in advancing knowledge on gender. Consequently, the article marshalls the contention that, though a neglected genre in Zimbabwean critical scholarship, written children’s literature is a befitting discursive instrument for the advancement of an ennobling gender consciousness and paradigm. It deconstructs the socially constructed identities of women as those who are permanently vulnerable and neurotically lacking the impetus to struggle and triumph. It conspicuously achieves this by depicting and locating girl children and mothers at the center of the struggle to transform weakness and vulnerability into strength. Thus, this kind of a curriculum on gender makes children’s literature critical in the investment of gender in nation building processes

Perspectives From the Past, Technology of the Present and the Future: A Critical Appreciation of the Oral Aesthetic in Mapenzi (1999) and Masango Mavi (1998)

This paper was presented at a Seminar held in the Department of African Languages and Literature, University of Zimbabwe in 2006.,The paper critically analyses the contrastive use of Shona oral art forms in Chiwome’s Masango Mavi and Mabasa’s Mapenzi. It proceeds from realisation that the two writers identify with Shona people’s oral experiences, which are referred to as oral technology in this paper. We advance the argument that Mabasa uses Shona people’s oral technology in a manner that is ideologically and pedagogically empowering. This is consistent with the value thrust of Shona people’s epistemological assumptions. On the other hand, Chiwome adopts a revisionist and deconstructionist conceptual scheme with regard to Shona people’s oral technology. The paper comes to the conclusion that, of the two writers, therefore, Mabasa’s vision maintains the line between tradition and continuity

A Critical Re-Engagement With Stultifying Gender Binaries in HIV and AIDS Related Shona Novelistic Discourses.

This paper was presented at a Seminar held in the Department of African Languages, University of Zimbabwe on 8 May 2006.,The paper is an exposition and a critique of selected novelistic voices in Shona whose subject matter also includes HIV/AIDS. Yet, the informing philosophy on Aids in the novels is gender difference as the modus operandi and sine qua non of social existence. Such a conceptual mode leads the writers to place both genders on a grading scale to see which poses the greatest danger to society. The unequivocal position that emerges in the novels is that women are largely responsible for the transmission of HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. However, we argue that such a vision is ideologically vapid and pedagogically subversive and disempowering in the contemporary African world where the fight against HIV/AIDS has assumed legendary levels. Creative writers are part of the legendary battle and as such must not duck their social obligations by arguing that their works are mere fiction that has little or no impact on society. Literary creators who discourse on HIV/AIDS cease to be mere ‘writers in fiction’ because these are incontrovertibly matters of life and death

Victimhood in Mungoshi's Shona Novels: A Critical Study.

The paper is a deliberate problematisation of the study of Mungoshi’s Shona literature with a view to initiate new critical perspectives absent in current Shona critical scholarship. We problematise the study of the author’s novels by advancing the argument that, while the author deals with the tragedy engendered largely by a crisis of identity, his novels are also in a similar crisis of identity. This crisis of identity manifests itself through the writer’s undeviating obsession with victimhood. It appears as if Mungoshi has become eloquent in visualising Shona experiential exigencies through the lenses of victimhood. However, we argue that such a position is not only culturally debilitating, it also constitutes a very narrow perspective of viewing family and cultural realities. We also problematise Mungoshi’s Shona literature by transcending the arguments raised by pioneer critics who include George Kahari and Emmanuel Mudhliwa Chiwome who tended to confine their analysis to the crisis of identity triggered by the clash between Shona and Western culture that the writer deals with. Their criticism is, therefore, celebratory

An Afro-centred View of HIV/AIDS as a Long Term European Project in Africa

This paper was accepted for publication by Zambezia and will appear in Vol.33 No.1.,Aids is an inverted colonialism. For this reason, the paper discusses HIV/AIDS as a new technology of African domination and exploitation in the 21st century and beyond. It transcends the mere understanding of HIV/AIDS in purely medical terms by locating it within the context of the ideological value thrust of the European cultural thought and behaviour, where the need for self-significance and superiority has degenerated into a form of pathology. The paper contends that HIV/AIDS must be understood within the context of Europe’s obsession with black xenophobia, power and domination. In this regard, it is not different from a conveyor belt of other European projects on African genocide like slavery, colonialism, neo-colonialism, globalisation and many others

Children's Literature, Child Engineering And The Search For An Ennobling Gender Paradigm

The article is an exegesis of selected works of Zimbabwean children’s literature in English. It discusses these works with a view to unravel perspectives on gender and child engineering. The conceptual and epistemological thrust in these works underlines the fact that they largely derive inspiration from and are coterminous with children’s oral narratives and games in which neither maleness nor femaleness is a handicap. This makes them an ideal sociological discourse and pedagogical resource in advancing knowledge on gender. Consequently, the article marshalls the contention that, though a neglected genre in Zimbabwean critical scholarship, written children’s literature is a befitting discursive instrument for the advancement of an ennobling gender consciousness and paradigm. It deconstructs the socially constructed identities of women as those who are permanently vulnerable and neurotically lacking the impetus to struggle and triumph. It conspicuously achieves this by depicting and locating girl children and mothers at the center of the struggle to transform weakness and vulnerability into strength. Thus, this kind of a curriculum on gender makes children’s literature critical in the investment of gender in nation building processes

Mass Neurosis, Entrapment, Closure and the Race’s Race of Life in Masango Mavi(1998) and Mapenzi (1999).

This paper was presented at a Seminar held in the Department of African Languages, University of Zimbabwe on 8 May 2006.,This paper critically analyses the projection of the African image and the condition of the African race as depicted in Emmanuel Chiwome’s Masango Mavi (1998), and Ignatius Mabasa’s Mapenzi (1999) in the broad context of popular images in Zimbabwean literature written in Shona and English. The condition is that of a trapped people who are irretrievably wallowing in mass neurosis, closure and entrapment. We praise what is praiseworthy and dispraise what is not praiseworthy. In this connection, we advance the argument that, in as much as these works are concerned with highlighting the problems bedevilling Zimbabwean Africans today, the images they create are simultaneously subversive and disempowering. It is unfair for our writers to institutionalise pessimism and nihilism while condemning philosophies of motivation and futurism to the backseat

The Use of Loan Translation as a Term-Creation Strategy in Duramazwi reMimhanzi

Abstract: The article presents loan translation as one of the key strategies that lexicographers at the African Languages Research Institute (ALRI) employed in the creation of new terminology during the compila-tion of the music dictionary Duramazwi reMimhanzi. Inspired by the authors' keen interest in lexicography and active involvement in the compilation of Duramazwi reMimhanzi, it discusses the advantages and disad-vantages of loan translation. Analysis of this term-creation strategy is done using Chimhundu's (1996) trans-lation and terminology development theory known as the scan and balance theory

Socio-Cultural Perspectives on Causes and Intervention Strategies of Male Infertility: A Case Study of Mhondoro-Ngezi, Zimbabwe

The subject of male infertility has, to a large extent, been broached from a western perspective that often insists on the biological factor. This approach has led to a narrowed and narrowing perception of male infertility in that it often neglects other possible crucial socio-cultural dimensions pertaining to the issue. The study is purely qualitative. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews (with males and females) are used to collect qualitative data. The study notes that, unlike in western inclined discourses, male infertility is an intricate condition that transcends biology. Witchcraft and punishment either from God or angry ancestors were avowed to be the determinants of male infertility. The study notes that the Shona people in Mhondoro-Ngezi exclusively rely on socio-cultural intervention strategies to solve the problem of male infertility. The study thus recommends a holistic approach to male infertility which integrates the socio-cultural perspectives in policy and programming, if progress is to be made in unearthing the underlying causes and treatment options. (Afr J Reprod Health 2013; 17[2]: 89-101).Le sujet de stérilité masculine a été abordé, dans une grande mesure, à travers une perspective occidentale qui insiste souvent sur le facteur biologique. Cette approche a conduit à une perception réduite et le rétrécissement de l'infertilité masculine en ce qu'elle néglige souvent d'autres possibles cruciaux dimensions socioculturelles relatives à la question. L'étude est purement qualitative. Des groupes de discussion et des entrevues avec des informateurs clés (mâles et femelles) sont utilisés pour recueillir des données qualitatives. L'étude note que, contrairement à l'ouest discours inclinés, l'infertilité masculine est une condition complexe qui transcende la biologie. La sorcellerie et la punition soit de Dieu ou des ancêtres en colère ont avoué être les déterminants de l'infertilité masculine. L'étude souligne le fait que le peuple Shona dans Mhondoro-Ngezi basées exclusivement sur des stratégies d'intervention socioculturelles pour résoudre le problème de l'infertilité masculine. L'étude recommande donc une approche holistique de l'infertilité masculine qui intègre les perspectives socioculturelles dans les politiques et les programmes, si des progrès doivent être accomplis dans déterrer les causes sous-jacentes et les options de traitement. (Afr J Reprod Health 2013; 17[2]: 89-101)