Acting out the myths : the power of narrative discourse in shaping the Zimbabwe Conflict of Matabeleland, 1980-1987.
Loading...
Date
2009
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
This thesis interrogates the Matabeleland disturbances of 1980-1987 by analysing the
conflict narratives promulgated by the ZANU-PF and how these narratives directly
impacted the socio-political construction of violence that was enacted during that period.
Of critical relevance is the interplay between the revolutionary narratives manufactured
and imposed by the ZANU-PF regime and the myriad of contrasting, yet subjugated
counter-narratives that were formulated as alternative resistances by the recipient
communities. Through in-depth interview and document analysis methodologies, this
research deconstructs the generative nature of scripted violence through the exploration
of five salient themes employed by the ZANU-PF to produce its political meta-narrative:
Ethnicity, Nationalism, Loyalty, Legitimacy and Unity. This study explores the power
and function of narrative discourse in the formulation of ethnic identities, nation-state
ordering, historical exclusion, political discipline, and social uniformity. The premise of
this dissertation suggests that durable peace in Zimbabwe will only be realised to the
degree that the silenced victims of the Matabeleland massacres are afforded a public
voice and a sustained recognition in the historic, collective memory of that nation.
Description
Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2009.
Keywords
Peace--Citizen participation--Zimbabwe., Conflict management--Zimbabwe., Discourse analysis, Narrative., Theses--Conflict resolution and peace studies.