A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Johannesburg, June 2016 / The study explores the ways in which the self and other are constructed and represented in a wide range of Zimbabwean political autobiographical narratives from 1972 to 2011. In particular, it focuses on the machinery of autobiography and the various narrative strategies deployed by autobiographers of different races, gender, ethnic origins and political persuasions to construct the self and other. It also considers how these representations of the self and other, combined with the narrative strategies used, bear upon the history and politics of Zimbabwe. The argument is advanced that through strategic and careful deployment of narrative in transforming lives lived to lives told, the selected narratives not only reconstruct the self and other but also narrate the history and politics of the nation. Therefore, the deployment of different narrative strategies, which include the uses of: authentication, patronage of authorship, historical recurrence and narcissistic rage, erasure, palimpsest and collaborative voices, and hauntology has resulted in the emergence of a seemingly minor genre into a competing narrative that is threatening to take over the place of hegemonic grand narratives and histories of Zimbabwe. These have all along been largely nativist and based on racial, ethnic and patriarchal prejudices, especially in the manner in which they narrated the political history of Zimbabwe. The study thus argues that the machinery of autobiographies has been deployed as political weaponry to present bleached images of the self and other. This situates Zimbabwe’s political autobiographies as literary and political projects and archives that narrate the nation through the story of the self and other. / MT2017

Literally hundreds of novels were written by white Rhodesians during the U.D.I. era of the 1960s and 1970s. Since Independence, however, not much more than a handful of literary texts have been produced by whites in Zimbabwe. This dissertation, therefore, involves an interrogation of both white discourse and the (reduced) space for white discourse in postcolonial Zimbabwean society. In addition to the displaced moral space, and the removal of the economic and political power base, there has been an appropriation of control over the material means of production of any discourse and white discourse, which has become accustomed to its position of superiority due to its dominance and dominating tendencies, has struggled to come to terms with its new, non-hegemonic 'space'. In an attempt to come to some understanding of the literary silence and marginalisation of white discourse in post-independence Zimbabwe there has to be some understanding of the voice that was formed during the British South Africa Company's administration and which reached a crescendo of authoritarian self-assertion at the declaration of unilateral independence. Vital to this discussion (in Part I) is an uncovering of the myths that were intrinsic to white discourse in the way that they were created as justification for settlement and to propagandise the aggressive defence of that space that was forged in an alien landscape. These myths have not been easily cast aside and, hence, have made it so difficult for white discourse to adapt to post-colonial society. Most Rhodesian novels were extremely partisan and promulgated these myths. Part II, discusses ex post facto novels about the war (from the white perspective) to investigate whether white discourse is recognising the lies that make up so much of its belief system. This investigation of this particular perspective of the war, then, will help to define at what stage white Zimbabweans are at in the development of a national culture. Part III takes this discussion of acculturation and national unity further. Furthermore, through the discussion of a number of novels in this chapter, it is argued that white discourse is struggling to come to terms with its non-hegemonic position and is continuing to attempt to assert its control. The 'space' available to the early settlers' discourse for appropriation, however, has been removed and, in the reduced space available to white discourse, one continued area of possible control is that of conservation.

The study discusses selected Shona novels‟ depiction of the theme of protest in the post-independence era in Zimbabwe. The ideas that these novels generate on protest are examined in the context of socio-political and socio-cultural issues in post-independent Zimbabwe. The study is an investigation of the extent to which protest literature is indispensable in the struggle of African people to liberate themselves from imperialist servitude. Novels on socio-political protest show how the government has failed to deliver on most of its promises because of neocolonialism and corruption. Novels on socio-cultural protest show how cultural innovations in post-independence Zimbabwe brought problems .The study comes to the conclusion that for literature to be reliable and useful to society it is not enough to highlight weaknesses in criticizing, but it should go beyond that and offer constructive and corrective criticism. This shows that protest literature is a vital tool for social transformation in Zimbabwe. / African languages / M.A. (African languages)

The study discusses selected Shona novels‟ depiction of the theme of protest in the post-independence era in Zimbabwe. The ideas that these novels generate on protest are examined in the context of socio-political and socio-cultural issues in post-independent Zimbabwe. The study is an investigation of the extent to which protest literature is indispensable in the struggle of African people to liberate themselves from imperialist servitude. Novels on socio-political protest show how the government has failed to deliver on most of its promises because of neocolonialism and corruption. Novels on socio-cultural protest show how cultural innovations in post-independence Zimbabwe brought problems .The study comes to the conclusion that for literature to be reliable and useful to society it is not enough to highlight weaknesses in criticizing, but it should go beyond that and offer constructive and corrective criticism. This shows that protest literature is a vital tool for social transformation in Zimbabwe. / African languages / M.A. (African languages)