Mbira dzavadzimu music and performance practice has been in existence since the pre-colonial era. It played a crucial role in ritual and non-ritual activities of the Shona people of Zimbabwe. However, political, social and global influences as well as technological advancement have resulted in change of context and performance practice. Unfortunately, these have not been recorded for future generations. The major aim of the study is therefore to examine the change of context and performance practice of mbira dzavadzimu in Zimbabwe. This was achieved by reviewing mbira dzavadzimu music and performance practice within the modern setting of dandaro. I looked at change from a theoretical lens of the theory of diffusion, syncretism and mediatisation. The study was in the qualitative form superimposed on some case studies. Unstructured interviews, participant and non-participant observations were the main instruments used to collect data from both traditional and modern mbira performances. Data was also collected from museums, archives, radio and television stations. The study established that the changes in context and performance practice of mbira dzavadzimu in Zimbabwe were to a larger extent due to foreign influences such as colonialism, the coming of missionaries, modernisation, urbanisation, commercialisation, mediatisation, the use of modern technology and institutionalisation. Due to the aforementioned influences, the environmental settings, the change of context from sacred to secular, the relationship with ancestral spirits, musical practices, performance situations and quality of sound, have been modified and adjusted in response to the influences of the globalised world’s ever changing audience and performance space. In short, this has resulted in a shift of mbira performances from its traditional to modern settings, from the village to the city and onto the international scene with a new performer-audience setting. Various innovations were carried out on the instrument and its music as a result of the advent of modern technology. The use of microphones, modern amplification systems, recording studios, radio and television broadcast, audio and video cassettes, CDs, DVD, teaching of the instrument using audio and video instructional models and the use of internet sites in learning how to play mbira dzavadzimu and other instruments have become a reality. It has been evident from the study that urban and rural areas take up change in different ways and that in the former change is more pronounced than in the latter. Urban area communities are more “developed” than their rural counterparts because the former are more exposed to technological influences and the commercialisation of music. The study has also established that Zimbabwean mbira music is a good example of modern transculturality. The instrument and its music have played a major role in breaking down cultural boundaries and bringing the people of the world together for purposes of performing on the instrument. From the findings of this study, I attribute most of the changes to technologisation, for most of the changes that have taken place on mbira dzavadzimu were a result of the highly technologised way of life Zimbabweans now lead.

There is presumed dialogue between the book of Proverbs and Shona wisdom poems in dealing with the subject of home based nurturing towards societal stability. The underlying principle in both approaches, it seems, is that preparation for life begins in the home. Its negligence could account for societal breakdown. This study seeks to explore, on the one hand, the contemporary validity of home based nurturing as observed in these traditional settings, and on the other, to investigate whether this dialogue yields a methodological approach of using Africa to interpret the Old Testament. The assumption we are taking in this study is that societal stability begins in the home. A socio-rhetorical reading of Proverbs 1-9 seems to reveal that these texts were written from the perspective of a parent-teacher, with years of experience and attained wisdom, which creates a forum to pass on this knowledge to a child-student. The common approach in both traditional settings is that the speaker employs wisdom poems, (memorable compositions) and local sayings (observed phenomena) to illustrate or illumine a given everyday reality as the prescriptive solution for becoming successful in life. Thus, wisdom poems, both biblical and Shona, are almost consistently used to communicate truth and lessons for life. For that reason, the reading of the book of Proverbs and that of Shona wisdom poems demands a novel hermeneutical approach. / Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Biblical Studies)

There is presumed dialogue between the book of Proverbs and Shona wisdom poems in dealing with the subject of home based nurturing towards societal stability. The underlying principle in both approaches, it seems, is that preparation for life begins in the home. Its negligence could account for societal breakdown. This study seeks to explore, on the one hand, the contemporary validity of home based nurturing as observed in these traditional settings, and on the other, to investigate whether this dialogue yields a methodological approach of using Africa to interpret the Old Testament. The assumption we are taking in this study is that societal stability begins in the home. A socio-rhetorical reading of Proverbs 1-9 seems to reveal that these texts were written from the perspective of a parent-teacher, with years of experience and attained wisdom, which creates a forum to pass on this knowledge to a child-student. The common approach in both traditional settings is that the speaker employs wisdom poems, (memorable compositions) and local sayings (observed phenomena) to illustrate or illumine a given everyday reality as the prescriptive solution for becoming successful in life. Thus, wisdom poems, both biblical and Shona, are almost consistently used to communicate truth and lessons for life. For that reason, the reading of the book of Proverbs and that of Shona wisdom poems demands a novel hermeneutical approach. / Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Biblical Studies)

Given names, amongst the Shona people, are an occurrence of language use for specific purposes. This multidisciplinary ethnographic 1890-2006 study explores how insights from pragmatics, semiotics, semantics, among others, can be used to glean the intended and implied meaning(s) of various first names. Six sources namely, twenty seven NADA sources (1931-1977), one hundred and twenty five Shona novels and plays (1957-1998), four newspapers (2005), thirty one graduation booklets (1987-2006), five hundred questionnaires and two hundred and fifty semi-structured interviews were used to gather ten thousand personal names predominantly from seven Shona speaking provinces of Zimbabwe. The study recognizes current dominant given name categories and established eleven broad factors behind the use of given names. It went on to identify twenty-four broad based theme-oriented categories, envisaged naming trends and name categories. Furthermore, popular Shona male and female first names, interesting personal names and those people have reservations with have been recognized. The variety and nature of names Shona people prefer and their favoured address forms were also noted. The study reckons that Shona first names came as a result of unparallel anthroponomastic and linguistic innovation exuded by the Shona people in their bid to tame their reality. The study uses an anthroponym-pragma-semio-semantic decompositional theory, approximation model, contextualized implicature, maxims of brevity and tactfulness as the best approaches for explaining the varied meanings personal names embody. The study argues that it has made significant contributions to the body of knowledge in disciplines such as semantics, semiotics, pragmatics, anthropology, linguistics, sociology, history, geography, religion, education, philology, morphology and syntax, among others. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

Thesis (MTh (Practical Theology and Missiology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: During the study there was an attempt to understand the interplay between Christian faith and Shona tradition in the quest for meaning within the HIV and AIDS pandemic. It was revealed that HIV/AIDS has caused unimaginable suffering among all segments of society in Zimbabwe but impacts more on women and children. The suffering caused by HIV and AIDS has inevitably raised the question of meaning which is urgent and widespread, making people turn to the Christian faith or to Shona tradition for answers to their suffering. During the study there was an attempt to find out why Shona Christians revert to Shona traditions in quest for meaning within the HIV and AIDS scourge. It has been revealed that one single answer does not exist and that the quest for meaning as the sum total of answers does not exist. The quest for meaning is about discovering a God-image which is appropriate to give meaning in suffering by being involved and engaged with the existential realities of people within the HIV and AIDS pandemic. It was made clear during the study that the quest for meaning within the HIV and AIDS pandemic has greatly challenged both belief systems to the extent that the Shona Christians, not only revert to tradition in quest for meaning but move back and forth, in and out of both belief systems and remain confused about who God is. The dilemma for the Shona Christians in quest for meaning therefore is a crisis of faith, a personal crisis of identity and a continuous search for meaning. In light of this devastating pandemic, it is an undeniable fact that the quest for meaning among the Shona Christians within the HIV and AIDS pandemic challenges the SDA church to reinterpret and reframe pastoral theology in a way that is relevant to discovering a God who can be trusted to give meaning in suffering. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In die studie is daar gepoog om die wisselwerking tussen die Christelike geloof en Shona tradisie te verstaan – veral in die konteks van die soeke na betekenis binne die MIV/VIGS pandemie. Daar is gevind dat MIV/VIGS ongekende lyding veroorsaak in alle sektore van die gemeenskap in Zimbabwe, maar dat die impak daarvan groter is op vroue en kinders. Die lyding wat deur MIV/VIGS veroorsaak word, het onvermydelik vrae laat ontstaan met betrekking tot die vraag na betekenis. Hierdie vrae is dringend en wydversprei en veroorsaak dat mense hulle tot die Christelike verloof of na die Shona tradisies wend vir antwoorde rakende hulle lyding. Daar is gepoog om uit te vind hoekom Shona Christene hulle tot die Shona tradisie wend vir antwoorde op hierdie kwessie. Daar is gevind dat daar nie een enkele antwoord vir hierdie verskynsel bestaan nie, maar dat die soeke na betekenis eintlik 'n soeke na 'n Godsbeeld is wat betekenis sal verleen deur betrokke te wees in die eksistensiële werklikhede van mense binne die MIV/VIGS pandemie. Dit het tydens die studie duidelik geword dat die soeke na betekenis tydens die pandemie beide geloofsisteme tot so 'n mate bevraagteken het, dat Shona Christene hulle nie net tot die Shona tradisies gewend het nie, maar ook heen en weer en in en uit beweeg tussen die sisteme en steeds verward bly oor wie God is. Vir die Shona Christen word die dilemma dus 'n geloofskrisis, 'n persoonlike identiteitskrisis en 'n volgehoue soeke na betekenis. In die lig van hierdie verskriklike pandemie en in die soeke na betekenis tydens die MIV/VIGS pandemie, word die Sewendedagadventistekerk uitgedaag om hulle pastorale teologie op so 'n wyse te herinterpreteer en te herbewoord dat dit relevant is tot die ontdekking van 'n God wat vertrou kan word om betekenis aan lyding te gee.

Given names, amongst the Shona people, are an occurrence of language use for specific purposes. This multidisciplinary ethnographic 1890-2006 study explores how insights from pragmatics, semiotics, semantics, among others, can be used to glean the intended and implied meaning(s) of various first names. Six sources namely, twenty seven NADA sources (1931-1977), one hundred and twenty five Shona novels and plays (1957-1998), four newspapers (2005), thirty one graduation booklets (1987-2006), five hundred questionnaires and two hundred and fifty semi-structured interviews were used to gather ten thousand personal names predominantly from seven Shona speaking provinces of Zimbabwe. The study recognizes current dominant given name categories and established eleven broad factors behind the use of given names. It went on to identify twenty-four broad based theme-oriented categories, envisaged naming trends and name categories. Furthermore, popular Shona male and female first names, interesting personal names and those people have reservations with have been recognized. The variety and nature of names Shona people prefer and their favoured address forms were also noted. The study reckons that Shona first names came as a result of unparallel anthroponomastic and linguistic innovation exuded by the Shona people in their bid to tame their reality. The study uses an anthroponym-pragma-semio-semantic decompositional theory, approximation model, contextualized implicature, maxims of brevity and tactfulness as the best approaches for explaining the varied meanings personal names embody. The study argues that it has made significant contributions to the body of knowledge in disciplines such as semantics, semiotics, pragmatics, anthropology, linguistics, sociology, history, geography, religion, education, philology, morphology and syntax, among others. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Brite Divinity School, Texas Christian University, 2007. / Title from dissertation title page (viewed Dec. 11, 2007). Includes abstract. "Dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Brite Divinity School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Biblical interpretation." Includes bibliographical references.

The history of conflict in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe (ELCZ) has had negative results for the life of the church. This history has seen at its best the disintegration of the strongest social cords that ever existed, including the indigenous resources ubuntu and ukama. In the communal life of the Shona and the Ndebele in Zimbabwe, the concepts of ukama and ubuntu challenge, in a neighbourly way, negative views that people hold against each another. This position is strengthened by Luther’s teaching on neighbourliness through the metaphor of “becoming a Christ for your neighbour.” This metaphor expresses the deeper relationship that exists within members of the same faith shared with those outside their boundaries. Luther’s notion of neighbourliness can be combined with the local resources to achieve unity and break tensions within the local communities in Zimbabwe. Divisions and tensions tarnish human identities and mar the future potential of people in the country in general. Besides, the tensions and divisions distract the vision and purpose of the church in society. An indigenous African theology of unity can be constructed to counter the dehumanization of humanity. This study attempts to construct a local theological framework of unity that can guide the ELCZ in the continuing divisions and tensions that exist. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2010.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2006. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 187-192).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 2008. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 205-212).