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. / African Languages / D. Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:unisa/oai:uir.unisa.ac.za:10500/9486 |
| Date | 06 1900 |
| Creators | Rwafa, Urther |
| Contributors | Mutasa, D. E., Vambe, Maurice Taonezvi |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (xv, 320 leaves) : illustrations, application/pdf |
| Rights | University of South Africa |
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