Gukurahundi as a Cultural Event: Cultural Politics and the Culture of Violence in Matabeleland
The desire of <i>Gukurahundi</i> survivors for cultural platforms that enable them to discuss, mourn, and commemorate their loved ones is now very loud in Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland and Midlands provinces. While community-based organisations have provided platforms for <i>Gukurahundi&...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Genealogy |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2313-5778/8/4/147 |
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| Summary: | The desire of <i>Gukurahundi</i> survivors for cultural platforms that enable them to discuss, mourn, and commemorate their loved ones is now very loud in Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland and Midlands provinces. While community-based organisations have provided platforms for <i>Gukurahundi</i> survivors, the children of survivors, and academics to interface and interact, the government’s gatekeeping processes remain a challenge for the community-wide memorialisation and documentation of the genocide. In this conceptual paper, I frame <i>Gukurahundi</i> as a meteorological event within a general Zimbabwean cultural context, foregrounding the desecration of the Ndebele people’s cultural practices, rituals, and ceremonies. Drawing from the documented legacies of this cultural violence within Matabeleland and south-western parts of the Midlands, through videos and the literature, I argue that this cultural violence resulted in the silencing of the remembrance of <i>Gukurahundi</i>, which remains critical to the resolution of the stand-off between the ZANU-PF government and the communities. In this paper, I further argue that this ecological symbolism provided a justification and legitimated direct brutal violence on presumed ZAPU and ex-ZPRA veterans who were largely Ndebele-speaking or of ethnic descent. Finally, I argue that it is not that the absence of alternative narratives but the sociopolitical and cultural environment that constrains these from being available and implemented. |
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| ISSN: | 2313-5778 |