Displacement, Elimination and Replacement of Indigenous People : Putting Into Perspective Land Ownership and Ancestry in Decolonising Contemporary Zimbabwe

Colonial scholars have taken immense pleasure in portraying Africans as possessed by spirits but as lacking possession and ownership of their resources, including land. Erroneously deemed to be thoroughly spiritually possessed but lacking senses of material possession and ownership of resources, Africans have been consistently dispossessed and displaced from the era of enslavement, through colonialism, to the neocolonial era. Delving into the historiography of dispossession and displacement on the continent of Africa, and in particular in Zimbabwe, this book also tackles contemporary forms of dispossession and displacement manifesting in the ongoing transnational corporations land grabs in Africa, wherein African peasants continue to be dispossessed and displaced. Focusing on the topical issues around dispossession and repossession of land, and the attendant displacements in contemporary Zimbabwe, the book theorises displacements from a decolonial Pan-Africanist perspective and it also unpacks various forms of displacements 2013 corporeal, noncorporeal, cognitive, spiritual, genealogical and linguistic displacements, among others. The book is an excellent read for scholars from a variety of disciplines such as Geography, Sociology, Social Anthropology, History, Linguistics, Development Studies, Science and technology Studies, Jurisprudence and Social Theory, Law and Philosophy. The book also offers intellectual grit for policy makers and implementers, civil society organisations including activists as well as thinkers interested in decolonisation and transformation." Cover 1 Title page 2 Copyright page 3 About the Contributors 4 Contents 10 Chapter One - Theorising Displacement, Elimination and Replacement: An Introduction to Decolonising Land Issues 12 Introduction 12 Spirit Possessed but Materially Dispossessed? The Colonial Legitimation of the Displacement of Africans 18 Displacements from Nation States to Virtual Spaces and Eliminating Ownership Rights over National Resources 28 Chapter Outlines 30 References 36 Chapter Two - Land Dispossession and the Genesis of Crises in Zimbabwe: Implications for Sustainable Livelihoods and People-centred Development as Depicted in Selected Zimbabwean Fictional Narratives 40 Introduction 40 Labyrinthine link between Literary Depictions and Theoretical Frameworks-Grounding vis-à-vis deeply-held Land Perceptions/Prejudices 43 The Post-2000 Land Conundrum and Crisis in Selected Narratives: Appreciation of Crises, Acrimony and Sustainable Development 54 Conclusion 70 References 71 Chapter Three - ‘Mapfupa angu achamuka ’ (My bones will rise again): Spirituality, History, Memory and Ancestry in Land Ownership ‘Debates’ in Zimbabwe 76 Introduction 76 Liberation War: Multidimensional Concepts of Land among the Shona and/or Zimbabwean People 77 The Role of Spirit Mediums and Ancestors in Life amongst the Shonas 80 The Link between Land and Ancestry: Spiritualism and the Liberation Wars in Zimbabwe 82 When the Sins of the ‘Ancestors’ Haunt the Grandchildren: Politics of Entitlement, The Third Chimurenga and the Discourse of Land Appropriation Without Compensation 88 Conclusion 90 References 91 Chapter Four - Pegging Out Claims in Space and Place: The Theme of Land Redistribution in the Music of Simon Chimbetu 94 Introduction 94 Why Chimbetu? 95 Some Theoretical Considerations 96 Orality and the Past 98 The Zimbabwean Land Redistribution 99 Chimbetu’s Cultural Context 100 Performance and Entertainment 101 Metaphor in Chimbetu’s Music 102 Conclusion 106 References 106 Chapter Five - Of Mothers, Umbilical Cords and Tongues: Land Ownership, Language and Identity in Chirikure Chirikure’s Rukuvhute 108 Introduction 108 Background 109 Theoretical Framework 112 Of Mothers, Language and Identity 115 The Mother Tongue and Identity in Chirikure Chirikure’s Rukuvhute 117 The Land and Umbilical Cord in Chirikure Chirikure’s Poetry 119 The Land and the Umbilical Cord in Chirikure’s Rukuvhute 120 Post-colonial Hybridity and Identity in Rukuvhute 122 Conclusion 124 References 125 Chapter Six - Discourses of Colonial Displacement: The Impetus of Selected Historical Novels 128 Introduction 128 Theoretical Framework 129 Humans and Environmental Degradation 130 Nature as an Agent of Destruction 131 Convergence of Post-colonial and Environmental Issues 132 General Colonialism in Africa 134 Power Structures 135 The Significance of Land Ownership and Identity 137 Man and the Environment in Waiting for the Rain (1975) 139 Induction and Ramification of Colonialism in Waiting for the Rain 149 Man and the Environment in The Grass is Singing 151 Ramification of Colonialism on the Coloniser 153 Conclusion 156 References 156 Chapter Seven - Spatial Marginalisation: (Re)reading Musaemura Zimunya’s Gendered Space and Place in Country Dawns and City Lights 160 Introduction 160 Background 161 Contextualising Space and Place 163 Theoretical Framework 165 The Country in Country Dawns and City Lights 166 The Woman and the City 169 Spatial Marginalisation: The Woman, the Man and the City 172 Weaknesses of Zimunya’s Anthology 173 Conclusion 174 References 175 Chapter Eight - The San People of Zimbabwe: Decades after Land Dispossession 178 Introduction 178 A Historical Background of the San People of Southern Africa 179 Are the San People of Zimbabwe Indigenous to Zimbabwe? 181 Dispossession of Land for the San People of Southern Africa 184 Global Marginalisation of Indigenous Communities 192 Loss of Ancestral Lands by Indigenous People 196 Loss of Bio-cultural Diversity, Traditional Knowledge and Culture 200 Tshwa Culture after Decades of Land Dispossession 200 Conclusion 202 References 203 Chapter Nine - Interrogation of the Nexus between Land Restitution and Poverty Alleviation in Contemporary Zimbabwe 206 Introduction 206 Rationale for Land Restitution and Relationship to Poverty Alleviation 207 Contextual Background of Land Restitution in Zimbabwe 210 The “New” Land Policy of the Second Phase 212 The Case Study of Mashonaland East Province, Zimbabwe 223 Impact of Land Redistribution in Mashonaland East Province, Zimbabwe 224 Conclusion 231 References 233 Chapter Ten - The Gendered Dispossession of Land in Colonial Rhodesia: An Analysis of Thomson Kumbirai Tsodzo’s Pafunge and Patrick Chakaipa’s Dzasukwa Mwana-Asina-Hembe 238 Introduction 238 Contextualising the Gendered Dispossession of Land in Colonial Rhodesia 239 Theoretical Framework 245 The Colonial Farm as a Form of Gendered Dispossession of Land in Dzasukwa-Mwana-Asina-Hembe 246 Religious Hypocrisy and Gendered Land Dispossession in Pafunge 251 Conclusion 258 References 258 Chapter Eleven - Fictionalising Resistance to Land Repossession: Political Economies of Displacement and the Imagination of a Better Zimbabwe 264 Introduction 264 Literary Evocations of the Land Problematique in Three Short Stories 267 Conclusion 277 References 278 Back cover 281 Theorising displacement, elimination and replacement of indigenous people: an introduction to decolonising land issues / Artwell Nhemachena, Jairos Kangira & Nelson Mlambo Land dispossession and the genesis of crises in Zimbabwe: implications for sustainable livelihoods and people-centred development as depicted in selected Zimbabwean fictional narratives / Ruby Magosvongwe 'Mapfuma angu achamuka' (My bones will rise again): spirituality, history, memory and ancestry in land ownership 'Debates' in Zimbabwe / Collen Sabao Pegging out claims in space and place: the theme of land redistribution in the music of Simon Chimbetu / Charles Pfukwa Of mothers, umbilical cords and tongues: land ownership, language and identity in Chirikure Chirikure's Rukuvhute / Angeline Mavis Madongonda & Enna Sukutai Gudhlanga Discourse of colonial displacement: the impetus of selected historical novels / Colleta Kandemiri & Nelson Mlambo Special marginalisation: (Re)reading Musaemura Zimunya's gendered space and place in Country Dawns and City Lights / Angeline Mavis Madongonda The San people of Zimbabwe: decades after land dispossession / Shuvai Chingwe Interrogation of the nexus between land restitution and poverty alleviation in contemparary Zimbabwe / Blessing Makunike The gendered dispossession of land in colonial Rhodesia: an analysis of Thomson Kumbirai Tsodzo's Pafunge and Patrick Chakaipa's Dzasukwa Mwana-Asina-Hembe / Enna Sukutai Gudhlanga Fictionalising resistance to land repossession: political economies of displacement and the imagination of a better Zimbabwe / Nelson Mlambo & Jairos Kangira.