Tabona Shoko - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Tabona Shoko

The Cultural and Artistic Legacy of Oliver Mtukudzi, 2022

University of South Africa, Jun 1, 2011

Africa Development, 2011

This article reviews select principal literature on traditional religion and medical practices in... more This article reviews select principal literature on traditional religion and medical practices in Zimbabwe with a view to demonstrating how this subject has been dealt with through the contributions of scholars from a variety of disciplines. In so doing, it paves the way for phenomenology, which is the alternative approach used in this study. The article explores the relationship between anthropology and sociology as used by previous scholars to study religion and medicine in the context of the Shona people in Zimbabwe on the one hand, and phenomenology on the other. Résumé Cet article fait une relecture de la littérature principale sur la religion traditionnelle et les pratiques médicales au Zimbabwe. Ceci, dans l'optique de démontrer la façon dont ce sujet a été abordé dans différentes disciplines académiques. Cet article jette les bases d'une approche alternative : la phénoménologie. En quoi faisant ? En explorant la relation entre l'anthropologie et la sociologie telles qu'utilisées par les chercheurs pour l'étude de la religion et de la médecine dans le contexte des Shona au Zimbabwe d'une part, et de la phénoménologie d'autre part.

African Perspectives on Religion and Climate Change, May 4, 2022

African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines, 2008

The hyperinflationary whirlwind that has gripped Zimbabwe since 2000 has seen a sharp decline in ... more The hyperinflationary whirlwind that has gripped Zimbabwe since 2000 has seen a sharp decline in bio-medical facilities and the resurgence of traditional and faith healers. As a result, a number of people have fallen prey to fake traditional healers and prophets. Most of these practitioners have made off with people's money. The law has been so compromised through corruption and negligence, such that most of the fraudsters have escaped without prosecution. While we acknowledge that some of these healers and prophets are genuine and do assist people, there are others who are only there to fleece ignorant people. The recourse to gullible means by the traditional healers and their clients has been exacerbated by exorbitant fees charged by some unscrupulous health practitioners in hospitals. This has resulted in the sprouting of traditional herbal practitioners at a number of public places in the streets. The motive by the clients has been to seek alternative health services that they regard as cheaper and affordable. However, the clients have ended up being vulnerable to duping by some fake traditional healers. This paper seeks to explore the phenomenon of traditional herbal practitioners under the banner of traditional medicine in Zimbabwe. Based on empirical data, the paper argues that both the herbal vendors and their clients are gullible in the use of traditional medicine in Harare, Zimbabwe. The traditional healers are but fake practitioners, shrewd and cunning business entrepreneurs who fleece innocent people of their income in a depressed economic environment in Harare.

The authors examine the contribution of church women’s groups to the HIV and AIDS response in Cha... more The authors examine the contribution of church women’s groups to the HIV and AIDS response in Chap. 11. The Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) has played a major role in supporting church women’s groups in Zimbabwe. The authors highlight how church women’s groups played a major role in supporting people living with HIV and AIDS, particularly prior to the advent of antiretroviral therapy. They describe the churches’ struggle to address HIV and AIDS, paying particular attention to the issue of sexuality. They describe the activities of various church women’s groups in responding to HIV and AIDS. The chapter provides insights into the role of churches in development by focusing on the response of the churches to a specific health challenge.

Hts Teologiese Studies-theological Studies, 2020

Prayers and places of worship are perhaps as old as humanity. A comprehensive survey of the dynam... more Prayers and places of worship are perhaps as old as humanity. A comprehensive survey of the dynamics and dialectics of African Christianity, Zimbabwe in particular, reveals that pilgrimages to holy places are a popular and common phenomenon. Of the many sacred places dotted around the Zimbabwean Christian landscape, Mutemwa shrine, located close to Mutoko Business Centre, is perhaps the most visited and popular, attracting thousands of Christians (particularly Catholics) from all the 10 provinces of Zimbabwe. Inseparably connected with the life and charity works amongst lepers by John Randal Bradburne (1921-1979), the shrine has been referred to as a case of popular, celebrated and fashionable religiosity by many pilgrims. This article explores the phenomenon of popular 'superstition' associated with Mutemwa pilgrimages with a view to assess and examine the orthodoxy, impact and implications of this popular devotion. The main argument developed in this article is that whilst...

Journal of Traditional Medicine & Clinical Naturopathy

Africa Development a Quarterly Journal of Codesria, 2011

Journal for the Study of Religion, 2010

IntroductionThis paper constitutes part of an extended study about the Karanga people in Mberengw... more IntroductionThis paper constitutes part of an extended study about the Karanga people in Mberengwa, a sub-group of the Shona people of Zimbabwe, in which I develop an argument which contends that the core concern of the Karanga religion is health and well-being, and that this central concerti is logical, rational and consistent (Shoko, 1993: 4). The study discusses a methodology that has developed out of, and partly in response to, the scientific approach to the study of religion in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries called the phenomenological method that sought to identify essential structures within religious phenomena. I commence with a section on the philosophical background to phenomenology centred on E. Husserl whose writings influenced, in varying degrees, subsequent phenomenologists of religion. I then trace the developments and debates through the writings of several scholars in the field of phenomenology like P. D. Chantepie (1848-1920), G.van der Leeuw (1890-1950), W.B.Kristensen (1867-1953), CJ.Bleeker (1899-1983), J.Wach (1898-1955), M.Eliade (1907-1986) and G.Widengren (b.1907), with a view to show that there have been different approaches and understandings of phenomenology and numerous criticisms and queries concerning its operation as a research methodology (Shoko, 1993: 11-39). As C.J. Bleeker has pointed out, "some critics went so far as to deny its right of existence" (Bleeker, 1963: 6). However, I will argue that despite its limitations, the method offers a frame of thinking based on hermeneutics which I adopt and use to test my hypothesis that the core concern of the Karanga religion is the effort to achieve and to maintain a condition of health and well-being both for individuals and the community as a whole (Shoko, 1993: 4).As part of my argument, I explore the relationship between the phenomenology of religion, anthropology and sociology in my subject area by reviewing previous literature on traditional religion and medical practices in Zimbabwe. In doing so, I critically examine the studies of pioneer and contemporary scholarly writings on the Shona perceptions of illness and health and medical praxis, such as the travellers, colonial administrators, missionaries, anthropologists and sociologists. The works of M.Gelfand, an empathetic medical doctor and lay anthropologist; M.F.C. Bourdillon (1976), an anthropologist; H.Bucher (1980), a Roman Catholic Church Bishop's sociological approach; H. Aschwanden (1987)'s symbolic analysis, G. Chavunduka (1978), a sociologist and M.LDaneel (1970, 1971, 1974), a missiologist are reviewed (see Shoko, 1993: 40-52). Such studies demonstrate, using different approaches, that health and illness behaviour, as well as health and medical care systems, are not isolated but are integrated into a network of beliefs and values that comprise Shona society. However certain ideological and methodological constraints are exposed (Shoko, 1993: 40-52). This provides the basis for an alternative methodological approach which this paper sets out to explain.I conclude by presenting the practical methods of data collection in the field. The methods include the different types of interviews comprising open-ended structured interviews, free-association and group interviews, as well as participant observation (Shoko, 1993: 52-58). With regards to my own field-research in Mberengwa, I will show how the phenomenological approach was employed to examine key religious phenomena related to illness and health by examining expressions of beliefs, ritual activities and the role of sacred practitioners.Definition of Key Terms"Core concern" refers to the basic, underlying thrust of the Karanga religion. It is the essence of religious phenomena under observation (see Bleeker, 1963:136). In this case, religion is chiefly orientated towards the achievement of health and well-being and is of ultimate value in the Karanga religion. The term can also be interpreted in the study as referring to the defining factor of the Karanga religion. …

The increasing death rate in Zimbabwe, caused mainly by HIV/AIDS, has resulted in a shortage of b... more The increasing death rate in Zimbabwe, caused mainly by HIV/AIDS, has resulted in a shortage of burial space, especially in towns. This, along with the cost of burials, has sparked problems related to notions of death and the hereafter in Zimbabwe. Since 1992, cremation has been put forward as a way of alleviating these spatial and economic problems. However, this option is not very popular with the Shona people, who prefer to observe the conventional burial practices enshrined in their traditional culture. Whilst they are open to new, modern ideas, they are resistant to the notion of cremation, which is regarded as alien and "un-African". They would rather exhaust all resources to have a traditional funeral. This article explores burial practices among the Shona people of Zimbabwe and their resistance to cremation. It contends that cremation is a viable alternative mode of disposal of the dead, as it is cost-effective and there are theological precedents for this practice.