Theme of despair in Charles Mungoshi's Shona works : a critical study (original) (raw)
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2011
This thesis explores ideologies of intimate attachments and offers an overall critique of the ideology(ies) of family as evinced by Mungoshi"s ironic treatment of this theme. A close reading of Zimbabwe through the oft-cherished institution of family, an argument is made here, multiplies fields and possibilities of meaning beyond the struggle against colonialism and cultural imperialism. It is suggested that instead of viewing the family as political allegory and unitary, it is profitable to perceive it as consisting of a multiplicity of contesting voices and/or interests. These voices include those of children, women, young adults, lone parents, homosexuals and heterosexual men with thwarted gender identities. Through familial contestation and conflict, Mungoshi offers for critique various matrices of power located within the family and affords us an opportunity to read v Note on Translation This study necessitated a translation from Shona into English. In spite of the challenges of translation, I am competent in both languages. All the Shona to English translations in this thesis, with the exception of some titles of Mungoshi"s texts, are mine.
This dissertation is dedicated to my wonderful husband, Michael, for allowing me to pursue my dream. Thank you for your patience. A big applause to my beautiful daughters; Alice Paidamoyo, Ann Nakai and Amy Dananai, for being inquisitive about life. This added value to my research. To my late mother Chipo Chaita, for giving me life and my father, Martin Dakwa, for telling me very encouraging statements, after taking a few lion lagers: -Don't call me die hard for nothing! To all the Dakwa clan, let the lion in you roar. To my mother in law, Mbuya Alice Samakande, thanks for loving me. To my Aunt, Violah Choruma, keep smilling. To Aunt, Mai Sharon, thanks for taking care of my girls when I was working on my research. To God Be the Glory. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I want to thank my supervisor Mr Memory Chirere for his endless help and his insightful contributions to this dissertation. You made me fall in love with Literature in English. I also want to thank Mrs Pauline Mateveke Kazembe and Ms Gilda Mhlanga for their contributions.
The Transformation of Despair to Hope as Asserted on Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s Shiro
Jurnal Ilmiah Bina Bahasa
Psychology in literature is how characters move through relation of body and mind. Shiro is Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s short story about white dog who ignores his friend, Kuro, that being caught. That ignorant deed haunts and makes him try to kill himself but actually he helps many people. One night, he speaks to the moon how he apologizes for everything. Then, how is transformation from despair to hope be asserted on Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s Shiro? Through qualitative method, this writing underlines changing condition of Shiro from having despair to being hopeful. Supported by theory of Randolph M. Nesse, the transformation is reflected when Shiro sees others beside himself. He leaves his loneliness and joins others for happiness. He has paid his debt by supporting others’ lives. In conclusion, Shiro’s denial for not helping Kuro changes when experiencing hope from otherness rather than selfness.
Literary Herald, 2022
Literature is an expression of culture and it's the cultural background that determines the behavioral traits of characters. A Pale View of Hills (1982) by Kazuo Ishiguro is a retreat to one's past and their struggle to cope with their existence after what can be considered as a great event of tragedy in human history until the memories take on a disturbing cast. Kitchen (1988) by Banana Yoshimoto is a modern tragedy about two characters who were united by deaths, choices and the inherent loneliness that marks the contemporary Japanese lifestyle. Kazuo Ishiguro's A Pale View of Hills and Banana Yoshimoto's Kitchen reveals that both the writers' characters were based on Japan from two different time periods. The protagonist of Ishiguro's text is Etsuko whose memories of her Post-Second World War Japanese life got triggered by the suicide of her daughter. The text focus on themes like 'reliability of memory', 'trauma' etc. Yoshimoto's protagonist Mikage and Yuichi, on the other hand tried to escape trauma and pain by finding solace in their 'kitchen'. Other themes from this text includes transsexuality and loneliness. It is observed that in both the novels the choices of the protagonists' determined their ultimate fate. This paper is a humble attempt to show the effects of culture on development of characters, their existential crisis, the effect of memory and the issue of transsexuality in context to Japanese culture.
Machinations of spiritual entities in some of Charles Mungoshi’s works in English
Humanities and social sciences, 2019
Through a textual analysis methodology of three selected texts by Charles Mungoshi, the interactions between the spirit world and ordinary Shona people are examined to unlock some of the multiple meanings to be found in these cultural artefacts. Christian values are shown as largely in conflict against the Shona spiritual world with its tendency towards the supernatural. In the selected works, the ngozi spirit has a strong presence that controls the literary lives of the persons of these works. Although the ngozi spirit affects both young and old, males and females, its influence is felt the most by young girls, single women and other females in their families. The impact on the male species seems rather minimal, perhaps reflective of patriarchal order. In Shona cosmology there is a strong belief that the panacea for ngozi is atonement. This study, therefore, explores the workings of spiritual entities in the selected works.
Fate, Nature and Literary Form: The Politics of the Tragic in Japanese Literature
Japanese Language and Literature, 2022
Fate, Nature and Literary Form is a concise and engaging book about how tragic art manifests in different times and places and what role critical theory can play in our understanding of this genre's power and appeal. It consists of eight chapters divided into three parts: (1) "The Historical Development of the Tragic in Japanese Literature," (2) "The Dialectics of Nature in Japanese Intellectual History," and (3) "Social Crisis and Literary Form." Prior to reading this book, I had not given a great deal of thought to tragedy as a literary form but I understood, as most would, that a tragedy is a narrative featuring a hero or heroine who experiences a reversal of fortunes due to a character flaw, often something quite ordinary such as greed, ambition, distrust or even an excess of love, honor, or loyalty. Nor was I aware that scholars such as George Steiner and Helen Gardner argue that tragedy is particular to certain times and placesnamely ancient Greece and sixteenth-century Europe-and therefore must be considered a genre distinct to the European tradition. So, does that mean that non-Western societies do not produce tragic
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This study is to question the rejection of the postmodernists of traditionalism and modernist Enlightenment as meta-narrative in their search for human highest potential. Cakra Waruga a Malay novel (2006) written by Arena Wati is selected here to contest the postmodernist premise that rejects traditionalism, and in the context of this study the premise denies God His place and diverts humanity from such a divinity as strong source of reliance. This study is aimed at proving that the denial of such a meta-narrative in human parameter is a false sense of freedom because it dismisses the main part of humanity, that is to say a human need of a strong source of reliance upon human strength subsiding or diminishing because of being put up to internal and external challenges or suppressions. This study is also intended to propose that a strong source of reliance is an identified and believed conception mainly of divinity and spirituality as shown by the novel, which can be taken as a meta-narrative that gives a sense of completion and accomplishment meanings for characters being portrayed and assurance for the represented humanity. Having said so, this study is to be based on two different poles of an identified and believed meta-narrative, and a postmodernist idealism of liberty for humanity. The main emphasis of this study is on exposing important aspects of the caged sexual obsessed characters in the Malay novel. This study argues that humanity as represented by the obsessed characters is subject to despair and insensibility vis-à-vis the identified and believed meta-narrative of Islam. In a broad sense, this study disproves the postmodernist idealism because in practice or literary manifestation the envisioned liberty is frustrated when postmodernist characters are put in periphery and seclusion. Conversely, this study argues that such an identified and believed meta-narrative as Islam of the novel outlasts a challenging element of denial of spirituality associated with the obsessed characters Rubiah, Kintan, Mustafa and Salam who are portrayed as merely relying on fragile and unsustainable individual strength.
Language and Gender in Selected Shona Novels
2017
The purpose of this study is to look at selected Shona novels to see how gender and power dynamics are reflected through language therein. How gender is encoded and reflected within the language of literature helps in understanding the nature and stature of women in any given society. Hence the need to see how Shona writers use this potent tool called language, whether consciously or unconsciously, to deal with issues pertaining to gender in this society. Content analysis is the approach employed for the study. The research established that language used by most writers in story narration through their characters continues to denigrate women although some of these writers are writing within an era we could call „a period of enlightenment‟ in as far as gender issues are concerned. This is so because from a psychoanalytical point of view language betrays what lies hidden deep down within the individual‟s psyche. Thus, if literature mirrors the society in which and for which it is writ...