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Summary Cultural genocide is much maligned and often simply ignored. Yet it is an epistemic condition powerful enough to cause a physical elimination of a targeted 'tribe' or group of [...]

Summary To frame gender struggles is to set an agenda on what people should think about it in respect of the contradictory roles that men and women play in society [...]

African-language literatures have grown in surges during the period of decolonisation that spans nearly 50 years. Despite impressive publications, two tendencies in the appreciation of African-language literatures have dominated: there [...]

Studies on violence and genocide in Africa have for many years relied on the disciplines of history, sociology, and individual testimonies to make sense of the crimes against humanity. The [...]

There has been considerable literature written about DR Congo, most of it focusing on the economic and political ramifications of civil wars that have taken years to be quelled. Some academics have described DR Congo as a 'Powder Keg', 'the epitome of African leadership crisis' and 'A volcano waiting to explode.' What is evident in all these descriptions is that they predispose DR Congo to the language of violence that underscore the existence of 'violent commerce' which is a feature of state dysfunctionality or 'Shadow States' in Africa. This article will demonstrate how the fate of victims in DR Congo is decidedly spelt out through language used by rebel groups and some rogue government forces to persuade others that violence is the only way towards achieving autonomy and self-enrichment. The groups use language that overflows with the rhetoric of death; of hopelessness, of vulnerabilities and the precarity and precariousness of life that is wasted away; life that is not grievable. It is argued that while the language of violence attributed to DR Congo civil wars is immortalized in images of 'victimhood', its internal instabilities can make one to reflect on, and question the legitimacy of forces that cause[d] much suffering in DR Congo. The instability can also be used to question the language and methods used by international 'actors' who carry out humanitarian missions in DR Congo. Drawing extensively from Mary Kaldor's reflections on 'new wars', this article explores how language is used to describe the violence of war and large-scale human rights violations that define DR Congo's civil wars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to explore how African films such asKeita! The Heritage of the GriotandKare Kare Zvako: Mother's Dayreinvent oral traditions on-screen, so that the traditions are revitalised and given new life in a contemporary world where visual and literary narratives have tended to dominate the collection and dissemination of information. The ontological and cosmological dimensions of African oral traditions provide the cultural humus that continues to feed the narrative structures of most African films. It is argued that the films' conscious refusal to be totally submerged in European modernism or their capacity to merge some traditional aspects with modern values is what constructs the multiple subjectivities that most African filmmakers strive to bring out. By using oral narrative structures embedded in songs, storytelling, myths, legends, poems, riddles, anecdotes and proverbs, the selected African films recreate traditions and heritage; they help to preserve African values that face a Western onslaught, promoted through European languages. Oral narratives carry a freight of cultural meanings infused in different modes of expression, while articulating the philosophies and beliefs of African people. It is important to recognise and [re]discover the critical role played by oral narratives in order to understand the epistemologies and ontologies that inform the construction of African films. A study of this nature is critical in that it builds on the existing indigenous knowledge systems embedded in orature (oral literature) that remain threatened by European cultural imperialism, which is promoted through the Hollywood film paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since independence (attained in 1980), the theatre industry in Zimbabwe has experienced some tremendous changes due to the involvement of youths who have the capacity to experiment with different genres, such as theatre in the park, street theatre, forum theatre, proscenium theatre and community theatre. All these forms of theatre continue to explore different themes and perspectives that affect Zimbabwean youths in both positive and negative ways. This article explores factors that affect the productive life of theatrical productions in Zimbabwe paying particular attention to the extent to which youths were/are involved in contributing to the growth of the theatre industry in Zimbabwe. In this endeavour, the article will focus on education and training aspects, networking, collaborations, funding, research, theatre impact and advocacy. A better understanding of how the above-mentioned factors affect the developmental skills of youths and the growth of Zimbabwean theatre industry will create awareness among youths, who should make informed decisions if they are to survive 'cut-throat' competition in Zimbabwe's theatre industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-independence Zimbabwe, like some other countries in Africa, is a space disfigured by greedy, unfulfilled promises, corruption and political discontentment. The play, Honorable MP by Gonzo Musengezi subtly captures Zimbabwe's socio-political environment with its pot-bellied politicians who drain the national coffers, abuse young girls and abandon the electorate only to surface towards election time. Honourable MP (1987) uses the language of political satire and irony embedded in song and dramatic performance to move its story ahead. What this article analyses through song are levels of conceptualizing political greediness and intolerance that the play Honourable MP evokes. To analyse the songs in the play Honorable MP, Bhakhtin's (1984) theory of carnivalesque and laughter of the market-place are invoked to poke fun at and satirically bite at the spectacle of the excessive greed and consumerism of the powerful, and also mock some of the reactionary tendencies of the oppressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]