Title:
MUTASA'S CONCEPTION OF ubuntu AND PRE-COLONIAL GENDER IN Nhume Yamambo (1990)

Authors:
Evans Mandova

Volume - 2 Issue - 8, Pages - 4284-4295

Abstract:
This study interrogates how Mutasa conceptualises and depicts the African communitarian worldview of ubuntu and Shona pre-colonial gender in his novel Nhume Yamambo. The study relies on content analysis of the novel, critical reviews from various scholars, journals, and theses, augmented by interviews. The theoretical framework is guided by Africana Womanism which is pivotal to the explication of meaning. Ubuntu celebrates virtues central to mutual social responsibility, mutual respect, trust, self-reliance, caring, among other attributes. These tenets help to revitalise and rejuvenate the decaying socio-cultural fabric of Zimbabwe. The article argues that Mutasa's conception of ubuntu and pre-colonial gender in Nhume Yamambo is ambivalent. He portrays pre-colonial Shona women as people who are endowed with ubuntu values, very visible and active in society and contributing significantly to the rhythm of precolonial Shona life. Mutasa depicts pre-colonial Shona women as crucial war strategists, occupying important socio-political and religious statuses and as people whose existence is connected with that of their society. However, the research contends that Mutasa's weakness in Nhume Yamambo is that he fortifies pre-colonial Shona women by depicting them as people who can sacrifice their ubuntu. He undervalues the centrality of dignity in people's lives which must be upheld in all situations.

Cite this Article:

[Mandova, Evans. "MUTASA'S CONCEPTION OF Ubuntu AND PRE-COLONIAL GENDER IN Nhume Yamambo (1990)." International Journal of Social Science and Economic Research, vol. 2, no. 8, 2017, pp. 4284-4295. August.]