‘Personalization or fictionalization of national history in Zimbabwe?’ A re-evaluation of the Political careers of Ian Smith and Ndabaningi Sithole

Authors

  • James Hlongwana
  • Richard S. Maposa University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe
  • Thamsanqa Moyo Zimbabwe University, Zimbabwe

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25255/jss.2013.2.1.15.26

Abstract

The historiography concerning the making of Zimbabwe as an independent nation has been written
from various perspectives and by using different sources, both primary and secondary ones. The
study constitutes a re-evaluation of the political careers of Ndabaningi Sithole and Ian Douglas
Smith against the background of their autobiographies as forms of primary resources of national
history for Zimbabwe. It will be noted that autobiographical writing is a fruit of an arduous
process of human construction, de-construction and re-construction done in the shadow of some
interlocking interests, fears and pressures that surround the autobiographer. The present study
contends that every personal engagement in the writing of history of a particular people or nation
is a moralizing crusade or enterprise, whether by default or by design. Evidently, that is how the
characteristic elements of objectivity and subjectivity come to the fore vis- a- vis the status of
autobiography as a source and resource of national (or patriotic) history.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

James Hlongwana

James Hlongwana is a lecturer in the department of History and Development Studies . He is a
holder of a MA in African History .He has published articles in refereed journals. His research
interests concern human rights issues and democracy.

Richard S. Maposa, University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe

R .S . Maposa is a lecturer in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies He holds MA
and M.Ed degrees from the University of Zimbabwe . Maposa has written several articles in
International journals. His research interests concern church-state relations and the history of
missions in Sub-Saharan Africa .Maposa is a Phd candidate with the University of Zimbabwe.

Thamsanqa Moyo, Zimbabwe University, Zimbabwe

Thamsanqa Moyo is a lecturer in Literature in English at Great Zimbabwe University. He teaches
Comparative Literature, Varieties of Literature and Zimbabwean Literature .Moyo has published on
issues of postcolonial Literature and the Zimbabwean crisis.

References

Raftopolous , B. and Mlambo, A.S.(2009) Becoming Zimbabwe. Harare: Weaver Press.

Bond, P. and Manyanga, M.(2002) Zimbabwe Plunge. Exhausted Nationalism, Neoliberalism and
the Search for Social Justice. Harare: Weaver Press.

Johnson, P and Martin, D.(1981) The Struggle for Zimbabwe, London: Heinemann.

Kenyatta, J. (1968) Suffering without Bitterness, Kampala: East African Publishers.

Maposa, Gamira and Hlongwana.(2010)”Land as Sacrificial Lamb : A Critical Reflection on the
Effects of Colonial and Post-Independence Land Management Politics in Zimbabwe” in Journal of
Sustainable Development in Africa. Volume 12, No 6, 2010, page 192-207.

Moyo, S. (2008) New African, London: AN Inc.
Okam, H.H. ‘The Novelist as a Historian: Yambo Ouloguem’s Le Devoir de Violence Re-visited’
in Ikonne, C.O. and Onwudnjo, P (Eds) African Literature and African Historical Experience.
Ibadan: Heinemann.
Starobinki, J. “The Style of Autobiography” in Olney: 73-83.

Pascal,R. (1960) Design and Truth in Autobiography. London: Routledge.

Sithole, N. (1970) Obed Mutezo, London: Oxford University Press.

Sithole, N. (1976) Letters from Salisbury. Nairobi: TransAfrica Ltd.

Smith, D.I. (1997) Bitter Harvest: The Great Betrayal. London: Blake Publishing House.

Smith, K. and Nothling, F. (1993) Africa North of the Limpopo since 1800. Pretoria: Muckleneuk.

Rasmussen, K.R. and Rubert, S.C. (1990) Historical Dictionary of Zimbabwe. London: Scarecrow
Press.

Taylor, M.J.(1976) Foundations of Christian Education in an Era of Change. Nashville: Abingdon.

Tshuma, L. A (1997)A Matter of Injustice: Law, State and the Agrarian Question in Zimbabwe,
Harare: SAPES.
Vambe, M.T. ‘History and ideology of Narrative in Ndiko Kupindana Kwamazuva’ in Vambe,

M.T. and Chirere, M.(2006) (eds) Charles Mungoshi: A Critical Reader, Harare: Prestige Books,
2006, pp54-68.

Trouillot, M.R. (1995) Silencing the Past. Power and the Production of History. Boston: Beacon
Press.

Wright, A .(1987) Fictional Discourse and Historical Space .Defoe and Theroux ,Austen and
Forster ,Conrad and Greene. MacMillan Press.

David,M. and Phyllis,J. (1981)The Struggle for

Downloads

Published

2013-01-01

How to Cite

Hlongwana, J., Maposa, R. S., & Moyo, T. (2013). ‘Personalization or fictionalization of national history in Zimbabwe?’ A re-evaluation of the Political careers of Ian Smith and Ndabaningi Sithole. Journal of Social Sciences (COES&Amp;RJ-JSS), 2(1), 15–26. https://doi.org/10.25255/jss.2013.2.1.15.26