Despite the fact that over two decades and the coming of independence lie between the publication of Charles Mungoshi's Ndiko Kupindana Kwamazuva [How Time Passes] (1975) and Ignatius Mabasa's Mapenzi [Fools] (1999), the city—a key setting in both novels—is described in similar, often congruent, images by the two male protagonists, Rex and Hamundigone. Salisbury, later Harare, is likened to an undefeatable seductress who traps and ruins men by introducing them to her twin pleasures of cheap beer and fast women. Thus, on the surface, the city appears to be responsible for social corruption and moral decay. A close reading of the imagery in both novels, however, reveals that both authors refrain from regurgitating the programmatic and rather simplistic “old society versus modern lifestyle” trope that has permeated the discourse of urbanization in Shona literature. Instead, they intimate that larger sociopolitical forces are the root causes of social malaise in colonial Rhodesia and, subsequently, independent Zimbabwe.
Research in African Literatures, founded in 1970, is the premier journal of African literary studies worldwide and provides a forum in English for research on the oral and written literatures of Africa. In addition to thought-provoking essays, reviews of current scholarly books appear in every issue, often presented as critical essays, and a forum offers readers the opportunity to respond to issues raised in articles and book reviews. Thematic clusters of articles and frequent special issues reveal the broad interests of its readership.
Indiana University Press was founded in 1950 and is today recognized internationally as a leading academic publisher specializing in the humanities and social sciences. As an academic press, our mandate is to serve the world of scholarship and culture as a professional, not-for-profit publisher. We publish books and journals that will matter 20 or even a hundred years from now – titles that make a difference today and will live on into the future through their reverberations in the minds of teachers and writers. IU Press's major subject areas include African, African American, Asian, cultural, Jewish and Holocaust, Middle East, Russian and East European, and women's and gender studies; anthropology, film, history, bioethics, music, paleontology, philanthropy, philosophy, and religion. The Press also features an extensive regional publishing program under its Quarry Books imprint. It is one of the largest public university presses, as measured by titles and income level.
This item is part of a JSTOR Collection.
For terms and use, please refer to our Terms and Conditions
© 2017 Indiana University Press
Request Permissions
