Catalogue

Gender studies in Zimbabwe have tended to focus on women and their comparative disadvantages and under-privilege. Assuming a broader perspective is necessary at a time when society has grown used to arguments rooted in binaries: colonised and coloniser, race and class, sex and gender, poverty and wealth, patriotism and terrorism, etc.

The editors of Manning the Nation recognise that concepts of manhood can be used to repress or liberate, and will depend on historical and political imperatives; they seek to introduce a more nuanced perspective to the interconnectivity of patriarchy, masculinity, the nation, and its image.

The essays in this volume come from well-respected academics working in a variety of fields. The ideals and concepts of manhood are examined as they are reflected in important Zimbabwean literary texts. However, if literature provides a rich vein for the analysis of masculinities, what makes this collection so interesting is the interplay of literary analysis with chapters that provide a critical examination of the ways in which ideals of manhood have been employed in, for example, leadership and the nation, as a justification for violent engagement, in the field of AIDS and HIV, etc. Manning the Nation: Father figures in Zimbabwean literature and society sets the stage for a fresh and engaging discourse essential at a time when new paradigms are needed.

'[...] a publication of distinct intellectual as well as socio-political significance, theoretically challenging and provocative of debate.' Annie Gagiano, Professor of English, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.'This is an ambitious collection of useful essays on the topic of masculinities in Zimbabwe/Rhodesia.' Patricia Alden, Professor of English, St. Lawrence University, New York.


CONTENTS:
Introduction: Manning the Nation - Kizito Z. Muchemwa and Robert Muponde.
Ch. 1: 'Why don't you tell the children a story?': Father figures in the Zimbabwean short story - Kizito Z. Muchemwa
Ch 2: Killing fathers - Robert Muponde
Ch 3: Of fathers and ancestors in Charles Mungoshi's Waiting for the Rain - Neil ten Kortenaar
Ch. 4: 'Sins of the Fathers': Revealing family secrets in Mungoshi's later fiction - Pauline Dodgson-Katiyo
Ch. 5: The strong healthy man: AIDS and self-delusion - Lizzy Attree
Ch. 6: Fatherhood and nationhood: Joshua Nkomo and the re-imagination of the Zimbabwe nation - Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni
Ch. 7: Mai Mujuru: Father of the nation? - Lene Bull Christiansen
Chapter 8: Masculinities, race and violence in the making of Zimbabwe - Jane L. Parpart
Ch. 9: It couldn't be anything innocent: Negotiating gender in patriarchal-racial spaces - Ane M. Orbo Kirkegaard
Chapter 10: 'Boys': Performing manhood in Zimbabwean drama - Praise Zenenga
Ch. 11: 'A man can try': Negotiating manhoods in colonial urban spaces in Dambudzo Marechera's The House of Hunger and Yvonne Vera's Butterfly Burning - Grace Musila
Ch. 12: The nature of fatherhood and manhood in Zimbabwean texts of pre-colonial and colonial settings - Mickias Musiyiwa and Memory Chirere
Ch. 13: Intricate space: The father-daughter relationship in Zimbabwean literature and culture - Anna Chitando and Angeline M. Madongonda

ISBN: 978 1 77922 069 1 (Weaver Press)
ISBN: 978 1 77009 500 7 (Jacana Media)
pp.224; 208 x 130 mm

Territory: World