The trauma of home and (non)belonging in Zimbabwe and its diaspora: ‘Conversion disorder’ in Shadows by Novuyo Rosa Tshuma
Literator
| Field | Value | |
| Title | The trauma of home and (non)belonging in Zimbabwe and its diaspora: ‘Conversion disorder’ in Shadows by Novuyo Rosa Tshuma Die trauma van tuiste en (nie)behoort in Zimbabwe en sy diaspora: ‘Omsettingsversteuring’ in Shadows deur Novuyo Rosa Tshuma | |
| Creator | Jacobs, Johan U. | |
| Description | The renewed outbreak of xenophobic attacks in March and April 2015 in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town, the killings, looting, and burning of homes and shops, and the flight of thousands of foreign Africans to refugee camps, have brought to the fore not only the question of the African diaspora in South Africa, but also into focus the notions of home and homeland in a diasporic context. In Shadows, for which she was awarded the Herman Charles Bosman Prize in 2014, Zimbabwean writer Novuyo Rosa Tshuma presents the dislocations of life in present-day Zimbabwe and the relocation and double displacement of the Zimbabwean diasporic community in South Africa. The text, comprising a novella, ‘Shadows’, and five other stories, is best approached as a story cycle, the individual narratives being linked not only by the theme of diaspora but also by a number of recurring diasporic situations, figures, and tropes. Drawing on a wide range of contemporary diaspora theory, including the African and intra-African diaspora, as well as current research on Zimbabwe and its diaspora, this article examines the ambiguous diasporic concepts of home and belonging, and inclusion and exclusion, with reference to Tshuma’s fictional depiction of daily township life in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe with its food queues, depleted resources, and crashed economy, as well as in the marginal world of the presentday Zimbabwean diaspora in Johannesburg with its police corruption and brutal exploitation of illegal immigrants. The article considers the psychogenic condition known as ‘conversion disorder’, which Tshuma foregrounds in one of the stories, as a metaphor for understanding the paradoxical diasporic identification with, and alienation from, home, community, and home country in Zimbabwe as well as in the unaccommodating host country, South Africa. Die hernude xenofobiese aanvalle in Maart en April 2015 in Durban, Johannesburg en Kaapstad, die roof, afbrand van huise en winkels, lewensverlies, en vlug van duisende vreemde Afrikane na toevlugskampe, het nie alleen die hele kwessie rondom die Afrika-diaspora in Suid-Afrika na vore gebring nie, maar ook die vraag oor die betekenis van die begrippe ‘tuiste’ en ‘tuisland’ binne ’n diasporiese verband. In Shadows, wat in 2014 met die Herman Charles Bosman-prys bekroon is, beeld die Zimbabwiese skryfster Novuyo Rosa Tshuma die ontwrigte lewensomstandighede in die hedendaagse Zimbabwe uit, asook die hervestiging en dubbele vervreemding van die diasporiese Zimbabwiër-gemeenskap in Suid-Afrika. Die teks bestaan uit ’n novelle, ‘Shadows’, en vyf ander kortverhale, en kan bes beskou word as ’n verhaalsiklus, waarbinne the afsonderlike verhale verbind word deur die tema van diaspora en ook deur ’n aantal herkenbare diasporiese situasies en beelde. Die artikel put uit ‘n reeks opvattings oor diaspora, insluitende die Afrika- en binne-Afrika diaspora, en huidige navorsing oor Zimbabwe en sy diaspora. Die dubbelsinnige begrippe van tuiste en samehorigheid, insluiting en uitsluiting, word ondersoek na aanleiding van Tshuma se uitbeelding van die alledaagse township-lewe in Mugabe se Zimbabwe met sy voedseltekorte, algemene gebrek aan middele, en vernielde ekonomie, en hierteenoor, die randbestaan van die hedendaagse Zimbabwediaspora in Johannesburg met sy gewelddadige vervolging en korrupte magsmisbruike teen onwettige immigrante. Die artikel stel voor dat die psigogeniese toestand van ‘omskakelingsversteuring’, wat Tshuma beklemtoon in een van haar verhale, as ’n metafoor kan dien vir die paradoksale diasporiese vereenselwiging met, en vervreemding van, ’n tuiste, gemeenskap en tuisland in Zimbabwe sowel as in die onvriendelike gasheerland, Suid-Afrika | |
| Publisher | AOSIS | |
| Date | 2016-08-22 | |
| Identifier | 10.4102/lit.v37i1.1237 | |
| Source | Literator; Vol 37, No 1 (2016); 11 pages Literator; Vol 37, No 1 (2016); 11 pages 2219-8237 0258-2279 | |
| Language | eng | |
| Relation |
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1237/2035
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1237/2036
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1237/2037
https://literator.org.za/index.php/literator/article/view/1237/2028
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