Political theatre, national identity and political control: the case of Zimbabwe

Abstract

This article intends to situate Zimbabwean political theatre within the discourse of national identity. National identity is deployed here as denoting any given set of myths, stories and beliefs propagated to justify a dominant group in maintaining power and in the case of Zimbabwe such generated myths and images are sectarian. Institutions such as theatre must be established to protect, nourish, articulate and perpetuate such identities. What is emerging now in Zimbabwe is that even if the government has supported such institutions often posturing as independent of sectarian political expedience, the resultant public imagery is the official version of history which incriminates those who have different views as sell-outs. Political theatre in Zimbabwe is one of the mediums which generates public imagery that challenges or maintains the ZANU-PF version of national memory. I argue that the totality of the state is expressed in its monopoly of images of meaning that float in the public mind through the medium of theatre. Where such theatre is consistent with what Ranger calls ‘patriotic history’ it is protected as memory should be guarded against dissolution. However, national identity can be an umbrella for determining what speech and passion is permissible and what is not. Thus in Zimbabwe, national identity has become a camouflage for a series of political controls that occupy the creative space and deny the opportunity for a pluralism of views and freedom of expression.

Keywords:

• political theatre
• identity
• discourse
• memory
• patriotic history
• essentialism

Notes

1. Political theatre is theatre that advances a progressive leftist politics to oppose a conservative status quo. The thrust is on convincing the audience that the values of the status quo should be changed in order to achieve justice. It is theatre aimed at righting a wrong and creating conditions for liberation.

2. The North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade which carried out purges in Matabeleland and Midlands provinces. Gukurahundi means the first spring rains that drift away the chuff.

3. ‘Fist of fury’ was an electioneering statement used by ZANU-PF during the 2008 presidential elections to describe the clenched fist of Robert Mugabe when waiving at supporters. ZANU-PF chiwororo on a denotative level might not have an English equivalent. Connotatively it means no problem can match the craftiness of the party. A chemical company that manufactures pesticides uses the term on the same level. On that level it means ZANU-PF can deal with any perceived enemy. It can disinfect, pasteurise and kill.

4. I directed this production and felt intimidated by the intrusive presence of the police. Even if many people believed that the show was going to be stopped and I was going to be arrested, this show was an exception, but it put the state on high alert to act on any other production from the same company.

5. A master narrative, also called a grand narrative, is an ideological apparatus that plays an important role in legitimating a set of ideas. It provides a framework in which all other cultural products find their ground and acquire their meaning and legitimacy. It explains particular choices a culture prescribes as possible courses of action. Religion, theories, ideologies are all examples of master narratives. (See also Taylor and Winquist 2001.)