Landscape, belonging & identity in North-west Zimbabwe: a semiotic analysis

ABSTRACT

Research has shown that there is an inextricable relationship between landscape, belonging and identity. Landscapes possess marked capacities of triggering acts of self-reflection, inspiring thoughts about who one presently is; memories of who one used to be or musings of who one might become. Using semiotics, the paper explores ethnic names, Basilwizi (BaTonga) and Goba (Shangwe) showing how these denote aspects of belonging and identity. These ethnic labels, Basilwizi and Goba, signify BaTonga and Shangwe cultural and historical connections to the Zambezi Valley in Zimbabwe. Thus, the paper reveals that the BaTonga and Shangwe continue to negotiate for space as well as to characterise the ‘politics’ of what ‘landscape’ means. This provides one with knowledge of appreciating subtle historical and cultural factors attached to land reforms in general. Researchers used oral interviews and extensive document analysis as data gathering tools for the study.

KEYWORDS:

• Landscape
• semiotics
• identity
• Goba
• Basilwizi
• Zimbabwe

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Gwembe was a local name of the Valley, the term Zambezi was introduced by white settlers on both sides of the river.

2. Professor Thayer Scudder and Professor Elizabeth Florence Colson conducted long-term ethnographic research in the Zambezi/Gwembe Valley, since 1956, in relation to the Impact of the Kariba hydro-electric project on the livelihoods of the BaTonga. They also initiated the establishment of the Gwembe Tonga Research Project (GTRP) in 1956. The GTRP was, in the 1990s, joined by Sam Clark, Lisa Cliggett and Rhonda Gillett-Netting, and lately by Bennett Siamwiza, Allison Hannish and Emma Sitambuli.

3. Lwizi Citonga word for a ‘great river.’

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joshua Matanzima

Joshua Matanzima, is a graduate researcher from the Department of Anthropology at Rhodes University, South Africa. He is currently a member of the Gwembe Tonga Research Project (GTRP). His research interests include Anthropology of landscapes and belonging; traditional religion and social change; BaTonga history and ethnography as well as boarder-land economies with particular focus on the Mid-Zambezi Valley.

Umali Saidi

Umali Saidi (PhD.), is a Senior Lecturer in the Communication Skills Center, Midlands State University, Zimbabwe. His areas of research interests are in Semiotics, Cultural Communication, Onomastics, Cultural Studies and related fields. An avid researcher in: Landscapes and belonging; traditional religion and socio-cultural change; BaTonga of Zimbabwe culture and identity in the Zambezi Valley, he has published in these study areas.