Performing liberation heritage: Kongonya and toyi-toyi as cultural resistance in colonial and postcolonial Zimbabwe

Cultural activities such as dance and music can be used in strategic processes of activism, liberation and social, racial, or ethnic identity formation for marginalised communities. Dance and music practices as liberation heritage are a valuable source of power for socially, politically, and economically marginalised communities. This article presents kongonya and toyi-toyi as movements and sounds of resistance. We also theorised these choreomusical traditions as liberation heritage. These cultural practices narrate through movement and sound, complex notions of identity that contribute to political and socio-economic empowerment and the valuation of liberation heritage. For example, kongonya dance and toyi-toyi dance drills, performed during the Second Chimurenga war of liberation, were invented as resistance symbols by the freedom fighters and native black communities. Both contributed to the attainment of Zimbabwe's independence in 1980. The role of dance and music in the quest for self-determination has not been widely acknowledged. This study argues that dance and music served as a means for moral support (morari) and propaganda during the liberation struggle. We also further suggest that music and dance promoted ideologies of the liberation struggle. Kongonya and toyi-toyi practices accorded the villagers (povho) and freedom fighters (magandanga or vanamukoma) space for physical self-expression and socio-political cohesion. Therefore, this article interrogates the role of kongonya dance and toyi-toyi dance drills in fighting colonialism and its sustainability in postcolonial Zimbabwe.

Anahtar Kelimeler:

Chimurenga, dance, music, toyi-toyi, kongonya, pungwe, liberation struggle, liberation heritage

Performing liberation heritage: Kongonya and toyi-toyi as cultural resistance in colonial and postcolonial Zimbabwe

Keywords:

Chimurenga, dance, music, toyi-toyi, kongonya, pungwe, liberation struggle, liberation heritage,

PDF

___

References
Alexander, J. & McGregor, J. 2020. “The Travelling Toyi-Toyi: Soldiers and the Politics of Drill.” Journal of Southern African Studies 46 (5): 923–40.
Bhebe, N. 1999. The ZANU and ZAPU Guerrilla Warfare and Evangelical Lutheran Church in Zimbabwe. Gweru: Mambo Press.
Carlson, M. 1984. Theories of Theatre: A Historical and Critical Survey from the Greeks to the Present, New York: Cornell University Press.
Chinyowa, K. C. 2000. “More than more storytelling: The Pedagogical Significance of African ritual theatre”. Studies in theatre and performance, 20 (2): 87-96.
Chinyowa, K. C. 2001. “Orality in Shona Religious Rituals.” In Orality and Cultural Identities in Zimbabwe, edited by M. T. Vambe, 9–17. Gweru, Zimbabwe: Mambo Press.
Chifunyise, S. 1994. Trends in Zimbabwean theatre since 1980. In Politics and Performance: Theatre, Poetry and Song in Southern Africa, L Gunner (ed.). pp. 55-74 (originally published in JSAS, Vol. 16. 1990).
Chirere, M. & Mhandu, E. 2008. “Songs that won the war of liberation and poems that grapple with the war and its aftermath”, Muziki: Journal of Music Research in AfricaVol5:2, 271-283.
Chung, F. 2007. Reliving the Second Chimurenga: Memories from Zimbabwe's Liberation Struggle. Harare: Weaver Press.
Gonye, J. 2013. “Mobilizing Dance/Traumatizing Dance: Kongonya and the Politics of Zimbabwe”. Dance Research Journal, 45(1), 65-79. doi:10.1017/S0149767712000277. Grindon, G. 1996. “Carnival against capital”. Anarchist Studies 4.1, 147-161.
ICOMOS. 2002. “International Cultural Tourism Charter. Principles And Guidelines for Managing Tourism at Places of Cultural and Heritage Significance”. ICOMOS International Cultural Tourism Committee.
Maluleke, S.1993. ''Toyi-Toyi Freedom Dance of the 90s. Where did it Originate?'' Drum, Vol. 12 Number (172): 32-33.
Martin, D. & Johnson, P.1981. The Struggle for Zimbabwe. Harare: Zimbabwe Publishing House.
Masunungure, E. V. 2009. “A Militarized Election: The 27 June Presidential Run-Off.” In Defying the Winds of Change, edited by Eldred V. Masunungure, 79–97. Harare, Zimbabwe: Weaver Press.
Mataga, J. 2019. “Unsettled spirits, performance and aesthetics of power: the public life of liberation heritage in Zimbabwe”, International Journal of Heritage Studies, 25:3, 277-297, DOI: 10.1080/13527258.2018.1493699.
Mazarire, G. C.2009. A Social and Political History of Chishanga: South-Central Zimbabwe c. 1750 -2000. Published DPhil Thesis University of Zimbabwe.
Mupira, P. 2010. A framework for Managing Zimbabwe’s Liberation War Heritage. National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ). Unpublished Report Harare: NMMZ.
Muzondidya, J. 2009. “From Buoyancy to Crisis, 1980–1997.” In Becoming Zimbabwe: A History from the Pre-Colonial Period to 2008, edited by Brian Raftopoulos and Alois Mlambo, 167–200. Harare, Zimbabwe: Weaver Press.
Ndlovu, B.2016. The role of Music in the Liberation struggle in Zimbabwe. Published Bachelor of Arts thesis. Gweru: Midlands State University.
Nkiwane, E. 2000. “Rehabilitation of Heroes Graves outside the Country, National Museums and Monuments Organisation.” NAMMO Bulletin 7: 11–15.
NMMZ. 1995. Provincial Heroes’ Acres: Feasibility Study Report. Harare: NMMZ.
Pfukwa, C. 2008. “Black September et al.: Chimurenga Songs as Historical Narratives in the Zimbabwean Liberation War'”. Muziki: Journal of Music Research in African Vol. 5 (1): 30-61.
Pongweni, A. J. C.1982. Songs that won the liberation war. Harare: The College Press.
Raftopoulos, B. & Phimister, I. 1997. Keep on Knocking: A History of Labour Movement in Zimbabwe 1900-97. Harare: Baobab Press.
Ranger, T. 1985. Peasant Consciousness and Guerrilla War in Zimbabwe. London: James Currey.
Ravengai, S. 2016. “Chimurenga Liberation Songs and Dances as Sites of Struggle to Counter Rhodesian Discourse: A Postcolonial Perspective”. In Mangena, F., E. Chitando & I. Muwati (eds.): Sounds of Life: Music, Identity and Politics in Zimbabwe. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Soini, K, & Birkland, I. 2014. "Exploring the scientific discourse on cultural sustainability". Geoforum. 51: 213–223. doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2013.12.001.
Thram, D. 2003. “Performance as Ritual, Performance as Art: Therapeutic Efficacy of Dandanda Song and Dance in Zimbabwe.” In The Interdependence of Music, Religion, and Ritual in African Performance Practice, edited by Daniel K. Avorgbedor, 99–125. New York: The Edwin Mellen Press.
Twala, C. & Koetaan, Q. 2006. ''Toyi-Toyi Protest Culture in the 1980s: An Investigation into its liberating and Unifying Powers''. South Journal of Cultural History, Vol. 20 (1):163-139.
Vambe, M. T. (2004). "Versions and Sub-Versions: Trends in Chimurenga Musical Discourses of post-independence Zimbabwe." African Study Monographs, 25(4): 167-193.
Viriri, A. 2013. “Seiko musina morari?”: The carnivalesque modes of the Pungwe institution in selected Shona novels. Published PhD thesis. University of South Africa.