The Zimbabwean Maverick: Dambudzo Marechera and Utopian Thinking

Description

This book seeks to unfold the complexity within the works of Dambudzo Marechera and presents scholars and readers with a way of reading his works in light of utopian thinking. Writing during a traumatic transitional period in Zimbabwe’s history, Marechera witnessed the upheavals caused by different parties battling for power in the nation. Aware of the fact that all institutionalized narratives – whether they originated from the colonial governance of the UK, Ian Smith’s white minority regime, or Zimbabwe’s revolutionary parties – appeal to visions of a utopian society but reveal themselves to be fiction, Marechera imagined a unique utopia. For Marechera, utopia is not a static entity but a moment of perpetual change. He rethinks utopia by phrasing it as an ongoing event that ceaselessly contests institutionalized narratives of the postcolonial self and its relationship to society. Marechera writes towards a vision of an alternative future for the country. Yet, it is a vision that does not constitute a fully rounded sense of utopia. Being cautious about the world and the operation of power upon the people, rather than imposing his own utopian ideals, Marechera chooses instead to destabilize the narrative constitution of the self in relation to society in order to turn towards a truly radical utopian thinking that empowers the individual. Cover Endorsements Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Acknowledgements Introduction Dambudzo Marechera and Rhodesia/Zimbabwe Literature Review A Brief Overview of Utopia Marechera and Utopia Outline of the Chapters 1. Marechera, Heimat and the Utopian Function of Literature Literature and Utopian Thinking The Role of the Writer Marechera’s “Heimat 2. The Utopia of an Outsider The Escape Mentality The “Outsider” and the “Nowhere” Ambiguity and Openness 3. Violence and Power Power in Violence Women in Violence Violence and Aporia 4. Narratives of Identities Racial Identity Ethnic Identity National Identity A Being of Rootlessness 5. The (Un)Real Orientating Reality Melting the “Columns” of Society Embracing the “(Un)real” 6. The Writer and the Community The Individual versus the Collective A Constellation of Individuals Responsibility and Emancipation Conclusion: Marechera – the “Dissident” Index