Chimurenga File(s): Memory, Mockumentary, Parody, and Politics in Zimbabwe

Pedzisai Maedza

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Chapter 9 Chimurenga File(s): Memory, Mockumentary, Parody, and Politics in Zimbabwe

In: The Politics of the Past in Zimbabwe

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Pedzisai Maedza

Pedzisai Maedza
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 205–230

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004728004_011

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Abstract

This chapter pays serious attention to the contemporary use and state of political humour in the memory politics of postcolonial Zimbabwe. It investigates how stand-up comedian Doc Vikela of Simuka Comedy uses parody and humour to contest state-sanctioned narratives of belonging, patriotism, and memory. At the turn of this millennium the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation Television (ZBC-TV) started airing a new documentary programme entitled Chimurenga Files. The programme documents, archives and disseminates the memories and experiences of former combatants of the Second Chimurenga/Umvukela war. This television programme is echoed in the print media through a column in the state run weekly, The Sunday Mail. These hegemonic readings of the past have spurred counter-narratives of the founding myths of the nation-state. This chapter interrogates counter-narratives that use humour and parody to challenge this ‘patriotic history’. Using the spoof programme Chimurenga Files created by Simuka Comedy as a case study, the chapter investigates how young creatives in contemporary Zimbabwe both expand and challenge the official narratives and memory of the past. These varied renditions of the Chimurenga File(s) encapsulate and typify the contests over the past, and present a case where differently situated actors on the contemporary Zimbabwean political and performance stage publicly invoke the past for disparate political purposes.

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The Politics of the Past in Zimbabwe

Series: Africa-Europe Group for Interdisciplinary Studies, Volume: 35

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004728004

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 31 Mar 2025

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Chapter 9 Chimurenga File(s): Memory, Mockumentary, Parody, and Politics in Zimbabwe

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The Politics of the Past in Zimbabwe

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