Abstract
The Nambya music speaks to the socio-cultural identity of the Nambya people yet it has been jettisoned in music discourse in Zimbabwe. The article critically engages with selected song texts of the previously marginalised ethnic minority to glean the musicians’ use of their indigenous language voices to negotiate issues of identity. The article is qualitative and interpretive, grounded in the constructionist strand of Afrocentricity. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and a review of relevant literature. The findings established that the musicians deploy their voices in communicating beliefs and values of the Nambya people amid many challenges affecting postcolonial societies.
Introduction
The article engages with the Nambya music in the post-2000 period with a view to gleaning the role of music in expressing the socio-cultural identity of the once marginalised group. Numerous researches have been done on music in Zimbabwe and beyond beginning as far back as the last quarter of the 20th century. In Africa, scholars like Nketia (1974) studied music of Africa and Agawu (2003) focused on the African music. These scholars focused mostly on the nature of African music. In more recent times, several scholars in Zimbabwe have also researched on music with specific focus on Sungura music (Mhiripiri, 2011), and some others on Zimdancehall music (Mangosho et al., 2018; Mpofu and Tembo, 2015). Most of these scholars’ focus has been on music in Shona (Mhiripiri, 2011; Thram, 2006) and Ndebele (Dube and Ndebele, 2018; Ndlovu, 2018; Nhongo, 2018) which are the predominant languages in Zimbabwe. However, research on music in previously marginalised languages, in this case Nambya, remains scanty. Little attention has been given to Nambya music in general let alone contemporary music that talks about identity issues. Yet, music is a strong tool of expressing culture. Hence, it is this gap that prompted the current research on Nambya music since Nambya is a stand-alone ethnic group with its own language and culture though many people mistakenly associate it with Ndebele for the sole reason that it falls under Matabeleland region. The article is timeous as it feeds in the United Nations’ Decade of Indigenous Languages 2022–2032 agenda that seeks to celebrate the once marginalised indigenous languages and cultures. Nambya music has its unique genres that serve its specific cultural context. Nketia explains this succinctly when he equates music to religion. He argues that, ‘music as a religion has no separate existence, it is a part of culture which derives its meaning from culture and that no music has its own terms but of the society’ (Nketia, 1990: 19). We are aware that music is not limited to song texts and lyrics. Rather, it is broad as it encompasses instrumental accompaniment, chords, form, tempo and keys minor or major while song texts refer to specific song production. Lyrics refer to the word and voice in a song. In this article, we use the three terms interchangeably as our focus is not on the technical aspect of music production. Rather, we are interested in exploring how music in general and song texts and lyrics, the components of the same, express the socio-cultural identity of the people. Music serves a number of purposes that range from entertainment, education and communication to therapy among others. Music is also a medium that expresses culture and identity. The language history has it that Nambya has been marginalised everywhere especially in the public domain like education and media. Song writing and expression of cultural identity among the Nambya can be traced back to the colonial times where songs were used to defend their culture. However, there has not been any zeal among scholars to research on this previously marginalised group. Focus has been on the more dominant cultures of the Shona and the Ndebele. The adoption of the 2013 Constitution 20th amendment in Zimbabwe accorded 16 languages equal status as ‘officially recognised languages’. The development inspired renewed energies in scholars to conduct research on these languages that were previously marginalised. This article, therefore, critically interrogates selected post-2000 song texts of Nambya music as an expression of the Nambya identity and culture. We argue that the selected song texts are an attempt to recover and reconstruct the Nambya identity and culture in the face of a hotchpotch of assaults that affect postcolonial societies.
Theoretical framework
This article utilises the reconstruction and restoration strand of the larger Afrocentricity theoretical framework for locating and interpreting the selected song texts and engaging with the views of the participants. Afrocentricity places African history and culture at the centre (Asante, 1980). Reconstruction and restoration are the centre piece of Afrocentricity, hence the article adopts this theory as it places the Nambya people at the centre of their existence. Reconstruction entails a process of building for the second time, restoring a structure to what it was. The concept has broader implications beyond just a simple return to the original form. It is as much a ‘going back’ as it is a ‘marching forward’. It is a return in the sense that it strives to recover African identity and, at the same time, a going forward as it seeks to mobilise Africans to shape their future (Chitando et al., 2022). Thus, reconstruction embraces retrieval, re-evaluation and re-creation. The retrieval process denotes bringing back into the mainstream the African heritage; the sum-total of the African beliefs and practices that have been suppressed by the assaults of Christianity, western civilisation and other hostile forces. Re-evaluation process is important as not everything old would naturally fit in the new and ever shifting circumstances of the contemporary society. Re-creation anticipates the reinvention of values found wanting in the re-evaluation process in order to respond to the new realities of the people. Artists, musicians included, generate fundamental ideas that address social, economic and political issues that affect the society with a view to inspiring Africans to shape their future. Music is a centripetal force in chatting the future of the people that produce it. In this case, the musicians through music address issues of identity in the community. The musician is the teacher who educates the society on fundamental issues of culture.
Methodology
This article is qualitative and interpretive in nature for it seeks to understand the meaning embedded in the Nambya music that derives from the lived experiences of the Nambya people. For this reason, the study adopts an interpretive research paradigm to subjectively understand the world from the perspectives of the researched community (Creswell, 2003; Ponelis, 2015). Data were collected through in-depth interviews with purposively sampled research participants, and interacting with available relevant literature. We purposively selected three songs as primary texts since they explore different types of identities. We used the local language of the researched community (Nambya) in gathering data from participants. The lead researcher is conversant with the local language. We purposively sampled two academics, two elders of the community, male and female, and one music promoter as our five key informants and 10 research participants for in-depth interviews. We took cognizance of the need to balance gender among our participants since music as art also expresses gender dynamics in the social life of the people who produce it. Purposive sampling ensured the selection of suitable cases who possessed the information required for answering the research problem. We observed the important ethical norms in qualitative research that include participant consent, confidentiality, privacy and anonymity (Merriam and Tisdell, 2016). The participants gave verbal consent. We explained the reason for the inclusion of each participant in the sample and, above all, emphasised on the voluntary basis of their participation. Data were then analysed using thematic analysis. Thematic analysis entails identifying and analysing themes that emerge from the data and which answer the research questions (Braun and Clarke, 2006).
The Nambya people of Zimbabwe
Very little has been written on the history of the Nambya people. The little bits and pieces that are available have a lot of variations, especially on how the Nambya people came to be where they are today. The Nambya people are found in Matabeleland North in Hwange District. They have often been subsumed under the broader Ndebele identity that overshadows their unique cultural and spiritual practices. This is crucial in the identity negotiation discourse because while Africans invariably complain about western ideologies eroding their indigenous ways of life, there are also cases of minority groups whose identities and ways of life have been submerged by the larger and dominant local groups.
The Nambya people are found in Matabeleland North in Hwange District. It is believed that they came from Masvingo after they left with Sawanga the King’s son who had angered his father (Nhongo, 2014). Hayes (1977) postulates that the Nambya are descendants of the Rozvi King, Mambo, who lived around the present day Great Zimbabwe area (p. 385). They were a division of the Karanga who went northwest wards to settle in what is now the Hwange District in the early 18th century. The Nambya people were known as the Vakalanga, VaNyai, VaRozvi and later BaNambya in Fort Victoria (Masvingo) under chief Mambo (Nhongo, 2). When Sawanga left with his followers at that time they were called BaNyai. They moved until they settled at Shangano. They met other groups who included Bashale, Baleya, Bahaka and Bahumbe (Nhongo, 2014). This place was called Shangano because it is where different groups of people met and it is derived from the Nambya word ‘shangana’ meaning to meet. They built a stone structure there which is similar to the one at Great Zimbabwe which is more evidence that they originated from Masvingo. They claim to have participated in the building of the Great Zimbabwe. At this place of meeting, the name Nyai was changed to Nambya. According to Nhongo (2014), ‘Kunambisa’ means to make peace. Peace was emphasised among the Nambya people. This is evidenced by the statement which says ‘wezha igamu’, that means ‘everyone who comes already shares strong kinship ties’.
Music research in Zimbabwe
As highlighted in the Introduction section, the existing body of knowledge of music in Zimbabwe is more inclined to Shona and Ndebele culture. Marongedze and Chinouriri (2018) lampoon political corruption that has been a major hindrance to the development of Zimbabwe. They analyse selected lyrics by Thomas Mapfumo and Hosiah Chipanga who are Zimbabwean prominent musicians singing in Shona. Chinouriri (2022) engages the music of Oliver Mtukudzi, a global music icon who sang predominantly in Shona, to advance the view that music is religion and musicians are priests and the audience constitutes the congregants. Matiure (2018) engages with the music of the Shona people of Wedza District to demonstrate that music is a product of a society’s social and religious activities. Dube and Ndebele (2018) employ Lovemore Majaivana’s music, a prominent Ndebele musician, to portray the Ndebele peoples’ lived experiences of ethnic discrimination and prejudices that they have endured in the post-independent Zimbabwe. They argue that the ethnocentric perceptions in the selected songs are potentially an expression of the difficult situation that the rest of other marginalised ethnic groups have grappled with. Ndlovu (2018) analyses the political significance of Viomak’s song, Gukurahundi that is a protest music that contests authoritarianism in Zimbabwe. The musician seeks to motivate the democratisation agenda through the use of history and music. Chitando (2002) examines the historical development, social, political and economic significance of Shona gospel music in Zimbabwe. He brings to the fore the long-standing issue of the relationship between Christianity and African culture. The focus is on gospel music as an integral part of contemporary African culture. Maganga et al. (2015) examine Chimbetu’s selected songs and argue that music functions as a reference point to the citizens because it is a transcript of their past experiences something which is essential to the present and future generations. It is argued that Chimbetu’s musical reflections provide enriching experiences and reveal that it is historical music.
Zimdancehall music which is Shona music has received considerable attention in scholarship. Scholars like Mpofu and Tembo (2015) interrogate the use of the word Musoja in Zimdancehall music by artists such as Sniper Storm, Mukudzei Mukombe aka ‘Jah Prayzer’ and Guspy Warrior. They interrogate the foundation and motivations of the obsessive utilisation of the name Musoja and other related militaristic expressions in the Zimdancehall music fraternity. More so, it is ironic to note that the militarisation of Zimdancehall music has also resulted in the demilitarisation of the military service.
Parwaringira and Mpofu (2021) critically examine the place of raw Zimdancehall in today’s society and its representation of the socio-political realities of life. The genre represents a discursive space for artists to expose, interrogate and demystify the hidden dimensions of individuals and societal experiences, perceptions, fallacies, fantasies and aspirations that are often overlooked and avoided by mainstream musicians through the use of non-conformist discourse. This illustrates the reincarnation of traditional art spaces where vulgar served to create humour, expose, contest and critique existing socio-political veracities in the society. They contend that the criminalisation of vulgarised Zimdancehall is a culturally uninformed legally supported verdict that disregards the traditional functions and place of vulgarised performances. Existing literature proves that little or no research has been done on Nambya culture let alone its music while Nambya has recorded quite a number of albums.
There is a significant body of literature that explores the interface of music and identity. For example, Nzewi (2009) argues that music provides an opportunity for the expression of identity and it can facilitate the production and transformation of established social identities. Identity refers to self-definition. It is that which confers a sense of self or personhood. April (2018) opines that identity is seen as how our sense of who we are is bound up with our membership of certain social groups. Kidd and Teagle (2012) corroborate when they argue that identity relates to how we think about ourselves as people, how we think about other people around us and what we imagine others think of us. For an individual to be able to understand their identity, they have to know where they come from and know the culture they belong to. This can be expressed through language, music and dance. Van Den Heever (2001) observes that, ‘identity is not a factual given. It is a social fantasy produced in the act of narrating history and making myth’. This implies that identities are unstable and unfixed. Rather, they are a process and not an event, and music is a vehicle that can be appropriated and deployed in this continuous process of identity construction and reconstruction. In this regard, music is a powerful agency for identity negotiation and contestation. There is indeed a close relationship between music and identity. Besides providing entertainment, music has other more important functions. It regulates the people’s own everyday moods and behaviours and, more importantly, presents the people to others in the way they prefer. The foregoing brief review reflects that most of the studies in music that have been conducted in Zimbabwe have focused on the Shona and Ndebele music, yet music is a powerful force of identity construction even among the ethnic minorities.
Findings and discussion
The Nambya people sing about a wide range of issues that affect them in their daily ordinary experiences. These include the religio-cultural, socio-economic and political issues that shape their identity. The Nambya songs are getting airplay courteous of the local community radios that emphasise on revitalising local culture. This can be argued as the impact of the 2013 Constitution that recognises minority languages through affording them adequate airplay on new local radio stations. The response from the audience has been overwhelming.
Linguistic identity politics
One of the themes that emerged from the data is the uneasy politics of linguistic identity. Innocent Mpala’s (2014) song Chomi is an expression of language identity. The persona reflects the politics of language identity. Linguistic identity is about being able to distinguish oneself from others on the basis of language, mainly the mother-tongue language. The main concern of the artist is to revive and revitalise the language. The song Chomi which was released in 2014 from Ilifa album goes:
Ngana mwakabelipo
Izhuba lyakezha Chomi
Eva kuJoza
Imwi mwaluseka
Tudikezi penzebe
Ekwenda edyabilila
Ajakabechinolebeleka chiNambya
Icho chiSuthu nechiTshangani
Kuta kunopota unhu unontolikela
Seni igole chete elikuJoza
ChiNambya chontizha
apana unhu angakanganwa lulimi lwamai babe
(I wish you were there The day Chomi Came from Johannesburg You were going to laugh He was wearing earrings Walking a funny step He was no longer speaking Nambya Only Sothu and Tshangani He had to look for an interpreter But he had gone only for a year He cannot speak Nambya No one can forget his/her mother-tongue).
The musician is advocating the revival and revitalisation of the Nambya language which was on the verge of death. This song is from the album called Ilifa which means heritage. This reveals that our language is our heritage and it is the carrier of culture. Wa’Thiongo (2009) argues that ‘since the 1960s many of them have looked upon African languages as a source of symbolic affirmation of their African identity’ (p. 37). This means that the musicians took that opportunity to advocate and motivate people to embrace their language because it is their source of identity. The language in the song text is used to convey culture, traditions and values hence it is very important to preserve it.
Most of the African languages had faced linguicide since the colonial period. The colonialist knew that in order to conquer the Africans they had to kill their language, and by extension cultures, and impose theirs upon them (Fanon, 1963). This is so because as Wa’Thiongo (2009: 26) observes, ‘name and language loss are the necessary steps toward the loss of his previous identity and his renewal in the new identity’. Therefore, colonisation employed force and subtle persuasion to make the Africans to denigrate and dump/leave their language. The Gramscian concept of hegemony succinctly explains the colonial project that sought to entrench the colonial values in the colonised in a subtle way (Nye, 2008). The colonial education system and religion were some of the most effective strategies of decimating the languages and cultures of the colonised, more often with the participation of the colonised themselves. They made sure that in education system English was the only language taught. Wa’Thiongo (1986) opines that:
The language of an African child’s formal education was foreign. The language of the books he read was foreign. Thought in him took the visible form of a foreign language . . . [The] colonial child was made to see and where he stands in it as seen and defined by or reflected in the culture of the language of imposition. (p. 17)
Against this background, Nambya like any other African language was affected. The artist is dealing with a very pertinent issue, namely linguicide. The persona expresses disappointment with individuals who shun their language and embrace the language of the dominant group. Wa’Thiongo (2009) argues that:
immigrants into new societies especially those who are escaping their own histories, have been known to consciously and deliberately refuse to teach their children their own language, the language of the country and history from which they are in flight, so as to facilitate their assimilation into the country and culture of adoption. (p. 62)
Many people who are migrating to South Africa are being assimilated into the South African languages because they think that Nambya is an inferior language. Mazrui and Ali (1998) assert that ‘It is also interesting that “minor” African languages are endangered more by past colonial dynamics of language interaction than by colonial one’ (p. 47). This quotation concurs with the situation in Zimbabwe. After independence, the government adopted the colonial way of doing things which allowed only two indigenous languages, which are Shona and Ndebele, to be used in the public domain and in education. This situation threatened Nambya and other ethnic languages which saw its speakers either preferring other languages which they thought were more prestigious than theirs or forced to embrace other languages that were regarded as official media of communication in public official spaces.
The persona’s voice in the song above stands for African renaissance. This is the re-birth of African culture and its values. One of the main purposes of African renaissance is the promotion of all African languages because language is a communication system and carrier of memory (Wa’Thiongo, 2009: 20). Therefore, it is of paramount importance for people to use their language as it connects them to their culture. In order to reach one’s culture one should speak their language.
The lyrics demonstrate that the individual in the song has moved from the centre and became his own oppressor. The individual thinks that since he has gone to Johannesburg he is now a better person and speaking Nambya will be degrading him. Wa’Thiongo (2009) argues that:
African renaissance can be brought about effectively only through a collective self-confidence enabled by the resurrection of African memory, which in turn calls for a fundamental change in attitude towards African language on the part of the African bourgeoisie, the Africa governments, and the African intellectual community. (p. 96)
Therefore, the artist is pleading with the individuals to have a positive attitude towards their language and embrace it because it is their heritage. Language is the basic remembering practice, hence if one speaks their language, they are able to demonstrate an appreciation of their culture.
Artists do not create the tensions and conflicts in society, they respond to them, giving them shape, form and direction perhaps just recording them and this is true of the African artist of the 20th and 21st centuries (Wa’Thiongo, 2009). Therefore, the artist in the song Chomi stands for the Afrocentricity School of thought (p. 79). He is responding to the subtle processes of linguicide that are prevailing in the society. The voice exudes Afrocentricity agenda of reviving the African languages because language has a role on how people perceive the world around them. Mwaura (1980) says:
Language influences the way in which we perceive reality, evaluate it and conduct ourselves with respect to it. Speakers of different languages and cultures see the universe differently, evaluate it differently, and behave towards its reality differently. Language controls throughout and action and speakers of different languages do not have the same reality unless they have a similar culture or background. (p. 27)
Thus, an individual has to speak their language in order to interpret the reality accordingly. If a Nambya speaks in Ndebele or Xhosa, this means they will perceive their world through the Ndebele or Xhosa cultural prism or lens. They therefore become a misfit in the Nambya community. To speak a language is to take on a world, a culture (Fanon, 1963). The persona participates in the revival of African languages which was the main goal of the Asmara Declaration of 2000. Since language is sometimes regarded as a reservoir of culture which controls human thought and behaviour and sets the boundaries of the worldview of its users (Mazrui and Ali, 1998), it is essential for Nambya people to speak their language to connect them to their culture (p. 47).
The findings of this study revealed that most of the Nambya people when they are in the public prefer to use other languages like Ndebele and Shona which they think that will open more and better opportunities for them. This means that the speakers of the Nambya language have no confidence in their language and they think that they cannot succeed in life when using it since it cannot unlock opportunities because of its tag of marginality. They perceive it as an inferior language not worthy to be used in the public domain.
The study also showed that linguistic imperialism has little to do with whether the dominant language is foreign or indigenous. The study has established that other indigenous languages are a threat to other languages. This concurs with Ndhlovu’s (2009) argument that there are languages that kill other languages. Therefore, if speakers of the language do not embrace their language it will be killed by other languages.
Religious identity
The theme of the symbiotic relationship between religion and music also emerged from the selected songs. Innocent Mpala’s (2006) song ‘Lwimbo LwaTezi’ pulsates with a strong conviction to recognise African Traditional Religion. Embedded in the voice of the artist is the worship of God through ancestors. The artist critiques the people’s abandonment of their indigenous religion in preference of the foreign one. The artist challenges the Nambya people to embrace their indigenous religion, assimilating its key elements into Christianity as they negotiate their identity in changing times. Slavery and colonisation resulted in many crises and one of them is the crisis of religion. The artist seeks to recover African spirituality in the face of a plethora of assaults that include foreign cultural and spiritual ideologies.
The persona bemoans the African religion which has been abandoned by Africans. The Africans deserted their religion because it was projected as pagan and evil. Ephraim (2003) observes that:
Perceived as heathens, the Africans were taught to worship a white Christian God, in a white heaven surrounded by a host of white angels and saints, but a God whose earthly representatives were the very white people who were terrorizing them into servitude. (p. 3)
Against this background, Africans left their way of worship and followed Christianity. They were made to believe that everything which is white is closer to God hence the God of the whites is the right one. Even traditional leaders who are expected to be presiding over the rituals have forsaken their responsibilities. Therefore, embedded in the voice of the artist is the invitation to come back and worship God through ancestors. The persona expresses disappointment with the traditional leaders who strip themselves of the fundamental duties expected of them by society. p’Bitek (1986) argues that ‘to be human is to be responsible’. The chiefs and headsmen who disengage themselves from their responsibility are a symbol of dehumanisation. Part of the song goes as following:
Ekati mashe namasabhuku
Unshingo nguweni penyika
BuNambya bwapalala
Bekalinga seni
(He said the chiefs and the headsmen What is their role here on earth? The Nambya culture is dying On their watch)
Emerging from the song, the voice of the artist reveals stultifying effects of colonisation on the Africans. These traditional leaders are no longer participating in the religious setup maybe because they are now Christians or educated. They have been brainwashed and made to believe that performing the rituals does not help at all as it is just evil.
The rituals that were presided by spirit mediums and Hosana or mbonga (celibate female guardians of sacred spaces) are no longer performed because those spirit mediums are nowhere to be seen. Everyone who has a gift of being a spirit medium is cast in bad light, as they are invariably depicted as the citadel of demons, hence people are now afraid to use those gifts. The song goes:
Banozana mhande bayipi
Akuchina
Bamazembe bo bayipi
Akuchina
Kudada noluji lwabo abachina
Bukamu neHosana abachina
(Where are the spirit mediums? They are no longer there Those with the hunting spirit Where are they? Being proud of your roots it’s no longer there Relationship with the Hosana it’s no longer there)
The voice bemoans the African religion which is at the verge of dying. Rituals which are an integral part of African life are now a thing of the past. Ani (1980) argues that ritual is, in a sense, the ultimate philosophical expression of the African worldview, and it is the modality within which the unity of the human and the divine is expressed in which the unity of spirit and matter is perceived and in which the eternal moment is achieved (p. 8). Thus, African rituals play an indispensable life-affirming role in the African societies hence the artist is positively contributing towards reviving the African heritage that has for long been relegated to periphery (Tembo and Maganga, 2013: 14).
Even though the artist bemoans the African religion, in his voice there is a trait of Christianity. According to Tembo and Maganga (2013), ‘the European psychological onslaught on Africa has bred confused individuals who tend to look up to Europe for everything including religion’. Misconception is realised in the artist’s understanding of African spiritual religion as the lyrics are engulfed with misconceptions. For example, the song goes:
Chiso chiche chibayima
Sezhuba limila
Ijingabusi lifunga pakabelimile
Ndakajobhuza ndiwi Gabriel na
(His face was shining Like the sun setting There was fire where he was standing I almost asked him that are you Gabriel?)
The African religion has been associated with darkness and evil while Christianity is associated with light and whiteness. Therefore, the persona is presenting this messenger in a Christian way whose face is glowing and where he is standing there is light. The biblical heritage of the west profoundly influenced metaphorical usages in more popular literature (Mazrui and Ali 1998: 26). The metaphor which is used here is biblical showing that people now believe that the Bible is the only book which holds the truth. It is in this light that as much as the artist is fighting for the revival of African religion, the artist might be criticised in some circles for having been affected by Christianity himself for adopting the biblical concept of the second coming of Jesus Christ. The song goes:
Abemubwilila kwanogala
Wakati kwandili
Unozha kabili palichabebola izhuba
Achabalasha buNambya
Imhuli yoyo nzi dingolo dingolo
(When he was going back He said to me He will come back when the sun will be rotten Anyone who will have lost the Nambya culture His/her family will face serious consequences)
However, the reconstructionist strand of the Afrocentricity framework goes beyond just returning to what something used to be. Rather, as Chitando et al. (2022) observe, ‘[I]t is as much a “going back” as it is a “marching forward”’ (pp. 4–5). It is a process of both recovering the past African identity and an aspiration by Africans to reshape their future. So, the use of some Biblical metaphors is a deliberate fusion of intelligently selected religious resources from indigenous spirituality and Christianity with the sole aim of indigenizing the latter. The rationale lies in the thinking that, ‘[I]t is naïve to assume that the old can easily fit new and changed circumstances’ (Chitando et al., 2022: 6). The lyrical ideology of the song reveals the voice’s attempt to re-evaluate the African religion, placing it at the centre. He talks about the second coming of Jesus where they will be gnashing of teeth to those who would not have accepted him as their personal saviour. He uses that biblical quotation as a symbolic coming of the messenger who is fighting for the African religion. In the African religion, ancestral spirits visit their people in dreams or spiritual invocation, giving warnings, advice and solutions to their problems they will be facing.
Therefore, the artist’s position is clear; he is working towards African renaissance. Wa’Thiongo (2009) argues that ‘remembering Africa is the only way of ensuring Africa’s own full birth from the dark ages into which it was plunged by the European renaissance’ (p. 89). In this regard, the artist encourages Africans to carefully preserve crucial aspects of their indigenous religion that define them as Africans as well as assimilating contextually relevant aspects of other religions, with foreign origins, operating in their midst. The lyrics reveal that the musician is aware of other religions in the society but he is encouraging people to embrace their own religion while at the same time accommodating the other religions. The accommodation is seen through the appropriation of metaphors from other religions in his expression of the indigenous religion.
Overall, the song texts above demonstrate that religious identity is one of the identities that is mostly negotiated and contested through music. Religion is a structure of identity and culture, and shares a symbiotic relationship with music (Chinouriri, 2022). This is so because as Mbiti (1990) observes, ‘[M]usic, singing and dancing reach into the innermost parts of African peoples, and many things come to the surface under musical inspiration which otherwise may not be readily revealed’ (p. 67).
Dance as an identity marker
A type of dance can be used as an identity marker. King Shaddy’s (2017) song ‘Umpeni Uncheka’ reveals that Chikokoshi dance is a reflection of the Nambya identity. The song also shows that dancing is an integral part of the Nambya culture and Africans at large because it is seen in everything they do, either they are celebrating or they are mourning. Gelfand (1959) says ‘dancing in Zimbabwe is an enormously diverse and important aspect of the Zimbabwean culture, tradition, spirituality and history’. Chikokoshi is a type of dance which is mostly performed during gatherings like Malila (bringing home ceremony) and when the Nambya people are celebrating any success story in their lives. Dance, a marker and symbol of identity, is powerful in creating, reinforcing and changing identity (Hanna, 2019). Therefore, King Shaddy’s song Umpeni uncheka expresses dance as the identity marker. The song goes as follows:
Zwayamba zwayamba
Izhani mubone
Makwikwi makwikwi
Kugundujana
Bapeni uncheka
Belye kokoshi
(It has all started Come and see It’s a competition Give them the cloth So that they dance Chikokoshi)
The lyrics above reveal that this dance is performed as people are celebrating. The song reveals that when people are gathered celebrating they entertain themselves and the dancers even compete. This is seen in the lyrics where it says ‘kugundujana’ (it is a competition). As they dance they will be two by two, a woman and a man. The dance received a negative label during the colonial period as it was erroneously interpreted as a public display of insatiable sexual desire of the Africans. As a result, the Nambya people are ashamed to dance in public for fear of being called names. Contrary to the hyped misleading connotations, the dance celebrated fertility including sexual fertility.
The people’s perceptions towards this dance have changed because of the teachings of Christianity. The introduction of Christianity destroyed the raison d’etre of dance in Africa (Hanna, 2019). Most of the African dances were banned for example mbende in Zimbabwe. The Europeans banned it for what they perceived as heavy sexual connotations. Europeans passed secular moral judgements within the Victorian frame of morality, and African dancing was branded as licentious, bestial display (Hanna, 2019). Most of the African dances were labelled as bad even though their owners perceive them as harmless dances. Most of the African dances involve pelvic movement which made the Europeans to think that they are sexual dances. Few Europeans realised, for example, that African dances involving much pelvic movement fall under fertility cultural practices. They are among other things, a celebration of fertility related to the desire for abundant harvest, a paradigm of life force and an affirmation of life itself (Hanna, 2019).
Therefore, Chikokoshi is a popular dance among the Nambya people. Interviewee C (Nambya elder) said the dance was there since time immemorial. She said that:
Ntolo kusanu kwaba namarediyo baNambya bakabesolija tungombiyo tunanga sebanjo banhu besikozana bekokosha bubi.
(Before a radio came in Africa the Nambya people would play tungombiyo which is like a banjo and dance moving their waist.)
Therefore, every time when they gather to celebrate or performing some rituals or ceremonies, they performed this dance.
Interviewee B said some people may argue and say this dance is not peculiar to the Nambya people but it is all over Africa, it is an African dance. He said:
Banwe banoti yoyu unzano awutoba wabaNambya nokuti kuEast Africa banozana iNdombolo akale Kanda Bongoman wakabesozana unzano yoyo. baShakira bo takababona bekokosha bo. Asi unsiyano upo pancheka yopa. Ndimomuno mwaHwange chete pawunobona banhukaji nabanhulume bezana bekasunga uncheka munshana. Saka igogoshi linancheka ngilomwa Hwange chete, ngilyedu isu baNambya.
(Some people say this dance is not for the Nambya people only because there is Ndombolo in East Africa and Kanda Bongoman also used to dance like that. We also saw Shakira and her group dancing this type of dance. The difference is on the cloth. It is only here in Hwange where you see women and men dancing putting a cloth around their waist. Therefore, this type of dance which has a cloth is for us the Nambya people.)
The cloth seems to be important because even the title is about the cloth, it says, Bapeni uncheka (give them the cloth). Therefore, the cloth is the one which differentiates this type of dance Chikokoshi being for the Nambya and not other cultural groups.
Interviewee D (an elder at Lukosi) said:
Igokoshi lyakabelipo makhuwa esanu ezha yomuno mwaHwange asi alijakabelina izina. Kuma1970s pakezha bazhuzha bebhuda museri muZambia kunofundila kulwana ihondo bakalyishambaja nokuti lyakabezanwa kumapungwe. Ndipo pabakati Chikokoshi. Banhu pabakabebungana kana kuti pamalila uncheka awujakabeshaikana, kungolila kankonkoli banotanga kukokosha. Banhu banonshoba namazina alosiyana siyana unzano yoyu, bamwe banoti kuvwechula bamwe beti kunimbula asi zose zuva kuzanisa unshana.
(This dance was there even before the whites came though it has no name, then later in the 1970s when the comrades came from Zambia for training that’s when it was named Chikokoshi. When people were gathered especially at Malila (bringing home ceremony) the cloth (uncheka) was present so that when the drums are beaten they start kukokosha (dancing). People call this dance with different names, some say kuvwechula and some say kunimbula. These terms all refer to the movement of the waist).
The voice is advocating for African renaissance. He is reminding the Nambya people of their dance which made them whole. Since the advent of Christianity, many people deserted this dance since it was labelled evil. It was associated with immoral behaviour. One of the research participants, a teacher, said in one of the tea parties (matipati) a certain man eloped with a girl because of the sexually provocative dancing skills that he showcased during that night. That is the reason why this dance ended up being condemned. Hanna (1973) asserts that African dance is a cultural behaviour determined by the values, attitudes and beliefs of the people. This means that dance in the Nambya society and Africa at large bears meaning that transcends body movements.
During the colonial era, the Nambya people would attend tea parties which they call ‘matipati’. At these parties, the cloth (uncheka) was always there. The tea parties were held at night and people would dance competing against each other the whole night. An individual especially a woman who could not perform this dance was regarded as uncultured and people would question her sexual performance. This dance glorified women and men who could dance well, to women it showed that she is strong and a wife material and to men it showed how flexible and good the man was in bed. The lyrics reveal that the cloth (uncheka) was part of the dance. Interviewee B says, ‘the cloth which was put on the waist made the dance to be more pronounced and attractive to the audience’. One of the most impressive moments at these gatherings was dancing Chikokoshi. Dance is a reflection of people’s reality. Djeparoska (2020) argues that ‘every nation through the process of building identity chooses symbols that shall identify and present it’. Chikokoshi is their reflection in the mirror, and they recognise themselves in it. Therefore, this means that Chikokoshi can be argued as an identity marker of the Nambya people.
From the perspective of Afrocentricity, African culture and its values should be placed at the centre. Which means everything that had been relegated by the colonialist should be revived and practised in order to reconnect to their culture. The persona perpetuates the project of African renaissance. Wa’Thiongo (2009) argues that remembering Africa is the only way of ensuring Africa’s own full re-birth from the dark ages into which it was plunged by the European renaissance (p. 89). The Nambya people perform their beautiful dances in social gatherings where these dances show resilience in tight contests with those of the dominant ethnic groups, like ingquzu of the Ndebele people and those of foreign civilisations. Therefore, Chikokoshi dance can be regarded as the identity marker of the Nambya people because every time they hear a sound they look for uncheka (cloth) and start dancing.
Conclusion
The article has engaged with the powerful agency of the Nambya music in identity construction and reconstruction. It argues that through music artists are able to negotiate and contest issues of identity. To this end, musicians are the teachers and advisors on culture in the community. They advocate the revival and revitalisation of the African culture, in this case, the Nambya culture. The article has grappled with the linguistic identity politics that often cast languages of the colonised and the minority groups in bad light. This is owed to the colonisation project that was bent on obliterating indigenous cultures. This has had a negative effect on the confidence of the former colonised and in particular the ethnic minorities. The article addressed the aspects of music that include the spirituality of African music and dance as important identity markers among the Nambya people that advance a reconstruction agenda. In the final analysis, music is a powerful medium employed in negotiating and contesting identities.
Footnotes
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
