Simon Chimbetu: a sonic biography
This paper presents the view that Dendera or Sungura music can be a powerful form of cultural and historical narratives in Zimbabwe. It draws theory from scholars of autobiography such as Olney, Berryman and Javangwe and it defines the music genre as a narrative form. The paper argues that Simon Chi...
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2021
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| Online Access: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/18125980.2012.737106?journalCode=rmuz20 https://doi.org/10.1080/18125980.2012.737106 http://hdl.handle.net/11408/4321 |
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| author | Pfukwa, Charles |
| author_facet | Pfukwa, Charles |
| author_sort | Pfukwa, Charles |
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| description | This paper presents the view that Dendera or Sungura music can be a powerful form of cultural and historical narratives in Zimbabwe. It draws theory from scholars of autobiography such as Olney, Berryman and Javangwe and it defines the music genre as a narrative form. The paper argues that Simon Chimbetu's work is not only entertaining but also carries historical representations of human experience and his music becomes a cultural metaphor around which a story can be built. Through a tapestry of sonic narratives developing from his short lyrical content, the paper traces nodes of the artiste's life and how he performs his deepest feelings on stage. It the process he unwittingly writes the story of his own life on a very unusual template: on stage through performance. This study of Chimbetu is in essence part of an effort by African scholarship to be actively involved in the interrogation and redefinition of the various images of Zimbabwean music not as an alternative voice in cultural narratives but as a centre of cultural discourses in the nation. |
| format | Article |
| id | ir-11408-4321 |
| institution | My University |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | Routledge |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ir-11408-43212022-06-27T13:49:06Z Simon Chimbetu: a sonic biography Pfukwa, Charles Biography Sonic narrative Dendera Performance Culture This paper presents the view that Dendera or Sungura music can be a powerful form of cultural and historical narratives in Zimbabwe. It draws theory from scholars of autobiography such as Olney, Berryman and Javangwe and it defines the music genre as a narrative form. The paper argues that Simon Chimbetu's work is not only entertaining but also carries historical representations of human experience and his music becomes a cultural metaphor around which a story can be built. Through a tapestry of sonic narratives developing from his short lyrical content, the paper traces nodes of the artiste's life and how he performs his deepest feelings on stage. It the process he unwittingly writes the story of his own life on a very unusual template: on stage through performance. This study of Chimbetu is in essence part of an effort by African scholarship to be actively involved in the interrogation and redefinition of the various images of Zimbabwean music not as an alternative voice in cultural narratives but as a centre of cultural discourses in the nation. 2021-06-02T11:35:59Z 2021-06-02T11:35:59Z 2012 Article 1812-5980 1753-593X https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/18125980.2012.737106?journalCode=rmuz20 https://doi.org/10.1080/18125980.2012.737106 http://hdl.handle.net/11408/4321 en Muziki: Journal of Music Research in Africa;Vol. 9; No. 1: p. 78-89 open Routledge |
| spellingShingle | Biography Sonic narrative Dendera Performance Culture Pfukwa, Charles Simon Chimbetu: a sonic biography |
| title | Simon Chimbetu: a sonic biography |
| title_full | Simon Chimbetu: a sonic biography |
| title_fullStr | Simon Chimbetu: a sonic biography |
| title_full_unstemmed | Simon Chimbetu: a sonic biography |
| title_short | Simon Chimbetu: a sonic biography |
| title_sort | simon chimbetu: a sonic biography |
| topic | Biography Sonic narrative Dendera Performance Culture |
| url | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/18125980.2012.737106?journalCode=rmuz20 https://doi.org/10.1080/18125980.2012.737106 http://hdl.handle.net/11408/4321 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT pfukwacharles simonchimbetuasonicbiography |