The in-between-ness of the life narrative: negotiating disciplinary boundaries in selected Zimbabwean political narratives

Political life narratives have emerged in Zimbabwe and elsewhere to contest, rebut, or corroborate versions of official history on nationalist trajectories from the liberation struggles and thereafter. This development has excited new critical attention on such narratives that before were despised b...

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Main Author: Javangwe, Tasiyana
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Indiana University Press 2022
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Online Access:https://muse.jhu.edu/article/840098/summary
http://hdl.handle.net/11408/4831
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author Javangwe, Tasiyana
author_facet Javangwe, Tasiyana
author_sort Javangwe, Tasiyana
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description Political life narratives have emerged in Zimbabwe and elsewhere to contest, rebut, or corroborate versions of official history on nationalist trajectories from the liberation struggles and thereafter. This development has excited new critical attention on such narratives that before were despised by historians who did not accept autobiography in general as a serious field of study that could contribute to knowledge. This discussion focuses on selected political life narratives of Zimbabwean nationalists, arguing that the life narrative is a useful entry point in understanding not only individual identities, but the history, culture, and politics of Zimbabwe. It argues that the existence of the life narrative genre in a particular culture is an important signifier of the dynamic processes of both individual and group identity conception in that society, and therefore it must be read alongside other disciplines such as history.
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spelling ir-11408-48312022-06-27T13:49:06Z The in-between-ness of the life narrative: negotiating disciplinary boundaries in selected Zimbabwean political narratives Javangwe, Tasiyana Political life narratives Zimbabwe Political life narratives have emerged in Zimbabwe and elsewhere to contest, rebut, or corroborate versions of official history on nationalist trajectories from the liberation struggles and thereafter. This development has excited new critical attention on such narratives that before were despised by historians who did not accept autobiography in general as a serious field of study that could contribute to knowledge. This discussion focuses on selected political life narratives of Zimbabwean nationalists, arguing that the life narrative is a useful entry point in understanding not only individual identities, but the history, culture, and politics of Zimbabwe. It argues that the existence of the life narrative genre in a particular culture is an important signifier of the dynamic processes of both individual and group identity conception in that society, and therefore it must be read alongside other disciplines such as history. 2022-05-03T13:28:27Z 2022-05-03T13:28:27Z 2021 Article 1527-2044 0034-5210 https://muse.jhu.edu/article/840098/summary http://hdl.handle.net/11408/4831 en Research in African Literatures;Vol. 52; No. 1: p. 36-51 open Indiana University Press
spellingShingle Political life narratives
Zimbabwe
Javangwe, Tasiyana
The in-between-ness of the life narrative: negotiating disciplinary boundaries in selected Zimbabwean political narratives
title The in-between-ness of the life narrative: negotiating disciplinary boundaries in selected Zimbabwean political narratives
title_full The in-between-ness of the life narrative: negotiating disciplinary boundaries in selected Zimbabwean political narratives
title_fullStr The in-between-ness of the life narrative: negotiating disciplinary boundaries in selected Zimbabwean political narratives
title_full_unstemmed The in-between-ness of the life narrative: negotiating disciplinary boundaries in selected Zimbabwean political narratives
title_short The in-between-ness of the life narrative: negotiating disciplinary boundaries in selected Zimbabwean political narratives
title_sort in-between-ness of the life narrative: negotiating disciplinary boundaries in selected zimbabwean political narratives
topic Political life narratives
Zimbabwe
url https://muse.jhu.edu/article/840098/summary
http://hdl.handle.net/11408/4831
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