Oliver ‘Tuku’ Mtukudzi: Celebrating the Spirituality of Indigenous Africans Through Music

In Africa, spirituality and music are interconnected. Africa’s rich cultural values inspired by its indigenous spirituality are expressed through many ways that include music. Music includes references to the Supreme Being, ancestral spirits, creatures, and objects of nature connected with the relig...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sipeyiye, Macloud, Chigidi, William L.
Format: Book chapter
Language:English
Published: Springer 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11408/5046
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1779905319686635520
author Sipeyiye, Macloud
Chigidi, William L.
author_facet Sipeyiye, Macloud
Chigidi, William L.
author_sort Sipeyiye, Macloud
collection DSpace
description In Africa, spirituality and music are interconnected. Africa’s rich cultural values inspired by its indigenous spirituality are expressed through many ways that include music. Music includes references to the Supreme Being, ancestral spirits, creatures, and objects of nature connected with the religious experiences, interpersonal relations and events in the life of the society. Music, therefore, has a unique way of expressing a deep connection between the worlds of the physical and the spiritual. Oliver Mtukudzi’s ‘Tuku’ music is not an exception. He sang about a whole spectrum of issues that concern humankind. In this chapter, we revisit the spiritual aspect, reflecting on Mtukudzi’s music as a celebration of the spirituality of the indigenous Africans. We contend that Mtukudzi sought to recover, reconstruct, and reinsert African spirituality in contexts where foreign religious identities dominate. In this regard, we consider Mtukudzi as advancing a vigorous reconstruction agenda of the African indigenous spirituality. The chapter begins with Mtukudzi’s brief history, followed by a critical reflection on the resonances of some selected texts from ‘Tuku’ music. It then addresses the main concerns of the spirituality of the indigenous Africans that include health and well-being, harmony, industriousness, and death. We use mainly the Shona people of Zimbabwe to avoid the challenges of variations that characterize the spiritual landscape of the indigenous Africans.
format Book chapter
id ir-11408-5046
institution My University
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher Springer
record_format dspace
spelling ir-11408-50462022-08-02T18:58:03Z Oliver ‘Tuku’ Mtukudzi: Celebrating the Spirituality of Indigenous Africans Through Music Sipeyiye, Macloud Chigidi, William L. Spirituality Indigenous Africans Music Reconstruction agenda In Africa, spirituality and music are interconnected. Africa’s rich cultural values inspired by its indigenous spirituality are expressed through many ways that include music. Music includes references to the Supreme Being, ancestral spirits, creatures, and objects of nature connected with the religious experiences, interpersonal relations and events in the life of the society. Music, therefore, has a unique way of expressing a deep connection between the worlds of the physical and the spiritual. Oliver Mtukudzi’s ‘Tuku’ music is not an exception. He sang about a whole spectrum of issues that concern humankind. In this chapter, we revisit the spiritual aspect, reflecting on Mtukudzi’s music as a celebration of the spirituality of the indigenous Africans. We contend that Mtukudzi sought to recover, reconstruct, and reinsert African spirituality in contexts where foreign religious identities dominate. In this regard, we consider Mtukudzi as advancing a vigorous reconstruction agenda of the African indigenous spirituality. The chapter begins with Mtukudzi’s brief history, followed by a critical reflection on the resonances of some selected texts from ‘Tuku’ music. It then addresses the main concerns of the spirituality of the indigenous Africans that include health and well-being, harmony, industriousness, and death. We use mainly the Shona people of Zimbabwe to avoid the challenges of variations that characterize the spiritual landscape of the indigenous Africans. 2022-08-02T18:58:03Z 2022-08-02T18:58:03Z 2022-01-13 Book chapter Sipeyiye, M., Chigidi, W.L. (2022). Oliver ‘Tuku’ Mtukudzi: Celebrating the Spirituality of Indigenous Africans Through Music. In: Chitando, E., Mateveke, P., Nyakudya, M., Chinouriri, B. (eds) The Life and Music of Oliver Mtukudzi . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80728-3_15 978-3-030-80727-6 978-3-030-80728-3 doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80728-3_15 http://hdl.handle.net/11408/5046 en The Life and Music of Oliver Mtukudzi;Pages 207 – 218 open Springer
spellingShingle Spirituality
Indigenous
Africans
Music
Reconstruction agenda
Sipeyiye, Macloud
Chigidi, William L.
Oliver ‘Tuku’ Mtukudzi: Celebrating the Spirituality of Indigenous Africans Through Music
title Oliver ‘Tuku’ Mtukudzi: Celebrating the Spirituality of Indigenous Africans Through Music
title_full Oliver ‘Tuku’ Mtukudzi: Celebrating the Spirituality of Indigenous Africans Through Music
title_fullStr Oliver ‘Tuku’ Mtukudzi: Celebrating the Spirituality of Indigenous Africans Through Music
title_full_unstemmed Oliver ‘Tuku’ Mtukudzi: Celebrating the Spirituality of Indigenous Africans Through Music
title_short Oliver ‘Tuku’ Mtukudzi: Celebrating the Spirituality of Indigenous Africans Through Music
title_sort oliver ‘tuku’ mtukudzi: celebrating the spirituality of indigenous africans through music
topic Spirituality
Indigenous
Africans
Music
Reconstruction agenda
url http://hdl.handle.net/11408/5046
work_keys_str_mv AT sipeyiyemacloud olivertukumtukudzicelebratingthespiritualityofindigenousafricansthroughmusic
AT chigidiwilliaml olivertukumtukudzicelebratingthespiritualityofindigenousafricansthroughmusic