Exploring Subtlety in Charles Mungoshi’s Waiting for the Rain

Many critical readers have been contend to characterise Charles Mungoshi’s Waiting for the Rain (1975) as being primarily focused on family relations which seem to be breaking down irrevocably. The argument of this paper is that Waiting for the Rain goes beyond mere exploration of the family rela...

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Main Author: Jenjekwa, Vincent
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2022
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Online Access:http://ijee.org/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/32.17212111.pdf
http://hdl.handle.net/11408/5119
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author Jenjekwa, Vincent
author_facet Jenjekwa, Vincent
author_sort Jenjekwa, Vincent
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description Many critical readers have been contend to characterise Charles Mungoshi’s Waiting for the Rain (1975) as being primarily focused on family relations which seem to be breaking down irrevocably. The argument of this paper is that Waiting for the Rain goes beyond mere exploration of the family relationships of the Mandengu family to be a subtle and calculated attack on the colonial regime in all its manifestations. Mungoshi’s decision to write during a time when the war of liberation in Zimbabwe was in its decisive phase is a decision which called for self censorship. The 1970s, the most painful and brutal years of Zimbabwe’s struggle for independence mark the decisive phase of the liberation war. The settler government had established and consolidated its array of repressive machinery to perpetuate its existence. There was need for subtlety to camouflage political messages from colonial authorities and at the same time ensure that the message of protest reached the intended audience with significant impact. The text will be analysed through Historical Criticism through selected tenets of Psychoanalysis where necessary.
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spelling ir-11408-51192022-08-12T12:39:37Z Exploring Subtlety in Charles Mungoshi’s Waiting for the Rain Jenjekwa, Vincent Historical literature Colonialism Second Chimurenga Subtlety Historical Criticism Many critical readers have been contend to characterise Charles Mungoshi’s Waiting for the Rain (1975) as being primarily focused on family relations which seem to be breaking down irrevocably. The argument of this paper is that Waiting for the Rain goes beyond mere exploration of the family relationships of the Mandengu family to be a subtle and calculated attack on the colonial regime in all its manifestations. Mungoshi’s decision to write during a time when the war of liberation in Zimbabwe was in its decisive phase is a decision which called for self censorship. The 1970s, the most painful and brutal years of Zimbabwe’s struggle for independence mark the decisive phase of the liberation war. The settler government had established and consolidated its array of repressive machinery to perpetuate its existence. There was need for subtlety to camouflage political messages from colonial authorities and at the same time ensure that the message of protest reached the intended audience with significant impact. The text will be analysed through Historical Criticism through selected tenets of Psychoanalysis where necessary. 2022-08-12T12:39:37Z 2022-08-12T12:39:37Z 2013-07 Article 2278-4012 http://ijee.org/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/32.17212111.pdf http://hdl.handle.net/11408/5119 en International Journal of English and Education;Vol. 2, No. 3;Pages 405 - 415 open
spellingShingle Historical literature
Colonialism
Second Chimurenga
Subtlety
Historical Criticism
Jenjekwa, Vincent
Exploring Subtlety in Charles Mungoshi’s Waiting for the Rain
title Exploring Subtlety in Charles Mungoshi’s Waiting for the Rain
title_full Exploring Subtlety in Charles Mungoshi’s Waiting for the Rain
title_fullStr Exploring Subtlety in Charles Mungoshi’s Waiting for the Rain
title_full_unstemmed Exploring Subtlety in Charles Mungoshi’s Waiting for the Rain
title_short Exploring Subtlety in Charles Mungoshi’s Waiting for the Rain
title_sort exploring subtlety in charles mungoshi’s waiting for the rain
topic Historical literature
Colonialism
Second Chimurenga
Subtlety
Historical Criticism
url http://ijee.org/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/32.17212111.pdf
http://hdl.handle.net/11408/5119
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