Rewriting post-colonial historical representations: the case of refugees in Zimbabwe's war of liberation

'Rewriting postcolonial historical representations: The case of refugees in Zimbabwe's liberation war' focuses on the historicisation of the experiences of people who were refugees during Zimbabwe's liberation war, fought between 1966 and 1980. It uses the narratives of former refugees from Mutasa and Bulilima Districts as a way of capturing their histories of the war period. When Zimbabwe attained independence in 1980, the country embarked on a historicisation project that was ably supported by a memorialization one. The aim of these twin projects was to capture the experiences of people who had either participated in the war or had been affected by it. Whilst all the other key players in that war such as the political leadership, the war veterans, the former detainees and even the ordinary peasants' experiences have been captured in these projects, there has been an absolute silence on those of people who were refugees. The same also applies to the omission of the refugee's voice in the continued regeneration of such histories that has been taking place since the year 2000 in Zimbabwe. Using the central question that asks about the experiences of displacement in Zimbabwe's liberation war, the research argues that we can only understand the totality of that war, the interactions that took place and the identities it created if the refugee figure and voice are represented on the historical record.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Cape Town

Year dc:date.issued

2020

Author dc:creator

• Magadzike, Blessed

Advisors dc:contributor.advisor

• Field, Shaun
• Mulaudzi, Maanda

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/32500

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/32500