By Dr Augustine Tirivangana

THE history of Zimbabwe has always been reflected in its oral and written literature.
Much of the serious fiction written in the 1980s and early 1990s focused on the effects of Zimbabwe’s war of liberation.
Little has yet been written about post-independence Zimbabwe and the complex and challenging issues that have arisen in the last 30 years.
This anthology of 22 short stories provides a representative sample of the range and quality of writing in Zimbabwe at the turn of the century, and an impressionistic reflection of the years since independence in 1980.
Included are stories by established writers such as Shimmer Chinodya, Charles Mungoshi, Brian Chikwava; and some less established writers such as Clement Chihota, Wonder Guchu, Chiedza Musengezi, Mary Ndlovu, Vivienne Ndlovu and Stanley Nyamfukudza.
The collection also reflects a slightly broader perspective with stories by Alexandra Fuller, Derek Huggins, Pat Brickhill and Chris Wilson, who engage with historical memory of the conflicts out of which Zimbabwe arose, and the lessons to be drawn from living within a culture other than one’s own.
Overall, the anthology reaffirms the persistent value attached to imaginative writing in Zimbabwe, and illustrates that the country’s literary tradition is alive and well, and reshaping itself for new times. In this article we are going to focus on two short stories for closer analysis: The Kiss by Clement Chihota and Universal Remedy by Pat Brickhill.
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In the short story, The Kiss, in terms of techniques, Chihota employs a kind of science fiction, which suspends the reader’s beliefs in order to allow the exposition of moral ills which come as a result of economic greed.
His choice of science fiction technique is appropriate in portraying this moral jungle because it allows him to expose the unimaginable corruption in contemporary precious minerals scams.
The story portrays women as silent tools of male dealers.
They succumb to economic pressures in such a way that they give in to abuse without questioning.
‘Hofisi’ abuses his wife by making her a transit gadget diamond trafficking.
She has to kiss any of Hofisi’s clients to orally pass on the gem; thus compromising her moral stature.
His justification for going this far is economic: “That diamond, safe in my hands, will fetch several millions. We need to pay something towards the mortgage. And, for heaven’s sake, we are not planning to murder anyone. We are simply trying to survive these tough times.” But humanity does not live for money alone; they also have dignities to protect.
Critics wonder why Chihota portrays women as easy and ready victims of male criminals who use them as bait and decoys in their operation.
Those women who demonstrate strength of personal resolve, who fight for their rights are not given the fight.
They lose it.
Only the wily machinations of male criminals win the day.
And one wonders whether Chihota is giving credit to evil.
‘Majaira’ is a fighting woman who never wins her fights.
Instead she is misled into a pornographic act despite being uncomfortable with it as in the instance when Majaira says to her husband: “Couldn’t you have found some other women, I mean anyone else to do this? And how can you ask me to kiss a strange man on the lips like that?”
Majaira is forced by economic hardships to sacrifice her dignity in the pornographic act where she is used as a bait and decoy and because of her lack of enlightenment she is easily exploited by Hofisi and the other male figures in the criminal syndicate.
Although she finally finds warmth of love in Mike’s hands, their affair is dominated by fear.
And besides she wins this love at a great moral price as her society cannot absolve her of sexual double standards.
Chihota, however, captures with photographic accuracy contemporary issues of corruption involving the police and army officers who take bribes in order to survive the hyper-economic hardships Zimbabwe has been going through since the imposition of sanctions.
This inflationary environment has taken a big toll on the social, political, cultural and moral fabric of society.
People have lost their moral standards for the sake of money.
The proverb “Chabhendachabhenda mbambaira haitwasanudzwe sums up the author’s attitude towards the rot.
He is very sceptical about any possibility of moral restitution given the fact that absolute corruption corrupts absolutely.
Note, however, Chihota is not necessarily judging society, but simply portraying society characterised by prostitution, bribery, lack of resources such as petrol, and the frustrations of dealing with bureaucracy in government offices.
The immigration officers, army officer, police and ordinary members of society are all caught up in a web of criminal manipulation in order to survive the tough economic conditions.
As a result, society has been characterised by anomy and anarchy.
On the other hand Brickhill’s Universal Remedy highlights the plight of women not only in Zimbabwe, but also in the world.
Women often carry the responsibility of being breadwinners in a country plagued by poverty, infidelity and HIV and AIDS. ‘Esilina Sibanda’, the main focus of the short story, has gone through the same life experience as the narrator.
The narrator is born in Africa, but separated from her husband who has gone to stay with another woman leaving her to nurture three children.
‘Esi’ has suffered from the drudgeries of her rural background, endures the pressure from fellow women who have internalised patriarchal values.
She is used as a scapegoat for a barren marriage, dumped at the age of 42 and replaced by a young woman and is frustrated beyond any thought of second marriage.
The irony is that her former husband fails to have children with this young wife and any other woman implying that he is ‘to blame’ for the lack of children in the family.
The problem enunciated by the narrator happens in peoples’ daily lives.
Ironically, her Christian liberalism “don’t revenge-men’s-cruelty attitude” takes her nowhere.
The forgiving philosophy protects the institution of patriarchy.
She becomes a Methodist preacher, but ironically the freedom and comfort offered by religion is limited.
She is further frustrated by her failure to access the male-dominated land reform despite her farming potential.
Despite Esi’s strong rural background, the narrator extends such hospitality beyond the race barrier possibly as a result of the similarity in their life journeys and shared miseries.
Both women are victims of patriarchal socio-stereotypes.
She provides national therapy to the wounded life of the narrator.
In short, both women endure hardships, experienced by all women notwithstanding colour, creed or race.
Such is Brickhill’s liberal approach to literature which as a Zimbabwean scholar you may want to interrogate further.
The real question is: in spite of their shared victimhood how organic can their closeness be?