THERE are, in our midst, writers who argue that folktales were progressing beautifully in our culture until the liberation struggle, which came and killed the story and disrupted everything.
The liberation struggle was thus not a legitimate part of our history or culture but a disruptive force which threw into disarray our culture and the folktales ensconced within it.
One particular writer, who I shall not mention by name, had the temerity to say while the tales of vana Tsuro naGudo were special, this thread of folktales had been disrupted by the harsh and cruel tale of the ‘war’ which, according to the writer, is not a correct source of stories for our children.
While the liberation war was not a correct source of stories for our children, according to the writer, Superman is. He argued that we should weave Superman into the stories of our children.
In his presentation, children could very well relate to Superman but not to the liberation war.
While he saw relevance for our children in Superman, he saw no relevance for our children in the armed struggle.
Firstly, what struck me as the biggest tragedy is that he considered the armed struggle a disruptive force… but to who?
How can the liberation struggle, in any context, be considered a disruptive force; the very force which ended 90 years of British armed robbery of our land and allowed the birth of the Zimbabwe International Book Fair (ZIBF) at which he is now free to speak to an international audience, something that could never have been possible before the liberation struggle freed us from British bondage?
To posit that Superman is a legitimate hero for our children but not the comrade who fought through rain and cold, hunger and disease, to free millions of Zimbabweans, is to take sides with the British and their American kith and kin against one’s own people.
To suggest that we should wipe the liberation story completely out and away from our children is to betray these youngsters, the heirs of Zimbabwe.
Tsuro naGudo were, and are, special. It is not the liberation struggle which disrupted Tsuro naGudo but the British colonialists, for how can we sing our song in a ‘strange’ land?
Tsuro naGudo were no longer authentic because we had become captives. The story had begun to change because of this captivity. As children we began to sing:
Tikehe tete nhai Gudo, tete
Mahobi chiiko nhai Gudo, tete
Ahehe usandisembura
Zvadziridzo kepesi
Dzataisidzika, tiriko kuHarare, kuvarungu vedu, tete….
Gudo’s physical features were now presented as something else we had not known, mahobi ake became a cap he used to wear in Harare as a servant of his masters, the whites.
In fact, without the liberation struggle, it would not be possible to have true Zimbabwean stories for our children.
Folklore changes, it is not possible to arrest it, but it is important to be vigilant, it is not that everything new is good.
No story is neutral. It is important to choose our heroes carefully, in a manner that is patriotic, which promotes the good of the nation, the vast majority of the people, in a way which edifies them and propels them to progress.
The rowdy, raucous, rude, violent rank marshals are a part of modern day Zimbabwe but they can never be heroes of our people, they do not add value to the life of the Zimbabwean, the story of Zimbabwe. Thus they cannot be heroes of our children.
Heroes of our children are rightfully those who fought to restore this country back to its owners. This contribution is the greatest gift one can give his/her nation. Nothing is greater because without freedom, you are not a people but a shadow of those who have enslaved you.
To deny this contribution is to deny the greatest achievement of our people. The least we can do for those who sacrificed their lives for all of us is to say thank you and give them their correct place in our history.
Yes, kare haagari ari kare, but whither Zimbabwe? Superman is not part of us, why import heroes? Is Zimbabwe, this great nation, so bankrupt of heroism that we have to import an American fetish of mammon? Surely we can do better than this.
Kare haagari ari kare but we do not throw away our history, we build on it.
Munhumutapa is still relevant, a great hero, because he is the founding father of the Zimbabwe state even as we have named our country on this foundation stone.
Chaminuka is important, he defined who we are and taught us how to be a nation.
Nehanda is important too because she is the greatest heroine who defied the white armed robbers from Britain with her very last breath, moments before they murdered her. She still maintained who she was, daughter and custodian of her land. And we still build on that and tell our children about her, about Herbert Chitepo, Josiah Magama Tongogara as well as Jason Ziyapapa Moyo, and we go on building our edifice.
This is our history, from which we draw our culture.
Being modern does not mean being American, there is modern America, there is modern Zimbabwe; modern Zimbabwe is not synonymous with modern America.
Modern Zimbabwe cannot be subsumed under modern America!
Ask the Japanese, ask the Chinese, ask even the French!
They all have their own heroes, their own stories from times gone by, linking up to the present.
This is what defines who they are and inspires them, propels them to dizzy heights.
Superman is not our hero, those who came up with Superman were writing their own story, the story of the superiority of the looters and plunderers.
Our armed struggle is our own story linking us through history with the great fighters and state builders of the Munhumutapa Dynasty, a strong and proud people, to the present where our defence forces salute the Executive with the song:
Nyika yedu yeZimbabwe
Ndimo matakazvarirwa
Vana mai nababa ndimo mavari
Tinoda Zimbabwe neupfumi hwayo hwose
Simuka Zimbabwe….
This is our land, this is our history, our children should enjoy stories about it all, about who they are and the great heroism ensconced within.
When we define ourselves according to the parameters drawn by others, we become their slaves without a cause except their cause.