Dangarembga blames Europe for Zim’s woes

Zimbabwean writer and filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga has placed responsibility for Zimbabwe’s problems on Europe and the Europeans.

Dangarembga, during an October 19 virtual discussion, said colonization disrupted Zimbabweans’ psychological bonding, resulting in a legacy of social unrest.

Dangarembga argues that this changed people’s Ubuntu, a “philosophy of life” which guides people via “‘socially acceptable ways they can interact’ with one another”.

“My hunch that I will investigate while I am here is that colonization disrupted these bonds without providing an alternative structure of psychosocial bonding, in which human desires could be satisfied positively in Zimbabwe,” Dangarembga said.

“This led to the armed struggle of 1966 to 1979 and the atrocities that have been endemic in the society ever since.”

When asked about the presence of Ubuntu in current Zimbabwean society, Dangarembga said she believes the practice has been lost, adding: “I think Ubuntu as an idea, as a possibility, as potential, is still with us. I think it can form these other paradigms that many philosophers are proposing and debating into something that can be useful.”

The writer said the position is true for continent, noting that West African culture for instance comprised “wealthy, strong states that engaged in trade and coexisted with surrounding societies” for a long time until encounters with the Portuguese, Dutch, British and European colonisers.

She gave the example of the Xhosa Kingdom during its fight against the British in the Seventh Frontier War saying the war, resulted in “a change in the ethical nature” of the Xhosa, as the kingdom’s women “tortured [and] captured British soldiers, even unto death.”