Mabasa:the Marechera of Shona Literature
In a detailed and informative new overview of Zimbabwean poetry since the 70s, two prominent Zimbabwean scholars, Musaemura Zimunya (my former professor) and Kizito Muchemwa, have labelled Ignatius Mabasa the Dambudzo Marechera of Shona fiction and poetry:
"The future of Zimbabwean poetry", write Zimunya and Muchemwa, "is shaped by a variety of forces and indicates many directions of development. The future continues to be shaped by its past and this explains the sustained influence of the poets of the 1970s and 1980s who also continue to re-define their own pasts. But there is growing evidence that the landscape of this poetry will see some significant re-shaping by the post-1990 poets. One such poet is the Dambudzo Marechera of Shona poetry and fiction, Ignatius Mabasa. Like Marechera, he is comfortable working across genres and at times collapsing their boundaries. He also refuses easy categorisation. The riot of sensibility, the controlled exuberance, the parodic style, the acerbity and tenderness characterise the work of this writer set to revolutionise both fiction and poetry in Shona" ("Overview", Poetry International Web).
Indeed,Mabasa "is comfortable working across genres and at times collapsing their boundaries". In the nineties, he, like Memory Chirere, Albert Nyathi, Charles Chigwada, and others(I was there too),was setting the trend for a new brand of performance poetry,travelling to schools and libraries to perform his works. His appearance in the landmark Shona anthologhy, Tipeiwo Dariro, edited by Chirikure Chirikure, opened up other directions in his writing. Shortly after, he began to publish fiction, but remember he was also already writing insightful book reviews for the national newspapers and magazines, while building web sites for various book-based organizations. He was one of the few students I knew at the University of Zimbabwe who seemed to be studying just about every professional course there was beyond university schedule (public relations, marketing, web technologies, etc). Then he came out with the novel Mapenzi, which he wrote in a matter of weeks in Norway. The book awakened the Shona novel from its Literature Bureau-induced slumber (of course, I am aware that innovation already existed in Mungoshi's work). The novel won the award of one of the top 75 books of African literature, right there along with Things Fall Apart, Bones and others. Mabasa has since followed this novel up with another one, whose plot includes the new Zimbawean Diaspora.
But that's not all Mabasa is doing. He continues to write and perform innovative poetry, and he has formed what's called Gospoetry, a blend of poetry and gospel. His diligence is showing itself also in what he is planning to do with folklore. He has either already set up a center where people come to tell and listen to stories of the folkloric tradition as a way to preserve our rich story-telling tradition or he is in the process to do so. Mabasa himself is an accomplished story-teller, who, when he was here in the United States in 1999/2000, engaged listeners with Tsuro na Gudo stories, told in Shona; he too was teaching Zimbabwean literature as a Fulbright scholar at a liberal arts college in Illinois, proud as ever to be a Zimbabwean author writing in Shona.
Not only is he a Dambudzo Marechera of Shona literature, he is also a Ngugi of Zimbabwe. On his website, Mabasa explains why he writes only in Shona. And lately I notice he also blogs in Shona. Imika! But he goes beyond Marechera in his work ethic and sense of writer's responsibility, in that he is steeped in an identity as a Zimbabwean writer whose primary goal is communicate with a clearly-defined readership. So really, Mabasa is the mabasa of Shona Literature. And of course, understanding that "easy categorization" of writers is problematic, let's argue that his influence in Shona writing will reach beyond that linguistic enclosure. Wait until a translator comes along...and who is to say he will not translate himself, like Ngugi does?
Recently, in an interview with Memory Chirere, I stated that Zimbabwean literature was in good hands--the hands of the writers. This essay by Zimunya and Muchema bears witness to that, especially in its conclusion, when it gives a warning:
"We want to conclude by mentioning the importance and perils of artistic patronage and programmatic writing. History shows how official colonial patronage of literature through the Rhodesia Literature Bureau proved to be a pernicious influence by stifling creativity and encouraging an askari aesthetics focusing on anthropological aspects of the lives of the colonised. History may be repeating itself with the emergence arts that may be used for state propaganda. State instruments are already in place in Zimbabwe to control creativity. We want to acknowledge here the role played by other sources of patronage in nurturing talent: British Council with their Crossing Borders writing project, HIVOS, SIDA, Pamberi Trust, the local book publishers’ association and their sponsorship of the ZIBF book prizes, and the Zimbabwe Writers Union. We also want to suggest that good writing may often thrive in the lack of patronage."
I doubt that such patronage will have the same effects as those of the Lit Bureau in a world where we have other avenues to at least publicise our works, and during a time when some key Zimbabwean writers (Petina Gappah, for instance)are landing into mammoth book deals with more entrepeneurial (on the part of the agents & publishers)and innovative-aesthetic/literary (on the part of the writer) interests than they have ideological and censorial intentions.
Read the entire Zimunya/Muchemwa essay on Poetry International Web
"The future of Zimbabwean poetry", write Zimunya and Muchemwa, "is shaped by a variety of forces and indicates many directions of development. The future continues to be shaped by its past and this explains the sustained influence of the poets of the 1970s and 1980s who also continue to re-define their own pasts. But there is growing evidence that the landscape of this poetry will see some significant re-shaping by the post-1990 poets. One such poet is the Dambudzo Marechera of Shona poetry and fiction, Ignatius Mabasa. Like Marechera, he is comfortable working across genres and at times collapsing their boundaries. He also refuses easy categorisation. The riot of sensibility, the controlled exuberance, the parodic style, the acerbity and tenderness characterise the work of this writer set to revolutionise both fiction and poetry in Shona" ("Overview", Poetry International Web).
Indeed,Mabasa "is comfortable working across genres and at times collapsing their boundaries". In the nineties, he, like Memory Chirere, Albert Nyathi, Charles Chigwada, and others(I was there too),was setting the trend for a new brand of performance poetry,travelling to schools and libraries to perform his works. His appearance in the landmark Shona anthologhy, Tipeiwo Dariro, edited by Chirikure Chirikure, opened up other directions in his writing. Shortly after, he began to publish fiction, but remember he was also already writing insightful book reviews for the national newspapers and magazines, while building web sites for various book-based organizations. He was one of the few students I knew at the University of Zimbabwe who seemed to be studying just about every professional course there was beyond university schedule (public relations, marketing, web technologies, etc). Then he came out with the novel Mapenzi, which he wrote in a matter of weeks in Norway. The book awakened the Shona novel from its Literature Bureau-induced slumber (of course, I am aware that innovation already existed in Mungoshi's work). The novel won the award of one of the top 75 books of African literature, right there along with Things Fall Apart, Bones and others. Mabasa has since followed this novel up with another one, whose plot includes the new Zimbawean Diaspora.
But that's not all Mabasa is doing. He continues to write and perform innovative poetry, and he has formed what's called Gospoetry, a blend of poetry and gospel. His diligence is showing itself also in what he is planning to do with folklore. He has either already set up a center where people come to tell and listen to stories of the folkloric tradition as a way to preserve our rich story-telling tradition or he is in the process to do so. Mabasa himself is an accomplished story-teller, who, when he was here in the United States in 1999/2000, engaged listeners with Tsuro na Gudo stories, told in Shona; he too was teaching Zimbabwean literature as a Fulbright scholar at a liberal arts college in Illinois, proud as ever to be a Zimbabwean author writing in Shona.
Not only is he a Dambudzo Marechera of Shona literature, he is also a Ngugi of Zimbabwe. On his website, Mabasa explains why he writes only in Shona. And lately I notice he also blogs in Shona. Imika! But he goes beyond Marechera in his work ethic and sense of writer's responsibility, in that he is steeped in an identity as a Zimbabwean writer whose primary goal is communicate with a clearly-defined readership. So really, Mabasa is the mabasa of Shona Literature. And of course, understanding that "easy categorization" of writers is problematic, let's argue that his influence in Shona writing will reach beyond that linguistic enclosure. Wait until a translator comes along...and who is to say he will not translate himself, like Ngugi does?
Recently, in an interview with Memory Chirere, I stated that Zimbabwean literature was in good hands--the hands of the writers. This essay by Zimunya and Muchema bears witness to that, especially in its conclusion, when it gives a warning:
"We want to conclude by mentioning the importance and perils of artistic patronage and programmatic writing. History shows how official colonial patronage of literature through the Rhodesia Literature Bureau proved to be a pernicious influence by stifling creativity and encouraging an askari aesthetics focusing on anthropological aspects of the lives of the colonised. History may be repeating itself with the emergence arts that may be used for state propaganda. State instruments are already in place in Zimbabwe to control creativity. We want to acknowledge here the role played by other sources of patronage in nurturing talent: British Council with their Crossing Borders writing project, HIVOS, SIDA, Pamberi Trust, the local book publishers’ association and their sponsorship of the ZIBF book prizes, and the Zimbabwe Writers Union. We also want to suggest that good writing may often thrive in the lack of patronage."
I doubt that such patronage will have the same effects as those of the Lit Bureau in a world where we have other avenues to at least publicise our works, and during a time when some key Zimbabwean writers (Petina Gappah, for instance)are landing into mammoth book deals with more entrepeneurial (on the part of the agents & publishers)and innovative-aesthetic/literary (on the part of the writer) interests than they have ideological and censorial intentions.
Read the entire Zimunya/Muchemwa essay on Poetry International Web
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