Interface of music and politica: versions of patriotic consciousness in Zimbabwean music, 1970-2015

Abstract

Music is an inviolable imaginative litmus diagnosis on a constellation of ideational and conceptual contestations which elicit mutually exclusive and inclusive versions of patriotic consciousness in the Zimbabwean polity. The study specifically analyses the renditions of patriotic consciousness as expressed through selected musical compositions in Shona, Ndebele and English conceptualised as Zimbabwe-centred musical texts. It unfurls in the context of the interplay between music and politics in which music is seen as intricately interwoven with national politics causing shifts of realities. The research approaches and conceptualises patriotic consciousness as a heuristic construct and a measure of development that constitutes an instrument for ideological and conceptual contestations in specific political argumentative settings within the period 1970 to 2015. It deploys the critical tenets of Afrocentricity and the Socio-semantic theory of music to advance the contention that patriotic consciousness as a concept for political analysis enables the criticism and explanation of existing rival sentiments, different wants, competing needs and opposing interests in the Zimbabwean polity. Musicians who contribute to Zimbabwe-centred musical texts also (un)consciously become part of the ideological and conceptual battlefield for political legitimacy. The study pays attention to the lyrics’ content, the historical epoch from which the lyrics respond to and ideological influences embedded in the lyrics, which potentially trigger ideational and conceptual clashes. It engages the song lyrics of musicians, whose music constitute Zimbabwe-centred musical texts, as a mode of art that (in)directly conveys political ideas, identities and interests on the notion of love and object of allegiance in national politics thereby engaging in ideational and conceptual contestations.