DANDE Journal of Social Sciences and Communication, 2017
There is a tendency in which so called ‘developed’ ethnic groups, given their economic, political... more There is a tendency in which so called ‘developed’ ethnic groups, given their economic, political and social advantage placing them at the ‘center’, are the chanters of development even for the groups considered to be at the periphery. Ironically, in heritage terms, so called marginalized groups have had much of their heritage less contaminated by forces of modernity as has been the case with much of the BaTonga culture. This article explores the BaTonga culture and heritage as the Zimbabwean aquaculture from which its consumption, preservation and use can benefit other ethical groups in the country. Using results from studies by Saidi (2016a) as well as complementary studies by Mashingaidze (2013) and Ndlovu (2013), this article establishes the richness of BaTonga culture which subsequently feeds the rich Zimbabwe multicultural heritage. The article argues that heritage utilization reflects the active participation of its owners pointing to the character of the culture making herit...
DANDE Journal of Social Sciences and Communication, 2018
A fusion of the Caribbean, African American and Zimbabwean music genres into the infamous glocali... more A fusion of the Caribbean, African American and Zimbabwean music genres into the infamous glocalized Zimdancehall music has dulled the significance of other traditionalist Zimbabwean music genres. Dancehall culture has caused much controversy in Zimbabwean society, being blamed for the country's increase in crime, violence and believed to encourage misogynistic attitudes among Zimbabwean youths through its negative themes. Using appraisal and dramatism theories the article shows the existential crisis the youth in Zimbabwe face due to economic as well as other social forces and thus align themselves to rather destructive misogynistic behaviours which somehow characterises contemporary Zimbabwe. Established in the article is the extent to which language used in Zimdancehall music is socially charged as well as globalized thus influencing youth feelings, emotions and behaviors. The article analyses lyrics of selected songs as well as makes references to selected musical videos from Zimdancehall artistes such as Soul Jah Love, Winky D, Lady Bee and Killer T as prominent artists revealing what has come to be considered contemporary 'ghetto culture' within popular culture in Zimbabwe. It is further argued that Zimdancehall has come to shape, inform behaviors, perceptions and aspirations of the Zimbabwean youth largely due to its nature of production as well as dissemination.
A court of law is full of drama and rituals with a lot of perlocutionary effects. This article fo... more A court of law is full of drama and rituals with a lot of perlocutionary effects. This article focuses on non-verbal communication which is an important aspect of semiotics and speech acts in legal discourse. The article first define and briefly discusses Ferdinand de Saussure’s contribution to semiotics. It goes on to discuss his description of the relationship between two pairs of important concepts in semiotics, the signifier and the signified as well as Charles Sanders Peirce’s three basic kinds of signs, namely: the icon, the index and the symbol. John Austin’s speech acts will also be discussed from the spectra of discourse analysis given that a court of law provides, among others, the basis for legal discourse. The article further argues that the behaviour and actions of the members of the legal discourse community found in a court of law are ‘culturally’ determined; with different cultures having different ways of expressing and interpreting reality. It then examin...
The Zimbabwean political landscape has given rise to many interpretations. Violence, intimidation... more The Zimbabwean political landscape has given rise to many interpretations. Violence, intimidation, and propaganda have been part of this crisis leading to serious economic and social problems for the ordinary person. The two main political parties in the country have used party signs and symbols to assert their ideology. This paper employs the semiotic theory to explore how the ZANU PF (Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front) party sign or symbol the clenched fist as well as the MDC T (Movement for Democratic Change—Tsvangirai)’s open palm, the same hand but communicating two conflicting political ideologies as non-verbal cues reveal party ideology and identity and in some cases become the cause of either conflict or harm on party followers. Semiotics offers us a platform to theorize as well as gain semantic realizations of signs and symbols as used to communicate in various contexts. Because non-verbal cues of various nature are in fact signs and symbols largely decoded by...
DANDE Journal of Social Sciences and Communication, 2018
Articles in this Issue celebratewomanhood, aspects that characterize it and directs our attention... more Articles in this Issue celebratewomanhood, aspects that characterize it and directs our attention to gendered discourses that seek to unearth the idea that women have always fought for their rights and actively participated in various ways in the sustainable development of African societies. Articles approach the concept of ‘Womanhood’ or ‘Womanism’ in its localized and broadest sense drawing on key cultural issues on which power struggles or otherwise emanate from. They point out areas of success showing what African societies can achieve through womanhood or other cultural dynamics. As womanhood seeks to maintain an inclusive culture in African societies, some aspects of sustainable development are addressed. Drawing much from the Zimbabwean realities and the region, these articles reveal, in a subtle way, efforts by women actively participating in discourses of nationhood as well as recommending in considerable ways how on one hand women make significant contributionsin national ...
This thesis cracks open three BaTonga artefacts, the ncelwa (smoking pipe), buntibe (orchestral d... more This thesis cracks open three BaTonga artefacts, the ncelwa (smoking pipe), buntibe (orchestral drum) and Nyaminyami Walking Stick (wooden sculpture) as the key nonverbal visual codes in the visual cultural communication of BaTonga in Zimbabwe. Using artefactual ethnisemiotics, the study shows how visual cultural communication is played out and is used by the BaTonga in negotiating for socio-cultural space in Zimbabwe. BaTonga historical experiences show characterisation of displacement and a continued struggle to uphold their identity and culture. Their experiences along the Zambezi valley as well as redefinition of their livelihoods in the new arid terrain far removed from the Zambezi, given the construction of the Kariba hydroelectric power project, has for long contributed among other forces to their marginalisation. To assert their visibility, the BaTonga have subtlety used various visual means to negotiate for space in the country. This thesis, thus, critiques three BaTonga cu...
Much has been written on BaTonga’s dislocation from the Zambezi Valley to pave way for the cons... more Much has been written on BaTonga’s dislocation from the Zambezi Valley to pave way for the construction of the hydroelectric project and the aftermath effects on the BaTonga. BaTonga are characterised in these discourses as having lost their livelihoods and subsequently their culture. This article celebrates and advances that BaTonga took their culture with them especially as embodied in their cultural material objects such as the ncelwa. Using artefactual semiotics the article advances the argument that a view of BaTonga from a visual cultural communication perspective allows us to appreciate how BaTonga managed to carry with them key cultural values which have made them assume the cultural identity they have today.
The chapter exposes the challenges of recording proceedings in the Zimbabwean parliament using se... more The chapter exposes the challenges of recording proceedings in the Zimbabwean parliament using selected cases. For years, the Zimbabwean parliament has been a discursive battle ground as mostly the MDC(s) and ZANU (PF) parliamentarians have sort dominance in the August House. Some debates and submissions have generated violent confrontations, singing, jeering and dancing thereby reducing the August House into some kind of theater. Such developments are assumed to pose challenges in the recording of the nonverbal cues that carry the crux of the meanings around the debates. What has become obvious is the mere recording of the spoken submissions with very few representations of nonverbal codes usually indicated as either laughs or simply inaudible. Using selected debates from the Zimbabwean Hansard, this chapter exposes some challenges of recording parliamentary discourses especially when the nonverbal code is called into question.
African Journal of Inter/Multidisciplinary Studies, 2021
Multiple identities are not an event, neither are they overnight occurrences. They undergo constr... more Multiple identities are not an event, neither are they overnight occurrences. They undergo constructions and reconstructions over time. The BaTonga, Shangwe, and Karanga speaking people in the Musampakaruma Chiefdom of north-western Zimbabwe are not an exception. Forced colonial displacements and post-independence involuntary (and/or voluntary) migrations resulted in their settling in the Musampakaruma Chiefdom from which they have now come to negotiate for space, and ultimately their identities too, in the Zimbabwean mainstream nation-state making process. For years, these three ethnic groups have had a primodalist alliance to identity wherein their identification with ancestral places of origin appeared to have been common. This, however, has changed as the new terrain has offered them new options prompting rethinking of identity and ethnicity concepts. Using qualitative and historical ethnographic data obtained in Musampakaruma from April to September 2017, this paper reports the...
A Publication by Umali Saidi a Lecturer in the Communication Skills Centre Department, Midlands S... more A Publication by Umali Saidi a Lecturer in the Communication Skills Centre Department, Midlands State University.
Language is used in various contexts to achieve various communicative goals some of which are ver... more Language is used in various contexts to achieve various communicative goals some of which are very much subtle. Textual inscriptions as discourse surround us in various environments for readers to decode volumes of meanings which by and large reflect people's struggles, identities and wishes. Office text inscriptions have been studied and were found reflecting the emotions and struggles of office
Memory institutions collect, arrange, describe and preserve collections for the benefit of the co... more Memory institutions collect, arrange, describe and preserve collections for the benefit of the community. While the drive is hinged on the desire to promote accessibility and use of heritage assets, memory institutions' approach to heritage management may condition institutions to be responsible for the erasure of some aspects of the heritage. Studies have demonstrated that memory institutions, preserve as well as give access and usage of the collected heritage to the world. It is argued that without strategies of having the heritage consumed, memory institutions risk being redundant. Using some lessons from the BaTonga of Zimbabwe, this chapter outlines the lived and performed heritage in the context of discourses of advocacy, outreach and public programming strategies. It is argued that promotion and funding of memory institutions should be very conscious of the lived heritage which plays a very significant role in defining and promoting the heritage as well as institutions th...
DANDE Journal of Social Sciences and Communication, 2017
There is a tendency in which so called ‘developed’ ethnic groups, given their economic, political... more There is a tendency in which so called ‘developed’ ethnic groups, given their economic, political and social advantage placing them at the ‘center’, are the chanters of development even for the groups considered to be at the periphery. Ironically, in heritage terms, so called marginalized groups have had much of their heritage less contaminated by forces of modernity as has been the case with much of the BaTonga culture. This article explores the BaTonga culture and heritage as the Zimbabwean aquaculture from which its consumption, preservation and use can benefit other ethical groups in the country. Using results from studies by Saidi (2016a) as well as complementary studies by Mashingaidze (2013) and Ndlovu (2013), this article establishes the richness of BaTonga culture which subsequently feeds the rich Zimbabwe multicultural heritage. The article argues that heritage utilization reflects the active participation of its owners pointing to the character of the culture making herit...
DANDE Journal of Social Sciences and Communication, 2018
A fusion of the Caribbean, African American and Zimbabwean music genres into the infamous glocali... more A fusion of the Caribbean, African American and Zimbabwean music genres into the infamous glocalized Zimdancehall music has dulled the significance of other traditionalist Zimbabwean music genres. Dancehall culture has caused much controversy in Zimbabwean society, being blamed for the country's increase in crime, violence and believed to encourage misogynistic attitudes among Zimbabwean youths through its negative themes. Using appraisal and dramatism theories the article shows the existential crisis the youth in Zimbabwe face due to economic as well as other social forces and thus align themselves to rather destructive misogynistic behaviours which somehow characterises contemporary Zimbabwe. Established in the article is the extent to which language used in Zimdancehall music is socially charged as well as globalized thus influencing youth feelings, emotions and behaviors. The article analyses lyrics of selected songs as well as makes references to selected musical videos from Zimdancehall artistes such as Soul Jah Love, Winky D, Lady Bee and Killer T as prominent artists revealing what has come to be considered contemporary 'ghetto culture' within popular culture in Zimbabwe. It is further argued that Zimdancehall has come to shape, inform behaviors, perceptions and aspirations of the Zimbabwean youth largely due to its nature of production as well as dissemination.
A court of law is full of drama and rituals with a lot of perlocutionary effects. This article fo... more A court of law is full of drama and rituals with a lot of perlocutionary effects. This article focuses on non-verbal communication which is an important aspect of semiotics and speech acts in legal discourse. The article first define and briefly discusses Ferdinand de Saussure’s contribution to semiotics. It goes on to discuss his description of the relationship between two pairs of important concepts in semiotics, the signifier and the signified as well as Charles Sanders Peirce’s three basic kinds of signs, namely: the icon, the index and the symbol. John Austin’s speech acts will also be discussed from the spectra of discourse analysis given that a court of law provides, among others, the basis for legal discourse. The article further argues that the behaviour and actions of the members of the legal discourse community found in a court of law are ‘culturally’ determined; with different cultures having different ways of expressing and interpreting reality. It then examin...
The Zimbabwean political landscape has given rise to many interpretations. Violence, intimidation... more The Zimbabwean political landscape has given rise to many interpretations. Violence, intimidation, and propaganda have been part of this crisis leading to serious economic and social problems for the ordinary person. The two main political parties in the country have used party signs and symbols to assert their ideology. This paper employs the semiotic theory to explore how the ZANU PF (Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front) party sign or symbol the clenched fist as well as the MDC T (Movement for Democratic Change—Tsvangirai)’s open palm, the same hand but communicating two conflicting political ideologies as non-verbal cues reveal party ideology and identity and in some cases become the cause of either conflict or harm on party followers. Semiotics offers us a platform to theorize as well as gain semantic realizations of signs and symbols as used to communicate in various contexts. Because non-verbal cues of various nature are in fact signs and symbols largely decoded by...
DANDE Journal of Social Sciences and Communication, 2018
Articles in this Issue celebratewomanhood, aspects that characterize it and directs our attention... more Articles in this Issue celebratewomanhood, aspects that characterize it and directs our attention to gendered discourses that seek to unearth the idea that women have always fought for their rights and actively participated in various ways in the sustainable development of African societies. Articles approach the concept of ‘Womanhood’ or ‘Womanism’ in its localized and broadest sense drawing on key cultural issues on which power struggles or otherwise emanate from. They point out areas of success showing what African societies can achieve through womanhood or other cultural dynamics. As womanhood seeks to maintain an inclusive culture in African societies, some aspects of sustainable development are addressed. Drawing much from the Zimbabwean realities and the region, these articles reveal, in a subtle way, efforts by women actively participating in discourses of nationhood as well as recommending in considerable ways how on one hand women make significant contributionsin national ...
This thesis cracks open three BaTonga artefacts, the ncelwa (smoking pipe), buntibe (orchestral d... more This thesis cracks open three BaTonga artefacts, the ncelwa (smoking pipe), buntibe (orchestral drum) and Nyaminyami Walking Stick (wooden sculpture) as the key nonverbal visual codes in the visual cultural communication of BaTonga in Zimbabwe. Using artefactual ethnisemiotics, the study shows how visual cultural communication is played out and is used by the BaTonga in negotiating for socio-cultural space in Zimbabwe. BaTonga historical experiences show characterisation of displacement and a continued struggle to uphold their identity and culture. Their experiences along the Zambezi valley as well as redefinition of their livelihoods in the new arid terrain far removed from the Zambezi, given the construction of the Kariba hydroelectric power project, has for long contributed among other forces to their marginalisation. To assert their visibility, the BaTonga have subtlety used various visual means to negotiate for space in the country. This thesis, thus, critiques three BaTonga cu...
Much has been written on BaTonga’s dislocation from the Zambezi Valley to pave way for the cons... more Much has been written on BaTonga’s dislocation from the Zambezi Valley to pave way for the construction of the hydroelectric project and the aftermath effects on the BaTonga. BaTonga are characterised in these discourses as having lost their livelihoods and subsequently their culture. This article celebrates and advances that BaTonga took their culture with them especially as embodied in their cultural material objects such as the ncelwa. Using artefactual semiotics the article advances the argument that a view of BaTonga from a visual cultural communication perspective allows us to appreciate how BaTonga managed to carry with them key cultural values which have made them assume the cultural identity they have today.
The chapter exposes the challenges of recording proceedings in the Zimbabwean parliament using se... more The chapter exposes the challenges of recording proceedings in the Zimbabwean parliament using selected cases. For years, the Zimbabwean parliament has been a discursive battle ground as mostly the MDC(s) and ZANU (PF) parliamentarians have sort dominance in the August House. Some debates and submissions have generated violent confrontations, singing, jeering and dancing thereby reducing the August House into some kind of theater. Such developments are assumed to pose challenges in the recording of the nonverbal cues that carry the crux of the meanings around the debates. What has become obvious is the mere recording of the spoken submissions with very few representations of nonverbal codes usually indicated as either laughs or simply inaudible. Using selected debates from the Zimbabwean Hansard, this chapter exposes some challenges of recording parliamentary discourses especially when the nonverbal code is called into question.
African Journal of Inter/Multidisciplinary Studies, 2021
Multiple identities are not an event, neither are they overnight occurrences. They undergo constr... more Multiple identities are not an event, neither are they overnight occurrences. They undergo constructions and reconstructions over time. The BaTonga, Shangwe, and Karanga speaking people in the Musampakaruma Chiefdom of north-western Zimbabwe are not an exception. Forced colonial displacements and post-independence involuntary (and/or voluntary) migrations resulted in their settling in the Musampakaruma Chiefdom from which they have now come to negotiate for space, and ultimately their identities too, in the Zimbabwean mainstream nation-state making process. For years, these three ethnic groups have had a primodalist alliance to identity wherein their identification with ancestral places of origin appeared to have been common. This, however, has changed as the new terrain has offered them new options prompting rethinking of identity and ethnicity concepts. Using qualitative and historical ethnographic data obtained in Musampakaruma from April to September 2017, this paper reports the...
A Publication by Umali Saidi a Lecturer in the Communication Skills Centre Department, Midlands S... more A Publication by Umali Saidi a Lecturer in the Communication Skills Centre Department, Midlands State University.
Language is used in various contexts to achieve various communicative goals some of which are ver... more Language is used in various contexts to achieve various communicative goals some of which are very much subtle. Textual inscriptions as discourse surround us in various environments for readers to decode volumes of meanings which by and large reflect people's struggles, identities and wishes. Office text inscriptions have been studied and were found reflecting the emotions and struggles of office
Memory institutions collect, arrange, describe and preserve collections for the benefit of the co... more Memory institutions collect, arrange, describe and preserve collections for the benefit of the community. While the drive is hinged on the desire to promote accessibility and use of heritage assets, memory institutions' approach to heritage management may condition institutions to be responsible for the erasure of some aspects of the heritage. Studies have demonstrated that memory institutions, preserve as well as give access and usage of the collected heritage to the world. It is argued that without strategies of having the heritage consumed, memory institutions risk being redundant. Using some lessons from the BaTonga of Zimbabwe, this chapter outlines the lived and performed heritage in the context of discourses of advocacy, outreach and public programming strategies. It is argued that promotion and funding of memory institutions should be very conscious of the lived heritage which plays a very significant role in defining and promoting the heritage as well as institutions th...
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