An Allegory of the Zimbabwean Revolution

Abstract

Abstract

Abstract After the demise of British colonialism in 1980, Zimbabwe adopted and espoused a conciliatory and inclusive approach to nation building which sought to reconcile former enemies – whites and blacks – and create a new Zimbabwe. However, in the early 2000s, the government of Robert Mugabe abandoned the earlier approach in favour of a radical decolonial paradigm characterized by railings of victimhood against the West and violence against those perceived as enemies of the state. This paper uses Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò’s iterations in Against Decolonization: Taking African Agency Seriously (2022) and Frantz Fanon’s ideas in The Wretched of the Earth , particularly the chapter entitled, “The Pitfalls of National Consciousness” as springboard to analyze Zimbabwean writer, NoViolet Bulawayo’s satirical depictions of post-independence politics in Zimbabwe under the regimes of Robert Mugabe and Emmerson Mnangagwa in her novel Glory (2022). The paper critically analyses Bulawayo’s representation of Robert Mugabe and Emmerson Mnangagwa’s versions of decoloniality in the context of a deepening economic crisis. We explore how Bulawayo deploys satire to critique attempts by the two regimes to entrench autochthony and authoritarianism in the name of decolonization 2 and/or economic emancipation. The paper argues that Glory exploits the affective and artistic dimensions of creative art to critique Zimbabwe’s new-fangled radical decolonization 2 agenda.