Beyond the Cover: Grappling with a Shona novel

21 Feb, 2016 - 00:02 0 Views
Beyond the Cover: Grappling with a Shona novel

The Sunday Mail

Shona is one of the most difficult subjects for most students, while the English language is a lesser challenge to them.

This could be attributed to the fact that most people who are in school spend more time reading English material and are likely to be well versed in the foreign language than in the mother tongue. But despite the fact that Shona literature has a lesser readership, the country has produced numerous authors who have tried their best to promote local languages in their work.

Personally, I try as much as possible to strike a balance between Shona and English literature. This is enriching me both academically and culturally.

I recently completed reading Tinashe Muchuri’s “Chibarabada”, a Shona novel that has many interesting aspects.

When I read the first few pages, I was engulfed in confusion and almost gave up.

However, certain interesting elements that were employed by the author managed to arouse my curiosity and I decided to plough deeper into the book.

With narratives that vary from the stream of consciousness to the third person point of view, the book takes us back and forth between flashbacks and present occurrences.

The storyline revolves around the life of Shingi, an orphan who lives on a shack situated in Mosi city’s dump site.

Shingi’s narration is directed at Freedom, a baby she rescues after being dumped near her shack. The baby later gets Shingi into trouble with the law.

The narration takes the reader into the journey that Shingi has travelled from the time her parents were still alive through to the time when their lives were claimed in an accident and the subsequent take over of their wealth by some selfish relatives.

Muchuri’s book exposes a world that is full of greed and the struggles that homeless individuals face on a daily basis.

Society tends to look at people living on the streets with a judgmental eye but this piece of literature tries to explore some of the root causes of such lifestyles.

Shingi’s character is courageous and her resilience is evidenced by the way she manages to survive in the dangerous environs of the dump site.

Every now and then, the writer diverts the reader’s attention from the main storyline with the inclusion of two other characters, Mudhara Meno and Tino, who are always drinking chibarabada — an illicit brew.

Throughout the book, Muchuri makes use of poetry, folktales and songs to spice up the reading experience. His writing style is beyond the ordinary and while I was reading, there are instances when I felt like he might have gone a little bit too far.

The book is like a maze that needs maximum concentration in order to figure out where the story is coming from and where it is going. Although the novel brings a fresh voice to Shona literature, it seems too complex. It commands a huge reserve of patience in order to absorb its contents.

Being a seasoned poet, Muchuri makes use of various devices to enrich the text, effectively manipulating the vast diction at his disposal.

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