ABSTRACT

Utilizing and extending Kwasi Wiredu’s concept of conceptual decolonization and self-exorcism, this article makes observations about the ideological underpinnings and literary trajectory of post-2000 Zimbabwean fiction in English through readings of four novels: Harare North by Brian Chikwava, We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo, The Book of Memory by Petina Gappah, and The Maestro, The Magistrate and The Mathematician by Tendai Huchu. Chikwava, Bulawayo, Gappah, and Huchu self-consciously depict Zimbabwe in stereotypical terms to secure publishing contracts and to ensure the international marketability of their fiction. At the same time, they show that they are conceptually decolonized by employing insurrectionary tactics of self-exorcism which register their resistance to banal profit-driven portrayals of Zimbabwe. Thus, the article explores the paradoxical situation or what Mohammad Shabangu has called the “double bind” of how these writers employ and deploy stereotypes to ensure success in the global literary market while, at the same time, undermining them.

摘要

本文利用并扩展了Kwasi Wiredu的概念性非殖民化和自我驱逐的概念，通过阅读以下四本小说对2000年后津巴布韦小说的思想基础和文学轨迹进行了观察：四本小说：布莱恩·奇瓦瓦（Brian Chikwava）的《哈拉雷·北》（Harare North），《我们需要新名称》（We We Need New Names） NoViolet Bulawayo，Petina Gappah的《记忆之书》和Maestro，《裁判官》和《数学家》由Tendai Huchu撰写。奇瓦瓦（Chikwava），布拉瓦约（Bulawayo），加帕（Gappah）和胡楚（Huchu）自觉地以刻板印象描述津巴布韦，以确保出版合同并确保其小说在国际上的可销售性。同时，他们表明，他们通过采用自我驱魔的暴动策略在概念上进行了非殖民化，这些策略表明了他们对津巴布韦的平庸利润驱动型刻画的抵制。因此，本文探讨了自相矛盾的情况，或穆罕默德·沙邦古（Mohammad Shabangu）所谓的“双重束缚”，即这些作家如何运用和部署刻板印象以确保在全球文学市场上取得成功，同时破坏它们。