“In my work there is a constant conversation between the earth, nature and the sky:” Conversations inside and outside of conversations in Chenjerai Hove’s Ancestors
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Date
2013
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Namibia
Abstract
Chenjerai Hove’s novel of 1996 called Ancestors is intriguing because of its wide
variety of methods of narrating that operate side by side in one novel. Sometimes
the story is told by a realistic male character called Mucha. He is the immediate and
major narrator who tells us his story and the story of his family from a personal and
realist point of view. At another level, Mucha narrates the family story from the
point of view and spiritual instruction of Miriro and to a less extent, Tariro. Then the
reader fi nds out that Miriro, who remained deaf and dumb throughout her short
life occasionally tells us directly from the grave about what she ‘heard’ during her
lifetime! She even remembers the sounds of birds and animals, people’s songs
and conversations. Miriro remembers all the things that are normally not available
to those who are deaf and dumb. Therefore, a mathematical and accurate reading
of this novel by one of Zimbabwe’s internationally acclaimed writers is not quite
possible. To read it is an exercise akin only to moving towards an estimation
of meanings.
Description
Keywords
Earth, Nature, Chenjerai Hove Ancestors
Citation
Chirere, M. (2013). “In my work there is a constant conversation between the earth, nature and the sky:” Conversations inside and outside of conversations in Chenjerai Hove’s Ancestors. Journal for Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences, 2(2): 131-140.