Debunking the Zimbabwean Myth of Jikinya Dance in Ndhlala’s Jikinya and Zimunya’s “Jikinya” (Dancer) and “Jikinya” (An African Passion)

Abstract

This article analyzes representations of the Zimbabwean jikinya dance myth by Geoffrey Ndhlala in the novel Jikinya and Musaemura Zimunya in the poetry anthology Kingfisher, Jikinya and other poems. It examines the different social and historical settings considered in Ndhlala’s Jikinya (pre-colonial Zimbabwe) and Zimunya’s “Jikinya” (Dancer) and “Jikinya” (An African Passion) (the colonial period of the 1970s Zimbabwean anti-colonial war), and discusses how both texts attempt at describing the aesthetics of the jikinya dance and reinterpret Zimbabwe’s pre-colonial and colonial culture and politics. Of significance, however, is that, being aware of the fact that the nature and significance of dance representations in these texts has received less attention, we analyze the way both writers handle Zimbabwean jikinya in colonial contexts. As a result, we argue in this article that although both authors struggle to portray a clear picture of what the dance really is to the reader, they are able to portray the significance of the jikinya myth and dance in the construction of the nation’s memories and the mapping of the ongoing social experiences and political contestations encountered during Zimbabwe’s colonial history