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Page 1: An analysis of selected Shona children's songs: Philosophical perspectives on child development

This article was downloaded by: [University of North Texas]On: 27 November 2014, At: 03:50Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Muziki: Journal of Music Research inAfricaPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rmuz20

An analysis of selected Shona children'ssongs: Philosophical perspectives onchild developmentItai Muwati a & Davie E. Mutasa ba Department of African Languages and Literature , University ofZimbabweb University of South Africa , South AfricaPublished online: 19 May 2009.

To cite this article: Itai Muwati & Davie E. Mutasa (2008) An analysis of selected Shona children'ssongs: Philosophical perspectives on child development, Muziki: Journal of Music Research in Africa,5:1, 1-10, DOI: 10.1080/18125980802633086

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Page 3: An analysis of selected Shona children's songs: Philosophical perspectives on child development

© Unisa Press ISSN (Print) 1812-5980 ISSN (Online) 1753-593X 5(1)2008DOI: 10.1080/18125980802633086 pp. 1–10

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An analysis of selected Shona children’s songs: Philosophical perspectives on child development

Itai Muwati Department of African Languages and Literature University of Zimbabwe [email protected] Davie E. Mutasa University of South Africa South Africa [email protected]

AbstractOver the years children’s songs have been at the core of the physical and cognitive de-velopment of a child. They aid in the child’s understanding of his social and physical environment and, needless to say, they provide entertainment that helps soothe his or her soul. Indubitably, children’s songs have undergone metamorphosis commensurate with the dynamism of life and historical developments. Hence, using an analytical approach, the article seeks to highlight the transformation in children’s songs, and the impact the new songs have on the physical and cognitive development of a child.

Key words: child development, Shona, children’s songs, child agency, African culture

IntroductionThe article analyses selected Shona children’s songs sung and performed before, during and after the colonial incursion in Zimbabwe. It makes use of published songs and those obtained from children and preschools in Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe. Evidence from the songs recorded and examined by the authors reveals striking similarities and continuities in songs which have been performed before and after colonialism. The majority of the songs have been adapted to suit the changing circumstances, yet the informing syntax seems to have remained the same. This realisation reflects a combination of toughness and dynamism that has helped Shona oral art to outlive several threats, particularly colonialism and urbanisation. Some of the oral art forms that have withstood the pressure of various colonialisms include folktales, songs, legends and myths. The study of Shona children’s songs is inspired by two objectives. First is the intellectual need to re-centre African culture

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Itai Muwati and Davie E. Mutasa2

in development discourse as well as to explore the potential of African indigenous knowledge for child development. This is achieved by exploring the content and epistemological value of the songs; particularly what the Shona people consider as the core values in human factor development. In this regard, the article concep-tualises the songs as indigenous strategies on child development and human factor engineering which cannot be ignored in any well-intentioned contemporary child development strategies.

Second is the need to give a philosophical interpretation of the songs. In this regard, the argument in this article transcends merely pontificating on songs as tools for entertainment as it searches for some of the Shona people’s ontological and epistemological assumptions which find expression in the songs, thereby presenting the songs as reservoirs of profound Shona philosophical knowledge. This is the case because “when art is the creation of a community, its makers express far more than their own personal thoughts and feelings” (Quoted in Our creative diversity. Report of the World Commission on Culture and Development, p 81). Of significance in the article is the fact that it particularises the distillation of agency as the key survival factor that runs with predictable consistency in most Shona oral art forms. In this regard, the songs express a deep “meaning in that, they celebrate their [Shona] phi-losophy of life” (p’Bitek, 1986: 17).

An analysis of the songs affirms the understanding that indigenous Shona strate-gies on child development and human factor engineering orbit around the subject position of the child. To be in subject position is to have the ability to name, define, create and direct processes. Such development in which the child is an active participant rather than a passive consumer of adult philosophies and discourses is aesthetically ennobling and pedagogically empowering. For that reason, contempo-rary approaches to child development and human factor engineering in Africa need to approach the subject of child development from the vantage point of existing African conceptual and intellectual schemes. Shona children’s songs provide and elaborate their own model of development which must be the guide in any project on child development strategies. A proper understanding of these songs is also likely to enhance the effectiveness of child development programmes, especially in specific cultural contexts with their specific demands and peculiar cultural realities. Viewed from this angle, the abandonment and deliberate peripherisation of indigenous child development notions resonates with Darwinist thinking towards African culture. Asante (1998: 13) condemns such approaches which diminish African potential in the name of development:

It is unreasonable to expect Africans to divest themselves of culture when such unilateral divestiture is neither required nor expected of other cultural groups. Im-bedded in the suggestion is a notion of power and hierarchy according to which only communities considered of low status are required to abandon their essential characteristics, while others seek to preserve their characteristics for generations yet unborn.

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An analysis of selected Shona children’s songs: Philosophical perspectives on child development 3

In this regard, Shona children’s songs provide a blueprint for child development approaches if they are ever going to be useful to African children. This is critical because the subject of development seems to have been exoticised to the detriment of the African child and the African future. As Chiwome (2000: vi) explains:

Research and experience have made it abundantly clear that Africa cannot fully develop on the basis of borrowed intellectual, technological and financial resources … It appears therefore that heavy reliance on outside intervention will only deepen Africa’s dependence on non-African communities. The ubiquitousness of western agencies in Africa becomes an exercise in the absolutisation of western knowledge and technology.

Colonialism and Shona children’s songsThe advent of colonialism in Zimbabwe did not spare children’s songs. It ushered new ideological thrusts and contents on child development which had nothing to do with Shona people’s lived experiences. It achieved this by exploiting the po-tential and effectiveness of the children’s songs as a capacity building tool. In this way, children’s songs were colonised and the development thrust hijacked. Young minds were thus successfully alienated from their communities as they would be exposed to foreign images and information right from childhood. This colonisation of information had an imponderable impact on self-image. In an introduction in Ani (1994: xvi), John Henrik Clarke points out that Europeans not only colonised most of the world; they colonised information about the world. They developed monopoly control over concepts and images.

Where songs had been characterised by indigenous Shona symbols, images and metaphors, flora and fauna, they now deified the images of the oppressor. In the words of Chinweizu, the songs became some form of “a mis-education which, under the mystique of ‘modernizing’ me into some ‘civilized’ condition, had worked to infect me with an intellectual meningitis that would twist my cultural spine and rivet my admiring gaze upon Europe and the West” (quoted in Furusa, 2000: 31). In this regard, the success of colonialism in Zimbabwe and elsewhere was premised on the successful subversion of a people’s entire cultural life and developmental agenda. As Cabral (1980: 139) explains:

History teaches us that, in certain circumstances, it is very easy for the foreigner to impose his domination on a people. But it likewise teaches us that, whatever the material aspects of this domination, it can be maintained only by the permanent and organized repression of the cultural life of the people concerned.

Songs that had been used to socialise children into their world by teaching them about their environment, geography, politics, history and economics now taught them about foreign values, heroes and figures. The most popular Shona children’s song which reflects the colonisation of children’s songs and consequently the obliteration

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of indigenous knowledge is one called Christopher Columbus. The popularity of the song among Shona children is astounding. The song goes: “Christopher Columbus was a great man. He went to America in saucepan”.

In the song, young children who have no idea who Christopher Columbus is idol-ise him as a great personality and a model of excellence. Children are socialised into a context into which they learn to love colonisers and at the same time associate them with greatness. Reference to foreign legends was an attempt to liquidate indigenous history and cultural achievements and at the same time pass Africa as a historical and cultural blank space. Children would therefore identify with “white” heroes instead of indigenous figures like Nehanda, Chaminuka, Kaguvi, Mapondera and many others. All these are great heroes and father figures in the history of struggle of the Shona people. In this light, colonisers became heroes. Thus colonialism sought to control the African’s consciousness and colonise the African from infancy to old age. The implications for child development in this regard were therefore unpleasant. Shona cultural realities and their heritage of struggle and victory were diminished and ceased to be models for ideal child development in the African context. A number of foreign sponsored nongovernmental organisations seem to be informed by such thinking, which peripherises Shona lived realities. The results for child development strategies have therefore ended up increasing the vulnerability of the Shona child because they are not anchored in what the people themselves created.

Since the church was the “handmaiden of European colonisation of the world”, children’s songs now reflected biblical figures instead of indigenous perspectives. The following song was performed for the authors by children in one of the preschools in Harare’s low density suburb of Avondale. The song is called Mambo Herodhe (King Herod)

Waiva neshanjeMambo HerodheWaida kuuraya Jesu mwana waMwariWakati kana modzokeraMuuye nepanoTizokuitai makorokoto

He was jealousyKing HerodHe wanted to kill Jesus, the son of GodHe said to them when going backPass through this place so that we can congratulate you

Considering that Herod was a foreign personality with nothing to do with the lived experiences of the Shona children, it becomes clear that child development has now adopted a foreign outlook.

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An analysis of selected Shona children’s songs: Philosophical perspectives on child development 5

Lullaby: The bedrock of Shona perceptions of child developmentShona children’s songs are diverse in nature and yet they express and affirm the cosmic view of the Shona people’s universe. Among them are lullabies, zvindori (teaching songs about the environment) and magure (songs that teach children about courtship and adult roles). Lullabies, in particular, are sung to young babies as a way of socialis-ing them into the Shona scheme of things. According to Chiwome (1996: 17):

The lullaby is part of nhango. Soon after birth lullabies are sung to a baby as a means of communicating with the mother or the maid. As it grows up it is taught that crying is not the best way of communicating with fellow beings and that pain, discomfort and hunger have to be endured.

In this regard, the lullabies perform a transcendental function in a context where dialogue is difficult. From a philosophical point of view, the performance of lul-labies redounds with the Shona attitudes towards life. Of singular note is the sense of agency and deriving security in the group. In the song Mwana anochema (The baby is crying), the baby is inculcated with the spirit of endurance and toughness. The singing, which is a substitute for food or milk, is a message that crying will not always deliver the required things.

Mwana anochemaKuchemera mai vakeMai vake vakaendaVakaenda mhiri kwamungeziMhiri kwamungezi kune banga jenaBanga jena rekucheka nyamaNyama nyama ndeyeparuwareYepasi inozarevhuHeinoi njiva huu!Inogurukuta huu!Nekushaya dendere

The baby is cryingCrying for its motherThe mother who went across the Ngezi RiverAcross the Ngezi River is a shiny knifeA shiny knife to cut meat withThe meat which is on a flat rockThat on the soil will be spoiledHere comes a doveCooing and looking tormentedBecause it has no nest

This is one song that has outlived colonialism. It is sung and performed in rural and urban contexts alike. This version is taken from children at a preschool in Harare’s

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low density suburb of Avondale. The language in the song is simple, rhythmic and entertaining. Since baby-sitting is a laborious undertaking, the song entertains both the maid and the baby. The baby gradually learns the art of meaningful sound forma-tion. In this regard, it can then be argued that the lullabies become the first stage in meaningful child development and human factor development among the Shona people. As already indicated, the song is an effective substitute for food and the mother’s milk. The inchoate foundations for deriving solace and security from the group are laid down. At the same time, the spirit of toughness, endurance and agency are gradually developed. One finds these aspects in a number of songs which are performed together with others as the child becomes older.

The notion of agency in children’s songsChildren are to any given community what a flower is to a plant. A plant that does not produce flowers is guaranteed of extinction. In this regard, Shona epistemologi-cal foundations extend vast spaces to children of both genders to embrace, connect and find each other in the theatre of the struggle for victory. It is in this regard that children’s songs constitute the rudimentary intellectual discourse in the construction of agency and self-conscious action. Agency, which is an indispensable component of Shona lived philosophy, becomes a critical aspect in Shona child development programmes as evinced through children’s songs. It pervades most oral art forms that are uncorrupted by alien and adopted world views. A cursory look at Shona people’s proverbs, folktales, myths and legends reveals epistemologies in which the ability to participate and overcome challenges is thesis rather than antithesis. Similarly, the Igbo cosmology as expressed by Achebe (1989: 62) underlines the notion of agency in most African communities. He writes of the Igbo that: “It is a dynamic world of movement and of flux. Igbo art, reflecting this world view, is never tranquil, but mobile and active, even aggressive”. Shona children’s songs clearly articulate an intellectual discourse of Shona agency. They constitute the foundation for other oral art forms which the children subsequently encounter in life.

The first song called Tinotsvaka maonde (We search for the fruits of a fig tree) underscores the Shona people’s attitude towards life in general. It shows that life is a struggle in which the living have to persistently and responsibly engage in self-conscious action. It makes emphatic the intellectual position that the struggle for life is long. The search for fulfilment and contentment in life is tough but victory over challenges must be the first order of a Shona person’s business. The search motif, which is inseparable from the Shona sense of agency, defines the semantics of most of the songs. When singing the song, children of both genders divide themselves into two seemingly confrontational groups. They menacingly but lovingly advance towards each other. The physical motion of the participants and the general mobility is inseparable from our conceptualisation of the notion of agency in Shona episte-mological thought.

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An analysis of selected Shona children’s songs: Philosophical perspectives on child development 7

Tinotsvaka maonde, maonde, maondeTinotsvaka maonde masikati anoAnoturura ndiani masikati ano.Anoturura ndiItai, ndiItai, ndiItai,Anoturura ndiItai masikati ano

We are looking for the fruits of a fig treeWe are looking for the fruits of a fig tree this afternoonWho will bring them down this afternoon?Itai will bring them down for us

The fruits of a fig tree are edible. In this regard, they symbolise life-giving and life-supporting projects which can only be found through careful search. Things do not come on a silver platter. Children therefore appreciate from infancy the fact that agency guarantees survival. In order for an individual to survive, there is need to invest in mobility and self-conscious action. The counter-group responds by asking a question after which two individuals, one from each group, are then selected to battle it out for group self-image and survival. The performed tug of war is expressive of the Shona sense of agency. It trains the children the necessity of rising to the occa-sion while at the same time avoiding the temptation to be beggars and to passively accept conditions of life. It socialises children into a cultural and conceptual scheme of things in which agency is a facility for victory in life. It is also a capacity building measure that provides a model of life. The song can then be regarded as part of the philosophical and ritual drama of lived and liveable Shona people’s ideals and knowl-edge systems. This sense of agency equips and prepares them not only for adult life, but for the immediate childhood phases when physical confrontation and the need for force cannot be ruled out. The performance of Shona philosophy in children’s songs resonates with what p’Bitek (1986: 22) presents as: “the philosophy of life of the people are sung and danced. The world view is celebrated and confirmed”.

Choice as an expression of agencyThe opportunity to choose a satisfying and valuable existence is not unrelated to hu-man factor and child development among the Shona. Choices that individuals make in life are inextricably linked to the quality of life. Once made, these choices have the power to extend or depreciate life. Good choices bring in the necessary impetus and can potentially transform life into a feast, thereby bringing about contentment. On the other hand, bad choices can handcuff and trammel agency. They compromise one’s ability to engage in effective struggles while simultaneously diminishing prospects of victory. The concatenation of agency and choice in Shona children’s songs is intended to enhance the prospects of a fulfilling life. In the songs that underline choice, there is an uncompromising commitment towards making the child a subject rather that an

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object of life. They empower the child with the power to name and contain without dominating preferred positions and spaces in life. In the song Sipoti zangariyana,

Sipoti sipoti zangariyana,Ndinotsvaga wangu,Zangariyana, Musuki wendiro,Zangariyana,Anodzichenesa, Zangariyana, Kuti mbembe, Zangariyana, semwedzi wechirimo,Zangariyana, Aiwaiwa ndanga ndichireva uyu,Simuka hande.

Sport sport get up and let’s go, I am looking for a partner, A partner who will do the dishes, Until they are clean, And white like the moon, In all that l meant this one.

In the song, what comes out as striking is the presentation of a problem or challenge, which is that of looking or searching for a suitable and capable partner. The lead singer, who is on a search mission, takes his or her time to settle for what he or she considers the best. As he or she leads the rest of the group in singing, he or she will be going right round the circle, carefully examining those present. He or she is not under any pressure from any one and there is no outside influence. The circle makes it possible for him or her to see clearly all members on parade. Even if there is a person he or she already likes, the rules of the game make it imperative that there should be signs of serious search. The subject position of the children is seen in the fact that they communicate and express their creativity. For that reason, decisions should not be arrived at impetuously.

By responding synchronously in the word zangariyana, he or she is urged to carry on. It also takes away the shame especially from those members who are not used to associating with the opposite sex. Songs like the one above which are performed by both genders also become a basis for effective gender socialisation. They underline the African world view as cosmos. The children learn and appreciate the fact that men and women are “pieces of each other” and that “the land of the [men] was… [and still is] not far removed from the domain of the [women]. There… [is always] coming and going between them” (Achebe, 1958: 85). In this case the interdepen-dence of men and women and the need for complementary existence is designed, confirmed and celebrated.

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An analysis of selected Shona children’s songs: Philosophical perspectives on child development 9

At the same time, the concerted or rather painstaking search acknowledges the mere fact that everyone present has the potential to be creative. The rounds made are part of nurturing that creativity. We believe that creativity should be understood in a broader sense that takes cognisance of the array of human needs and faculties as well as cultural pluralism. “Precisely because the creative approach cannot be taught or commanded, it has to be nurtured wherever it appears. In spite of its universal potential in a favourable environment, the spark of artistic creativity is in fact so rare that it needs fanning wherever it flickers, in the hope of generating a fire” (quoted in Our creative diversity. Report of the World Commission on Culture and Develop-ment, p 79). This certainly becomes a challenge for development strategies in the modern era. Tradition already provides blueprints. Choices determine development – individual, family, social, and community. Choices demand creative resilience. Once made and actualised they inspire direction or the lack of it. This is particularly important when choosing a spouse for life. It should not be an easy exercise. One finds similar attitudes on choice elaborated in folktales such as vakomana vaipan-duka kuita shumba (The changelings).

In the folktale, three beautiful sisters encounter three handsome men at a well. Instantaneously, they accept the boys’ proposals and elope with them. They later realise that their husbands whom they married without any serious consideration are changelings who could become lions at any time. In their revealing interpretation of the folktale, Mutasa, Nyota and Mapara (2008: 41) explain that:

This folktale shows consequences of disregarding environmental issues before carrying out a project which has implications on environmental education and on environmental issues. The first thing that is observed is that before people embark on a project, there is always the need for them to assess the situation on the ground and see whether it will really permit them to carry out their intentions, regarding needs analysis and feasibility studies. Even in marriage people do not just meet and elope. There needs to be an environmental impact assessment…

The children’s songs in this section capacity build children with the necessary envi-ronmental impact assessment tools.

The song Sarura wako (Choose yours) presents the child participants as the major characters in the song itself.

Sarura wako kadeyadeya ane ndoro chena,Wangu mutema kadeyadeya ane ndoro chena,Ane meso machena kadeyadeya ane ndoro chena

Choose yourself a partnerMine is dark in complexion,She or he has shiny eyes

Children express their own conceptualisation of aesthetics. The lead singer is free to confess as much as possible with regard to what she or he considers beautiful. When

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one looks at the subject position of children in indigenous Shona oral performances, one only wishes that such approaches could be made central to contemporary child development programmes. This is critical because “After Europe’s tragic contact with Africa, survival strategies which are indigenous to African communities have not been made central to development. Post-independence Africa has opted for sources of knowledge which have continuously produced undesirable and in some cases, disastrous results” (Chiwome, 2000: vii).

ConclusionShona children’s songs establish and celebrate agency as the informing philosophy. In this regard, they express a deep underlying Shona philosophy of life. A look at the songs reveals that the most consistent expression is the need to make the child a subject rather an object of life. It is in this regard that the authors propose that con-temporary child development agencies can learn the art of Shona child development by examining and investing in these songs.

Works citedAchebe, C. 1958. Things fall apart. Oxford: Heinemann——— . 1989. Hopes and impediments: selected essays. New York: Anchor Books.Ani, M. 1994. Yurugu: an African-Centered critique of European Cultural Thought and Be-

havior. Trenton. Asmara Africa World Press.Asante, M. 1998. The Afrocentric idea. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.Cabral, A. 1980. Unity and struggle: speeches and writings. London: Heinemann.Chiwome, E. M. 1996. A critical history of Shona poetry. Harare: University of Zimbabwe

Publications.——— . 2000. Indigenous knowledge and technology in African and diasporan communi-

ties: multidisciplinary approaches. Harare: Southern African Association for Culture and Development Studies.

Furusa, M. 2000. African Culture and African People’s Agenda for Liberation and Develop-ment. The International Journal of Africana Studies. 6(1): 30–41.

Mutasa et al. 2008. Ngano: teaching environmental education using the Shona folktale. The Journal of Pan African Studies. 2 (3): 33-54.

Our creative diversity. Report of the World Commission on Culture and Development. 1995. Paris: UNESCO Publishing.

P’Bitek, O. 1986. Artist the ruler: essays on art, culture and values. Nairobi: Heinemann.

i Shona and Ndebele are Zimbabwe’s indigenous languages spoken by the largest and second largest group of people respectively.

ii He acted as Welly in the Soap Opera Studo 263

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