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Contemporary African Cultural Productions

Productions culturelles africaines contemporaines

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This book is a product of the CODESRIA Annual Social Science

Campus

Ce livre est une compiliation des articles issus du Campus annuel sur les sciences sociales du CODESRIA

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Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa DAKAR

Contemporary African Cultural

Productions

Production culturelles africaines

contemporaines

Edited by

V. Y. Mudimbe

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© CODESRIA 2012

Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa

Avenue Cheikh Anta Diop, Angle Canal IV

BP 3304 Dakar, 18524, Senegal

Website: www.codesria.org

ISBN: 978-2-86978-539-7

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without prior permission from CODESRIA.

Typesetting: Daouda Thiam

Cover Design: Ibrahima Fofana

Printing: Imprimerie Graphi plus, Dakar, Senegal

Distributed in Africa by CODESRIA

Distributed elsewhere by African Books Collective, Oxford, UK

Website: www.africanbookscollective.com

The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) is an independent organisation whose principal objectives are to facilitate research, promote research- based publishing and create multiple forums geared towards the exchange of views and information among African researchers. All these are aimed at reducing the fragmentation of research in the continent through the creation of thematic research networks that cut across linguistic and regional boundaries. CODESRIA publishes Africa Development, the longest standing Africa based social science journal; Afrika Zamani, a journal of history; the African Sociological Review; the African Journal of International Affairs; Africa Review of Books and the Journal of Higher Education in Africa. The Council also co-publishes the Africa Media Review; Identity, Culture and Politics: An Afro- Asian Dialogue; The African Anthropologist and the Afro-Arab Selections for Social Sciences. The results of its research and other activities are also disseminated through its Working Paper Series, Green Book Series, Monograph Series, Book Series, Policy Briefs and the CODESRIA Bulletin. Select CODESRIA publications are also accessible online at www.codesria.org. CODESRIA would like to express its gratitude to the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA/SAREC), the International Develop- ment Research Centre (IDRC), the Ford Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation, the Norwegian Agency for Development Coopera- tion (NORAD), the Danish Agency for International Development (DANIDA), the French Ministry of Cooperation, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Rockefeller Foundation, FINIDA, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), TrustAfrica, UN/UNICEF, the Afri- can Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) and the Government of Senegal for supporting its research, train ing and publication programmes.

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Contents

Acknowledgements........................................................................................ vii

Notes on Contributors.................................................................................... ix

Pinkie Mekgwe and Adebayo Olukoshi

1. Dancing through the Crisis: Survival Dynamics and

Zimbabwe Music Industry..................................................................... 1

Nhamo Anthony Mhiripiri

2. Retelling Joburg for TV: Risky City....................................................29

Muff Andersson

3. The Legendary Inikpi of Nigeria: A Play - Political

Interpretation and Contemporary Implications................................47

Reuben Adejoh

4.Makishi Masquerade and Activities: The Reformulation

of Visual and Performance Genres of the Mukanda School of Zambia.................................................................................67

Victoria Phiri Chitungu

5. Religiosity in Vihiga District: Modernity and Expressions of

Outward Forms ....................................................................................83

Susan Mbula Kilonzo

6. Striking the Snake with its own Fangs: Uganda Acoli Song,

Performance and Gender Dynamics................................................109

Benge Okot

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7. Industrie musicale au Sénégal : étude d'une évolution ..................129

Saliou Ndour

8. Voix féminines de la chanson au Cameroun : émergence et

reconnaissance artistique...................................................................177

Nadeige Laure Ngo Nlend

9. Vidéo et espace politique : le cas de la Côte d'Ivoire...................197

Oumar Silué N'Tchabétien

10.Les Bantous de la capitale de Brazzaville : Cycle de vie

et productions culturelles..................................................................233

Geneviève Mayamona Zibouidi

11.Le vidéoclip congolais : Politique de mots et

rhétorique d'images.............................................................................261

Léon Tsambu

12.Artes e reconstruir indentidades : Um Proyeto de teatro

em Mozambique..................................................................................287

Vera Azevedo

13.Afterword: A Meditation of the Convener.....................................301

V. Y. Mudimbe

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Acknowledgements

Sincere gratitude to the coordinators of the 2007 CODESRIA Campus, Pinkie Mekgwe and Adebayo Olukoshi; to Karen Peters and the Howard Campus College for its technical arrangements; Jean-Pierre Diouf, Dr Ravayi Marindo, Virginie Niang, Oyekunle Oyediran and Dr Ebrima Sall, other members of the CODESRIA Secretariat in Dakar; and indeed, the participants of the Campus for a challenging intellectual engagement. A recognition is due to members of the Duke University Literature Programme who have helped in this project, to Abbie Langston for editing the proceedings, and also Trip Attaway, Rizvana Braxton, Erin Post, Abraham Geil, Peter Otiato and David Schultz for their administrative management.

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Notes on Contributors

Reuben Adejoh is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. He has attended international conferences, and published a number of articles on strategic studies and political economy. He is a member of the National Association of Political Science of Nigeria. His research is in the area of religious fundamentalism and national security in Nigeria. Muff Andersson, a Researcher, works in the Office of the Principal, University of South Africa (Unisa), and is currently writing the multi-volume "A History of the University of South Africa" which looks at the history of Higher Education in South Africa. A specialist in African Literature and Popular Culture, her focus is on youth and violence. She is a scriptwriter and author of several books, the most recent of which is Intertextuality, Violence and Memory in Yizo Yizo: Youth TV

Drama (Unisa Press, 2010).

Vera Azevedo graduated from the School of Theater and Cinema, and the Instituto Superior das Ciências do Trabalho e da Empresa (ISCTE), both in Lisbon, Portugal. She is presently a Technical Assistant at the Teatro Nacional D. Maria II in Lisbon, and conducting her doctoral research in the field of

Anthropology and Popular Culture in Mozambique.

Benge Okot holds a PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand. He is currently teaching in the Department of Literature at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. He has conducted fieldwork in Sudan and Uganda. With Alex Bangirana, he co-edited Uganda Poetry - Anthology 2000. He is working on a new book "Ethnopoetics and Gender Dynamics among the Acoli of Northern Uganda". Susan Mbula Kilonzo is a Professor of Religious Studies. She teaches in the Department of Religion, Theology and Philosophy at Maseno University, Kenya. Her main research interests are in Sociology of Religion, African Culture, Gender and Development. She has published articles in these areas, and a book on Christian Diversity and Community Development (Lap Lambert Academic Publishing, 2010). Geneviève Mayamona Zibouidi, a laureate of the 2006 CODESRIA Research Seminar on the Youth, and the 2007 Durban Campus, holds an MA in International Economic Relations from Marien Ngoubi University in the Congo. A member of the Research Centre on Economic and Political Analyses, her field of research includes cultural structures and politics of pricing food products.

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Contemporary African Cultural Productionsx

Pinkie Mekgwe is a specialist in English and African literature, gender politics and education. With a BA from the University of Botswana, and an MSc and DPhil (Gender and Literary Studies) from the University of Sussex, Dr. Mekgwe is a former Programme Officer in the Research Programme of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA). She has served as assistant lecturer at Sussex University's School of African and Asian Studies, and as a visiting lecturer at Malmo University in Sweden. A post-doctoral fellow at the Institute for Economic and Social Research, University of the Witwatersrand, Dr. Mekgwe contributed to a discourse on "Sexuality and Masculinity", and to a book on Sexuality and the Concept of the Nation. She has been a producer and presenter of "Open Book" (an educational literature radio programme in Gaborone), and a founding Board Member and first female chairperson of the Botswana Media Regulatory Body. Nhamo Anthony Mhiripiri teaches Media Studies at the Midlands State Uni- versity in Zimbabwe. His doctorate at the University of KwaZulu-Natal was on "Contemporary Visual Cultural Productions of the Zulu and Bushmen in South Africa". He has published short stories in several anthologies, including Dreams, Miracles and Jazz (Picador Africa, 2008) and No More Plastic Balls (College Press,

2000). He is the author of academic articles in Emerging Perspectives on Dambudzo

Marechera (Africa World Press, 1999), The Hidden Dimensions of Operation Murambatsvina (Weaver Press, 2008), Muziki: The Journal of Music Research in Africa, Visual Anthropology and the Journal of Literary Studies. V. Y. Mudimbe teaches at Duke University. His publications include L'odeur du père (Présence Africaine, 1982), The Invention of Africa (Indiana University Press,

1988), and The Idea of Africa (Indiana University Press, 1994). He is the editor of

The Surreptitious Speech: "Présence Africaine" and the Politics of Otherness, 1947-1987 (University of Chicago Press, 1992) and Diaspora and Immigration: A Special Issue of South Atlantic Quarterly (Duke University Press, 1999). Saliou Ndour holds a doctorate in Sociology and and teaches at the Université Gaston Berger in Saint Louis, Senegal. A specialist in African, West Indies and Pacifics cultural networks, and an author of numerous articles on industrial cultures, he is the editor of L'industrie musicale au Sénégal : essai d'analyse (CODESRIA, 2008). Nadeige Laure Ngo Nlend teaches history at the University of Yaoundé I in Cameroon. She is the Secretary General of the Cameroonian Centre for Egyptology, and a member of the Research Group on Egyptology at the

University of Yaoundé I.

Adebayo Olukoshi, a Professor of International Economic Relations, is cur- rently Director of the UN African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (IDEP). From 2001 until 2009, he served as Executive Secretary of the

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Notes on Contributorsxi

Council for Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA). Previously a former Senior Research Fellow/Research Programme Coordinator of the Nordic Africa Institute (NAI) in Uppsala, Senior Programme Staff at the South Centre in Geneva, and Director of Research at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) in Lagos, his research interests centre on the politics of economic relations on which he has published extensively. Oumar Silué N'Tchabétien, a social scientist with a doctorate from the University of Bouake in Ivory Coast, has been researching the sociological spaces of street cultures of the youth in relation to Ivory Coast politics. His research includes the diffusion of political ideologies within these spaces. Victoria Phiri Chitungu, a specialist in Ethnic studies, is the Curator of Ethnography and Art at the Livingstone Museum of Zambia. She has done extensive work on cultures of Zambia, and is the author of "Masks and Dances, Mwanapwebo and Maliya: A Representation of Woman at the Centre of Social

Change in Zambia", published in Signs, 2008.

Léon Tsambu is a Lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, and researcher at Centre d'études politiques (CEP) of the University of Kinshasa. He is currently working on his doctorate. His interest is in urban culture and creative economy. He is a member of a number of scholarly societies, and has published in Afrika Studies and Africa Media Review.

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Preface

All over Africa, an explosion in cultural productions of various genres is in evidence. Whether it be in relation to music, song, dance, drama, play, poetry, film, documentaries, photography, cartoons, fine art, novels (fiction and faction), short stories, essays and (auto)biography, the continent is experiencing a robust outpouring of creative power that is as remarkable for its originality as its all-round diversity. Home-made movies, including those from Nigeria's Nollywood, and musical outputs powered on the increasingly ubiquitous FM radio stations that have become a core element of the fabric of contemporary Africa may be the most visible aspect of the current efflorescence of cultural productions in Africa; they are, however, by no means the only ones to have experienced a boom. Cartoons, for instance, have come to occupy a new space and potency, encapsulating protest and resistance, as does a new wave of popular comedies that speak truth to power and allow people to laugh at themselves and their circumstances. Thus, even as some old sites of cultural production may be declining, new ones are being created in a dialectic that also suggests an end to the domination of the cultural space by the state and the emergence of a new context of cultural pluralism complete with its asymmetries and power relations. It is perhaps significant that the contemporary cultural effervescence that has come to the fore began to unfold in the context of the longest - and deepest - economic crises which the African continent has known since the period after the Second World War and which started in earnest in the late 1970s and early 1980s. What is particularly interesting is that while practically every indicator of economic development was declining in nominal and/or real terms for most of the continent, cultural productions were, across the board, on the increase. Out of adversity, the creative genius of the African produced cultural forms that at once spoke to crises and sought to transcend them. It is a creative genius predominantly powered by younger Africans who yesterday may have been tempted to seek formal employment in a government service but today organize themselves, in response to the context of prolonged economic crises, in a search for self-fulfilment that is at once agonizing and liberating. While contemporary cultural productions do not originate exclusively from the urban milieu, it should not be surprising that the urban space and urban themes, in all their complexities, are dominant in the

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Contemporary African Cultural Productionsxiv

range of concerns that are covered. Contemporary cultural productions, among the many functions they serve, are clearly engaged and critical chroniclers of a rapidly changing Africa. It might be understandable that during the course of the 1980s and 1990s, much of the scholarly output in and on Africa concentrated on the dynamics of the economic crises which the countries of the continent were experiencing, the political economy of the structural adjustment programmes sponsored by the international donor community to manage the crises, and the struggles for political reform and democratization that came to the fore in the 1990s. Yet, through cultural productions, ordinary people, drawing on history, cognition, everyday experience, and the power of imagination, mirrored the contradictory ways in which the context of crises and reform both impacted society and were felt by individuals and groups. In this way, the productions were a potent commentary on power, resilience, resistance, identity and citizenship in a season of painful decline and slow renewal. The visibility of the cultural productions that flourished was reinforced by the revolution in information and communications technology that also helped them to travel beyond national boundaries into a global stream. Yet, they were not seriously engaged by the scholarly community, at least, not

African social scientists.

The study of culture remains, however, as crucial today as it ever was. Studying culture from an African perspective in the contemporary era is perhaps even more pertinent. This is an era in which culture is a site that is much contested, and increasingly commodified. This is an era in which there is a global market in culture and cultural production; in which multinational corporate interests are even seeking to generate monopolistic or oligopolistic copyright, patent and intellectual property rights over cultural productions; and where lifestyles are increasingly packaged for consumption and delivered wholesale into our living spaces primarily through the television and internet. With such packages being ever more easily accessible across the globe, it becomes particularly important that we be attendant to the danger of falsely assuming familiarity that can accompany the daily consumption of these cultural productions, and of the dangers of presuming a knowledge of culture - by ourselves and others; of ourselves and of others - that is devoid of history, a sense of location and place, and of serious intellectual investment. Hence, the importance of such scholarly intervention(s) as the Annual Social Science Campus of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) and its other initiatives such as the African Humanities Programme. The current climate of cultural pluralism that has been produced in no small part by globalization has not been accompanied by an adequate pluralism of ideas on what culture is, and/or should be; nor informed by an equal claim to the production of the cultural - packaged or not. Globalization has seen to movement

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Prefacexv

and mixture; contact and linkages; interaction and exchange where cultural flows of capital, people, commodities, images and ideologies have meant that the globe has become a space, with new asymmetries, for an increasing intertwinement of the lives of people, and, consequently, of a greater blurring of normative definitions as well as a place for re-definition, imagined and real. Researching into African culture and cultural productions thereof in this environment allows us, among other things, to enquire into definitions, explore historical dimensions, and to interrogate the political dimensions to presentation and representation. Such research offers us the possibility of interventions that go beyond the normative literary and cultural studies' main foci of race, difference, and identity; notions which, while important in themselves, might, without the necessary historicizing and interrogating, result in a discourse that rather re-inscribes the very patterns that necessitate writing against. Understanding culture through rigorous research into cultural processes and products, as some of the chapters in this volume seek to do, as well as seeking to interrogate the representation of Africa by others and Africans, leads us in the direction of creating work that re-defines - doing so by decoding, re-coding and recording. The 2007 CODESRIA Annual Social Science Campus on the theme of Contemporary African Cultural Productions offered a critical space for dialogue among contemporary scholars of Culture and Cultural Production led by a highly distinguished convenor, Valentin Y. Mudimbe, who generously deployed his vast knowledge and experience to catalyse participants to question received wisdom and assumptions, and explore new directions in researching and understanding culture and development. He was also to skilfully guide the laureates of the Campus to rework their thoughts, culminating in this volume which, in many ways, is a first for CODESRIA and the community of scholars it represents. Without doubt, this book will both bring to a broader audience, the rich debate in which participants in the 2007 Campus partook and further extend discussions in new directions on the key subjects they covered. In the end, it will be the distinct merit of the book that it gives full meaning to the long-standing commitment by CODESRIA and scholars such as Mudimbe to the increased privileging of the production of holistic inter-disciplinary knowledge in which the social sciences not only speak more to one another, but also to the arts, humanities, and other sciences.

Pinkie Mekgwe

Adebayo Olukoshi

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1

Dancing through the Crisis: Survival Dynamics

and Zimbabwe Music Industry

Nhamo Anthony Mhiripiri

The details of how Zimbabwe - once lauded as the jewel of Africa - slid into a mess over the past decade have been well chronicled (see Melber 2004; Harold- Berry 2004; Vambe 2008). President Robert Mugabe and his ruling ZANU PF blame the economic meltdown on the British and their allies the United States of America, Australia and the European Union, who are vindictive over the fast- track land reform programme that forcibly wrests land from white farmers. Mugabe's critics blame corruption, dictatorship, gross disrespect for the rule of law and no protection of private property, jeopardizing productivity and foreign currency earnings through the land reform programmes, and the abuse of human rights as the main causes of the country's problems (Mhiripiri 2008). At a time of very serious political and economic crisis, Zimbabweans seem to be entertaining themselves with music. There has been a massive shut-down of manufacturing industries, but the music industry remains resilient. According to the country's Central Statistics Office, inflation is the highest in the world, reaching as high as

100,000 per cent by mid February 2008, even exceeding that of war-ravaged

Iraq, which is second highest at 60 per cent. Zimbabwe's crisis has created paradoxes such as poor billionaires and the fastest-shrinking economy outside of a war zone. Unemployment in formal jobs was as high as 80 per cent in January

2008. Despite all this, the music industry looks vibrant, and shows no signs that

the big recording companies - Zimbabwe Music Corporation (ZMC), Records and Tape Promotions (RTP), Gramma and Ngaavongwe - will shut down or relocate to South Africa as most other companies have done. In the Zimbabwe case, the political economy of the music industry is of special interest because, prima facie, it seems as if there is nothing particularly 'political' about the music produced. The main musicians hardly sing any scathing political

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Contemporary African Cultural Productions2

content, and there is no banning of music shows for political reasons. It is worthwhile to investigate how the different stakeholders in the music industry sustain audiences' and buyers' interest, given that Zimbabwe is arguably one African country where local really is 'lekker,' with more local records selling compared to foreign productions. Socio-economic and political dynamics and marketing techniques are crucial in ascertaining the survival and growth of the Zimbabwe music industry. There exist both strong and tenuous links between the Zimbabwe music industry and South African and global music production, distribution and consumption systems, especially now that there are millions of Zimbabweans in the Diaspora. These links are important in evaluating the artistic productions of Zimbabwean musicians and what they derive from the industry. The Zimbabwean music industry has produced its own stars across different genres and styles. Star names abound in the genres of sungura, mbira, gospel, acapella, jazz, Urban Grooves, etc. It is important to investigate whether the local star system is generally helpful to the quality of lives of the majority of musicians. All types of music have been commodified and are aggressively marketed (Chitando

2002; Brusila 2002:35-45; Connell and Gibson 2003; Jenje-Makwenda 2005; Chari

2007; Souza 2007). Inventive marketing techniques that are largely informal are

used to attract audiences and persuade consumers to expend their hard-won cash on entertainment. Zimbabwean musicians perform several live shows each week, with the big names drawing as many as 10,000 people on exceptional shows. Bands and fans contribute to a local scene; the local music dissemination infrastructure includes churches, beer halls and concert halls in low-income, high- density population areas, and elegant clubs and hotel auditoriums. Recorded local music has a competitive advantage over foreign music, which is hardly imported due to foreign currency limitations and the absence of international distribution networks. With limited choice, local music sells rapidly, and the sungura music genre sells best.

The Zimbabwe Recording Industry

The concepts of 'majors' and 'Indies' adopted from the American music scene since the 1970s, where 'majors' 1 are large companies with substantial capital and power, and 'Indies' are small independent labels operating in marginal markets, are to some extent applicable to the Zimbabwean music industry (Starr and Waterman 2003:9; Mhiripiri 2004). The majors often play a 'conservative' role, 'seeking to ensure profits by producing predictable music for a large middle-class audience', but occasionally cautiously adopting new genres, artists and styles, especially those identified by the 'Indies' to minimize commercial risk. The 'Indies' are more entrepreneurial as they are often compelled by their circumstances to be more daring, search out new talent, create specialized niches, and feed new styles

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Mhiripiri: Dancing through the Crisis3

into the mainstream (Starr and Waterman 2003:306). The Indies bring forth important influence and changes on the musical scene by introducing new genres, a trend that reflects the way marginal genres such as disco, punk rock, funk and reggae were popularized in the United States of America (Starr and Waterman

2003:306).

There is a vibrant music industry in Zimbabwe and over 20,000 families draw their livelihood in part or whole from something related to music (Mhiripiri

2004; Mhiripiri and Mhiripiri 2006). Zimbabwe is unique in that Zimbabwean

citizens wholly own its local recording and distribution companies. Incidentally, Elias Musakwa, currently the biggest local music mogul who owns majority shares in the 'majors' - Zimbabwe Music Corporation (ZMC), Gramma, Record and Tape Promotions (RTP) and Ngaavongwe - is himself a musician. Big international conglomerates such as WEA, SONY/CBS, EMI, BMG, etc., including South African interests, have local branches in most African countries, but not in Zimbabwe. For many years now, these companies have sold their music through a licensing agreement with Zimbabwean companies. For instance, Zimbabwean companies RTP, Metro Studios, Spinalong and Makro jostled for a marketing and distribution deal with South Africa's Mobile Music Trust, which recently recorded Alick Macheso's album Ndezvashe-eh! 2

Crossline Studio of South Africa

recorded sungura musician Somandla Ndebele's new album Chitendero, and another South African company, Replication Pvt Ltd got the contract to distribute the album regionally while Metro Studios distributes in Zimbabwe. 3

Macheso's

Ndezvashe-eh!,released in August 2008, quickly sold 100,000 copies in the first week,

25,000 of them in neighbouring South Africa - no small achievement given that

big American stars, Kanye West and 50 Cent, who released albums around the same time, sold about 700,000 copies each during the first week. In many African countries big recording conglomerates record and promote local artists from revenue that comes from the sales of international megastars. However, in Zimbabwe, the biggest selling local acts have sustained the industry, at least for big companies such as Gramma and RTP (Fagerjord 1995; Eyre

2005). In Zimbabwe, local music substantially out-sells international repertoire.

During the colonial period, two South African companies (Gallo and Teal Record Company Central Africa, owned by Lonrho) set up local subsidiaries in Zimbabwe. These two companies had also acquired exclusive licenses for local distribution of big international labels. The two were soon bought off after 1980, with the coming of majority rule. The new ZANU PF regime tried, where possible, to sever all uncomfortable links with apartheid South Africa. 4

After independence,

Teal produced records under the Gramma label in order to get a double allocation of foreign exchange from the state, and the latter name has survived. Gallo changed its name to a more 'Zimbabwean' name, Zimbabwe Music Corporation.

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Contemporary African Cultural Productions4

In the post-colonial period, ownership of the capital assets in the music industry has been hazy and proprietors not clearly known (Fagerjord 1995). This mystery remains unresolved today, in the post-2000 period full of rumour and speculation. Allegations have been recently made that people linked to the ruling ZANU PF are quickly acquiring interests and taking over control of major recording and distribution companies. In a situation where there are no alternative radio and television stations, this stifles opposing or divergent and other subaltern voices (Eyre 2004; Vambe and Vambe 2006; Chikowero 2006). Legal provisions for a second independent broadcaster are available in the Broadcasting Services Act, but applicants have failed to convince the license-issuing Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe that they have the requisite capital and expertise to run a viable station with local money. Suspicions are rife that the license will be given to a ZANU PF supporter, and it is speculated that the favoured candidate is President Mugabe's nephew and business tycoon Philip Chiyangwa, who is already sponsoring foreign programmes such as European soccer on national TV. These national broadcasting stations, recording companies and music promotion companies are all partly implicated in the success or failure of particular musicians or bands. Some bemoan the fact that there is now 'complete control' not only of the airwaves through restrictive legislation, but of the music industry in particular through its direct ownership and control by the government and party officials. Government's patronage and its multifarious influences range from the commissioning of musicians to play favourable music, the giving of gifts ranging from musical instruments, studios, and even farms to sympathetic artists, 5 'inviting' musicians to perform at government sanctioned festivals, and senior government officials singing and producing music which is then played on the few state- owned channels. 6 My theoretical framework critically examines the dynamics of the Zimbabwe music business given the background of economic crisis, and how some musicians and their support systems are prospering despite the crisis.

Theoretical and Methodological Framework

Music is a form of cultural expression for individuals and social groups, but is also a commercial commodity that circulates in demographic markets (Connell and Gibson 2003). It is now trite to say the media are an industry just like any other industry, but the study of the actual strategies and dynamics, especially the marketing, publicity, financing and economics of the industry, are often ignored. I intend to establish how both political and commercial imperatives dictate what types of music are locally available, where and why, and who decides the proliferation. Critical writings abound on the political meanings and identity implications ofquotesdbs_dbs31.pdfusesText_37

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