The authors I want to concentrate on in this paper, Charles Mungoshi and Dambudzo Marechera, are both African writers who belong to the so called second generation of Zimbabwean writers which means that they were born between 1940 and 1959 and published in the 1960s and 70s.1They speak for the “lost generation”2which grew up after World War Second in a country reign by a white minority government and shattered by a guerrilla war against that government, and have somehow lost their identity. However although they were born in the same period of time in the same country and were influenced by the same political and cultural circumstances, on which I will put a closer focus later, their lives were very different. Mungoshi grew up in a rural area and stayed in Zimbabwe during the time of war, whereas Marechera was a township child who left Zimbabwe and lived in the exile in England during the time of the war. As a result, their writings, which were heavily influenced by their autobiographies, mirror these differences in their ways of life.
In this paper I will first look at the historical background in which both authors grew up, at political, cultural, social and educational circumstances. Secondly I am going to depict what their lives looked like and which were the differences and Gemeinsamkeiten in their ways of life. After that I will analyse how those differences and also the Gemeinsamkeiten in their ways of life influenced their writing, made them develop their special own styles and are mirrored in the themes of their narratives. As an example I will have a closer look at two of their most important writings, which are Dambudzo Marechera’s short story collection “The House of Hunger”, published in 19 and Charles Mungoshi’s novel “Waiting for the rain”, published in19.., by analysing them concerning the form and the content, and also by searching for autobiographical traces in both works. In the end I will try to compare both writings and depict the most important differences and gemeinsamkeiten.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 The second generation
2.1 Historical background
2.2 Zimbabwean literature of the second generation
3 Autobiographical background
4 Dambudzo Marechera’s “House of Hunger”
4.1 Discourse
4.2 Content
4.3 Autobiographical traces in “The House of Hunger”
5 Charles Mungoshi’s “Waiting for the rain”
5.1 Discourse
5.2 Content
5.3 Autobiographical traces in “waiting for the rain”
6 Comparing the “House of Hunger” and “Waiting for the rain”
7 Conclusion
Objectives and Themes
This paper examines the works of Dambudzo Marechera and Charles Mungoshi, two pivotal figures of the second generation of Zimbabwean writers, to analyze how their distinct life experiences and autobiographical backgrounds shaped their narrative styles and thematic focus under the shadow of colonial rule and the guerrilla war.
- Analysis of the historical, political, and social circumstances of the "second generation" in Zimbabwe.
- Comparison of the narrative discourse and content in Marechera’s "The House of Hunger" and Mungoshi’s "Waiting for the rain."
- Exploration of autobiographical traces and their influence on character development and identity.
- Evaluation of the themes of alienation, displacement, and the search for identity in a post-colonial landscape.
- Investigation into how educational background and exile (inner or outer) impact the writers' artistic voices.
Excerpt from the book
Dambudzo Marechera’s “House of Hunger”
In “The House of Hunger” Marechera chose a first-person narrator. There is no distance between the narrating I and the experiencing I, the narrator talks openly and seems not to have any Geheimnisse. As a result the reader feels involved in the story and can identify with the narrator. The narrator is not always the centre of his own story: sometimes he functions more as an I-as-witness who observes from behind and tells the stories of other people, but sometimes he also functions as the protagonist of his story. Being involved does not support the reliability of the narrator: everything what is described is told through his eyes and the reader cannot be sure, if he can believe in what he tells, although he sounds very convincing. All the flashbacks and Themensprünge make the writing look inconsistent and as a result the reader might anzweiferln the reliability of the narrator.
The focalisation is internal: everything is told from the perspective of the first-person narrator, the reader sees what the narrator sees, gets therefore only limited information and is dependent on the narrators view of the world and his surroundings. It is a fixed focalisation, which does not change during the whole narrative and does never present anything from another point of view.
In the story descriptive passages of narrative report wechseln sich ab with passages of direct speech, interior monologue.
Summary of Chapters
1 Introduction: This chapter outlines the focus on the "second generation" of Zimbabwean writers and introduces the comparative framework between Marechera and Mungoshi.
2 The second generation: This section provides the historical and cultural context of Zimbabwe, defining the sociopolitical environment that influenced the authors.
3 Autobiographical background: An exploration of the personal lives of Marechera and Mungoshi, highlighting their childhoods and formative educational experiences.
4 Dambudzo Marechera’s “House of Hunger”: An analysis of the narrative techniques, content, and the pervasive autobiographical elements found in Marechera's work.
5 Charles Mungoshi’s “Waiting for the rain”: A detailed review of the narrative discourse, central content themes, and autobiographical connections in Mungoshi’s novel.
6 Comparing the “House of Hunger” and “Waiting for the rain”: A synthesis of the political, stylistic, and thematic similarities and differences between the two works.
7 Conclusion: The final assessment of how both authors, despite their different paths, reflect a shared reality of post-colonial disillusionment and the struggle for identity.
Keywords
Zimbabwean Literature, Second Generation, Dambudzo Marechera, Charles Mungoshi, Post-colonialism, Autobiography, Alienation, Guerrilla War, Identity, Narrative Discourse, House of Hunger, Waiting for the rain, Colonialism, Displacement, Rural-Urban Conflict.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary subject of this academic paper?
The paper provides a comparative analysis of the literary works of Dambudzo Marechera and Charles Mungoshi, specifically focusing on how their shared generational background in Zimbabwe influenced their distinct writing styles.
Which specific books are analyzed in this study?
The study analyzes Dambudzo Marechera's short story collection "The House of Hunger" and Charles Mungoshi's novel "Waiting for the rain."
What is the central research question?
The research explores how the authors' personal differences in life—such as rural upbringing versus township life and internal versus external exile—are mirrored in the themes and narrative structures of their books.
What research methodology is employed?
The paper utilizes a comparative literary approach, analyzing discourse, focalization, and the integration of autobiographical traces to interpret the authors' portrayals of post-colonial Zimbabwean society.
What does the main body of the work cover?
The main body covers the historical context of the second generation of writers, a biographical breakdown of each author, and a specific analysis of the literary devices and thematic content within their respective chosen works.
Which keywords best describe this research?
Key terms include Zimbabwean Literature, Post-colonialism, Alienation, Autobiography, and Identity, representing the thematic and structural core of the thesis.
How does the narrator in "The House of Hunger" impact the reader?
Marechera uses a first-person narrator with internal focalization, which creates a deep sense of intimacy and identification for the reader, while simultaneously challenging the narrator's reliability through fragmented flashbacks.
What role does the setting play in "Waiting for the rain"?
The setting of Manyene Tribal Trust land is crucial, as Mungoshi utilizes the physical landscape—the "dust," the "empty" land, and the "waiting for the rain"—as a metaphor for the stagnation and hopelessness of the rural population.
How is the concept of exile treated in the research?
The paper contrasts "outer exile," as experienced by Marechera in England, with the "inner exile" felt by many writers who remained in Zimbabwe under restrictive political conditions.
- Quote paper
- Katharina Helmer (Author), 2006, Comparison of dambudzo marechera's "house of hunger" and charles mungoshi's "waiting for the rain", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/69064
