| ID | 182482 |
| Title Proper | Is Mugabe Also Among the National Deities and Kings? |
| Other Title Information | Place Renaming and the Appropriation of African Chieftainship Ideals and Spirituality in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Mamvura, Zvinashe |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | This article examines the elite construction of cultural landscapes in Harare. Since assuming the reins of power in the Zimbabwe African Nation Union (ZANU) in 1977, Robert Mugabe invented a political culture that conflated him with spirit mediums whom the nationalist movement had elevated to national deities and dead kings. Mugabe continued to cultivate this political culture in the post-colonial era using different discourses of self-presentation. The place-renaming exercise that the Mugabe regime implemented immediately after independence was part of Mugabe’s self-legitimating efforts. This article establishes that the place-renaming system in Harare projected Mugabe as a divine king. |
| `In' analytical Note |
Journal of Asian and African Studies Vol. 56, No.8; Dec 2021: p.1861-1878 |
| Journal Source | Journal of Asian and African Studies 2021-12 56, 8 |
| Key Words | Politics ; Cultural Landscape ; Place Renaming ; Critical Toponymy ; Divine Ordination ; The Gramscian Approach To Place Naming |