Expressing dreams with words
STORYTELLING, much like dancing, is inherent in Africans. This is not to say that all Africans are gifted with the art of telling a tale, but they are raconteurs par excellence. Literature on the continent is alive with natives from across Cape to Cairo, Dar es Salaam to Dakar, using multiple mediums to share their stories, real and imagined.
Contained in African literature, much like elsewhere, are stories of people, places, adventure, triumphs and trials, romance and heartbreak, ancient wisdoms and modern dreams.
Th rough poetry and prose, today’s African has been able to articulate their past, present and future. In recent years, writers such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Taiye Selasi, Binyavanga Wainaina and Teju Cole have risen to greater prominence following the footsteps of giants; Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka and Ngugi wa Thiong’o.
Zimbabwe too has its fair share of scribes, old and new, who continue to share stories through the written word.
Petina Gappah, NoViolet Bulawayo, Brian Chikwava and Tendai Huchu have all created and expressed their different realities, experiences and hopes.
“The writer is by nature a dreamer - a conscious dreamer,” said the novelist and playwright Carson McCullers
To dream is to have hope for a better tomorrow. Dreams are important; they are the foundation on which the grandest achievements are crafted.
Eleanor Roosevelt said, “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams”.
While it is important to dream, the actualisation of those dreams is more significant.
For that to happen it is essential that these dreams be communicated.
Literature is a brilliant means of communicating dreams. Through word - fact or fiction, prose or poetry - one can articulate what it is that they see and feel.
For many people, prose is the familiar means of literature. It reads easier and quickly establishes a connection and understanding between the writer and the reader.
Poetry is a little different; not only is it subjective, but also comes in varying styles. The beauty of poetry, I find, is that it is able to invoke a plethora of different emotions.
Poems are actually an innate part of Zimbabwean culture and life. Praise poetry is found in the different totems among the Shona: within the poem one discovers the clans’ history and achievements, a celebration of a people.
During the liberation struggle poems, like song, were recanted by freedom fighters. They carried in them the thoughts, feelings and ideals of the people and were a means of remaining resolute in their efforts.
A popular poem of the late 1950s, “Nehanda Nyakasikana” by Solomon Mutsvairo called on the revered spirit medium asking how much longer would they remain in suffering.
Ndebele performance poet Albert Nyathi is another who has managed to capture the mood, emotions and feelings of the people through his words.
“Senzeni Na?” is one such emotive offering which he said he wrote following the death of Chris Hani in April 1993.
Another of his poems is titled “Welcome to Zimbabwe (Land of Contradition)”. It describes the wealth, beauty and traditions of the country juxtaposed with the paucity, unsightliness and changing cultures.
Literature is not only about expression, but also a means of preserving history. While many stories and poems might be fiction often the best are drawn from the times and truths that the writer has lived and experienced.
Writing is a personal experience, however, the expression of one’s writing, particularly their dreams, contains in it the hope that there are others who share similar beliefs and desires.
Young Zimbabweans are among the many dreamers on the planet, they too use their words to express their desires.
Looking beyond, that is the need to fi nd those who share these ideals and work towards their actualisation, to unite in hope and sing out loud, to dream of a nation that remembers its past, but is hungrier for a better future.