Domestic violence, alcohol and child abuse through popular music in Zimbabwe: a decolonial perspective

Abstract

Domestic violence and child abuses especially as perpetrated by men and linked to alcohol abuse is an issue well covered in what I term conventional liberal scholarship. In this I deploy Maria Lugones’ decolonising feminism theory in which the position of the black women is at the bottom of the human hierarchy and the white men are at the top. In decolonial terms there is a modernity inscribed distinction between human and non humans. Broadly categorised, the blacks, Hispanics and Others in the colonised world form part of the non humans while the white Caucasians bestowed on themselves the status of the human. In this article I explore the violence endured by women in physically and emotionally abusive relationships. I explain why they endure such unendurable suffering. I also attempt to expose some alternative political interpretations in the song Tozeza baba which narrates the frustrations and suffering of the people of Zimbabwe under the leadership of Robert Mugabe. The methodology used is an exploration of popular music using the example of Zimbabwe’s Oliver Mtukudzi’s song Tozeza baba which expresses the trepidations of a family resulting from the father’s drunk behaviour.

Keywords: Gender based violence, coloniality of gender, coloniality of knowledge, Oliver Mtukudzi, Zimbabwe