Singing the contemporary

Leadership and governance in the musical discourse of Oliver Mtukudzi

Bibliographic Data

ID20241663
AuthorsMurenga Joseph Chikowero (Zimbabwe Open University, corresponding author)
Year2006
Volume3
Issue1
Pages36-47
Publication date2006-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueMuziki (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1753-593X • E-ISSN: 1812-5980
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/18125980608538782
OpenAlexW2084921830
LanguageEN
Citations received11

This article explores questions of leadership and governance in the musical discourse of KORA award-winning Zimbabwean musician, Oliver Mtukudzi. The study focuses on how Mtukudzi transcends mere ‘protest music’ to suggest how harmony can be achieved through negotiated processes as opposed to violence and other heavy-handed methods of conflict ‘resolution’. The study also reveals the powerful, though subtle political impetus in Mtukudzi's music that critics have largely overlooked. Leading cultural scholars such as Vambe contend that Mtukudzi's katekwe musical genre is the ‘Chimurenga of the domestic sphere’. It reveals how the relationship between the ruler and the ruled is defined by an endless communication process which in itself necessitates continuous negotiation. This contrasts with the popular African conception of political rulers as ‘fathers of the nation’, a concept that elevates them above reproach or censure. As this article will demonstrate, the ruler is ideally an elevated ordinary person tasked with performing collective responsibilities, rituals and rites of leadership but always for the collective good. This chapter delineates, through a critical evaluation of Mtukudzi's music, how African leadership and governance systems often deviate from this norm. Violence is portrayed as the very antithesis of good governance as it breaches not only the sacred bond between the two parties but also trashes the rules of principled negotiation. Finally, Mtukudzi's music is conceived as an attempt to put into perspective leadership and governance by spelling out the expectations of the ruled and thereby suggesting models for mutually beneficial power paradigms within the Zimbabwean and African contextual frameworks

Aesthetics · Antithesis · Art · Corporate governance · Epistemology · Literature · Musical · Negotiation · Political science · Politics · Ruler · Social science · Sociology · Visual arts · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Diverse Musicological Studies · Law · Music History and Culture · Philosophy

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