An Afrocentric engagement with the portrayal of old age in Shona proverbs

Bibliographic Data

ID21537595
AuthorsAllan Tapiwa Maganga (0000-0003-1744-2684, University of South Africa, corresponding author), Aphios Nenduva (0009-0006-5180-9338, Midlands State University)
Year2026
Pages1-14
Publication date2026-04-23
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEducational Gerontology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0360-1277 • E-ISSN: 1521-0472
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03601277.2026.2661719
OpenAlexW7155368642
LanguageEN
References cited11

This article unravels old-age and its related ageist stereotypes in Zimbabwean Shona proverbs as epistemological constructs. Premised on a qualitative research design, it purposively samples 16 proverbs from 4722 proverbs contained in Shona proverbs texts (with English translations). Through Qualitative Data Analysis (QDA), the selected proverbs are utilized and interpreted as primary sources through which depictions of the Shona indigenes’ societal values vis-à-vis old-age adults, aging, and ageism are embedded or fostered in the respective community and relational philosophy. Among the article’s key findings is the realization that Shona proverbs, apart from acknowledging aging and ageism as a rite of passage, are the key descriptors utilized in the collective ideation and composition revolve around frailness of human beings’ physical appearance, slowness in taking actions and needful of care when advanced in age. However, besides expressing stereotypical undertones, the proverbs also celebrate, revere, and reference old-age persons as canons of organic wisdom, experienced individuals never to be underestimated, knowledgeable experts and embodiments of collective memory significant to a more humane society. Thus, we recommend African gerontologists to tap from Shona proverbial philosophies’ critical insights and perspectives of ancient civilizations toward the old-aged members of the society. Furthermore, these cultural tales are construed to be a valid and reliable meta-data of a people’s lived and liveable realities. An Afro-centered perspective together with broad descriptive sociolinguistics have been utilized as intellectual pedestals on the basis that, these forge a reconceptualization of the social and historical reality of African people

Ethnic group · Ethnocentrism · Narrative · Qualitative research · Shona · African cultural and philosophical studies · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies

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