Bulawayo Burning

This is an illuminating study of the social history of Bulawayo in the period between 1893 and 1960. The book is divided into historical epochs marked by the ‘burning’ of Bulawayo, metaphorically and literally. It begins with the burning of Bulawayo in 1893 on the orders of King Lobengula, and ends with the burning of shops during the Zhii riots of 1960. It thus presents the city of Bulawayo as a site of struggle between many sections of society during the colonial period. Inspired by Yvonne Vera's Butterfly Burning, and writing in response to it, Ranger experiments with a writing style that allows him to locate his study between conventional history and literature. Bulawayo Burning is, therefore, in constant conversation with Yvonne Vera's novel, which is set in the city of Bulawayo in 1946. In fact, it is the intricate detail in the novel that inspired Ranger to write a historical study set in the same period and context.

Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Colonial period · Colonialism · Context (archaeology) · Period (music) · Style (visual arts) · African history and culture studies · History · Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies · South African History and Culture