Go to AfricaBib home

Go to AfricaBib home African Women Go to database home

bibliographic database
Line
Previous page New search

The free AfricaBib App for Android is available here

Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Nehanda and gender victimhood in the central MaShonaland 1896-97 rebellions: revisiting the evidence
Author:Charumbira, RuramisaiISNI
Year:2008
Periodical:History in Africa
Volume:35
Pages:103-131
Language:English
Geographic term:Zimbabwe
Subjects:First Chimurenga
historiography
women
gender discrimination
External link:http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/history_in_africa/v035/35.charumbira.pdf
Abstract:In 1998, David N. Beach revisited the 1896-1897 central MaShonaland uprising in colonial Zimbabwe. His main thesis was that, contrary to conventional wisdom that placed Nehanda-Charwe, a medium of the Nehanda Mhondoro Spirit, at the centre of those anti-European settler rebellions, she might have been 'an innocent woman unjustly accused'. For Beach, upstart Kaguvi-Gumboreshumba (a male spiritual leader) might have been the real hero. The present paper, which revisits the history of early colonial Zimbabwe through feminist lenses, is a response to Beach's study. It looks at the credibility of evidence given by Africans to colonial officials, with a focus on women's testimonies. Furthermore, the paper examines the arrest and trial of Nehanda-Charwe and Kaguvi, with an emphasis on Beach's argument that witnesses against Nehanda-Charwe were men, and those sitting on the court bench were men, and so she was a scapegoat for colonial inefficiency. The paper argues that the biggest hole in Beach's argument about Nehanda-Charwe being a 'victim' of gender bias lies in the fact that he did not consider the larger canvas of women's and gender history before and during the uprisings to articulate Nehanda-Charwe's actions better. The present paper revisits the evidence to find other women's voices, so that Nehanda-Charwe's voice gets a woman's and gendered context through which her actions can be better understood. Notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]
Cover