Representations of Identity, History and Nationalism in Chenjerai Hove’s Selected Poetry

Abstract

SummaryThis article analyses some of the poems in Chenjerai Hove's two collections of poetry: Up in Arms (1982) and Red Hills of Home (1985). I argue that the two collections focus on the contested subject of nationalism in Zimbabwe and its implications for both national and private identities. To trace how Hove's poetic narratives of history engage with this concept, the conceptual approach to this paper depends on historian Terence Ranger's (2005: 217) seminal classification of the active public historical versions in contemporary Zimbabwe into three categories: nationalist, patriotic, and academic histories. For the purpose of this article only nationalist history will be discussed because of its immediate relevance to the aspects of Zimbabwean history and nationalism that Hove raises in his poetry.