MEMORY CHIRERE (Zimbabwe)

By I. M Soqaga

MEMORY CHIRERE,  the excellent Zimbabwean writer and essayist, is one of Africa’s renowned literary critics  and reviewers.

Although critics are very important though often undermined or even detested in Africa. We tend to believe that they are "destroying or pulling down" the hard literary work of writers. But in the western world, critics are often highly respected as they introduce and even guide us as regards certain authors or books.

William Shakespeare eg has thousands of critical work published on him, and all we need do is read some critical essays on the greatest bard to give us an insight into Shakespeare over 30 plays. We cannot really read all his books, just as virtually all of us cannot read the dozens of books published by Wole Soyinka, EskiaMphahlele, Chinua Achebe, David Mailluetc.

But critics introduce us to the work of such writers and alleviate our ignorance. Then we must also realise that some of our African writers are very difficult just to read - like Dambudzo, Soyinka and Lenrie Peters. Critics help us by trying to guide us to understand/analyse what they wrote.

A South African writer like the great mama Sindiwe Magona who has published over ten brilliant works - a critic can help us to understand her vision, themes, style etc. Hence critics are very important.

Again sometimes we might not even practically be able to see most of books published by writers eg Obi Egbuna or Flaxman Qoopane. Then we are happy to know that a book containing many essays on Qoopane has been published!! (Edited by Charmaine Kolwane) and we now realise significance of critics like Lechesa, Leke Giwa, Raphael Mokoena, TiisetsoThiba, Paul Lothane, Henry Ozogula etc.

It is in this wise that one can appreciate the vital importance of Memory Chirere in literature and in promoting literary criticism is absolutely fascinating. Memory Chirere as a prominent short story writer he is the one of the few intrepid critic in Africa in Zimbabwe.  Although many people in the world may be flimsily about freedom of expression in Zimbabwe, albeit Memory Chirere remain absolutely consummate.  The enormous splendid amount of attention he received in the world of literature makes him one of the superlative critics in the world of literature.

It will obviously be meaningless for a lecturer of literature like Chirere to be absurd and myopic about literature in general.  Hence he is exceptionally respected because of his unflinching demeanour of producing such superb critical work of literature which is appropriate in literary field.  We know for years in Africa this literary genre (Literary Criticism) has been proscribe as something surreal and propagated by impertinent writers. 

Indeed, notable writers like Jack Mapanje, Wole Soyinka, Ngugi waThiong’o, Mphahlele, and many others suffered the huge adversity under the government of their countries.  Essentially, it is too awesome to see a writer of the calibre of Memory Chirere being not palpitated in advancing quintessential literature in this outstanding fashion especially in Zimbabwe which many will hardly believe that such writing can take place.

Memory Chirere is one of the contemporary Zimbabwean writers who uses the short story genre as a mode of expression. In his first collection of short stories in English under one book, Somewhere in this Country (2006), Chirere focuses on the marginalised members of society in their day-to-day struggles for survival in post-independence Zimbabwe.  Zimbabwe’s masses leading miserable lives, years after independence which was obtained in 1980, reflects that the black leaders failed to fulfil their erstwhile promises of better days to the majority.

At the centre of each of the stories selected to be studied in this article, “Suburb”, “An Old Man”, “Maize” and “Sitting Carelessly” is the writer’s touching compassion for the underprivileged members of society such as squatters, street kids, land-hungry peasants and displaced farm workers respectively. However, in “Maize” the black government is applauded for alleviating the situation of peasants by giving them land under the recent land reform programme. Hence, notable in Chirere’s criticism of society and its institutions is his objectivity.

Select Bibliography – books by Chirere

·      
           Somewhere in This Country

·        Toriro and His Goats and Other Stories

·        Tudikidiki

·