Breaking the chains: An Afrocentric exploration of ageism in selected Zimbabwean musicians’ songs

Abstract

Old age is associated with negative stereotypes such as witchcraft practices rigidity, boring, talkative, senile, immorality and inadequacy of human survival skills. Such experiences are expressed in various sites as music, poetry, novels, and autobiographies. Of particular interest in this paper are Zimbabwean Shona musicians who address the concept of ageism and learning. Learning is as old as humanity whilst aging occurs later in life, and everyone will in fact encounter aging at some point. Against that background, the article critically engages Charles Charamba’s song, Nokusaziva (2004), Winky D’s song, Dzika ngirozi (2018) Jah Prayzah’s song Hallo mama (2017) and Takabva neko (1994) by Marshal Munhumumwe within the African context of their attitudes toward aging and ageism. The songs posit that old age dislocates and decenters people to internalize pain, grief, hopelessness and loneliness as the pervasive mood of life. Contrary to that, in the Shona community, aging is associated with certain societal freedoms, come with the freedom to do more of what pleases and satisfies the society, the simplifying and de-cluttering of life, slowing down and letting go off excessive obligations, expressing thoughts and feeling for others. This qualitative study is guided and oriented by the Afrocentricity theory. It established that whereas Charamba and Munhumumwe lament over moral emptiness in stereotypical ageist beliefs, Winky D and Jah Prayzah blame globalization for its paternalistic effects of destabilizing the lives of older adults. In this study music is viewed as cultural texts.