De-silencing the Past: Traumatic War Memories in Zimbabwean Narratives

Abstract

Le contraddizioni e i traumi della guerra di liberazione in Zimbabwe (1966- 1979), le violenze e gli orrori che hanno segnato quel periodo, vengono rappresentati attraverso prospettive diverse da Alexander Kanengoni, originario dello Zimbabwe, in Echoing Silences (1997), e da Alexandra Fuller, inglese vissuta in Rhodesia-Zimbabwe, in Scribbling the Cat. Travels with an African Soldier (2004). Scritte dopo il raggiungimento dell’indipendenza del paese africano, queste narrazioni raccontano il dolore e la sofferenza provocati dalla lotta di liberazione e la nascita della nuova nazione; la ricerca dell’identità, in un paese fortemente segnato dalla dominazione coloniale, unisce esperienza personale e memoria storica. Per quanto entrambe le narrazioni siano pervase dal senso del fallimento e della perdita, riportare alla luce eventi dolorosi del passato ha un effetto catartico, e apre la strada per la guarigione e la riconciliazione.

DOI: 10.17456/SIMPLE-31

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