Sammendrag
The author analyses representations of identity in two plays. The plays are satires in the "community theatre genre" in Zimbabwe. The background of analysis is the understanding of expression of popular culture as a form of "mass media". As such they are utterances which take part in hegemonic battles. The context is the political situation in Zimbabwe in 1999, when the opposition was gaining a foothold and there was a certain silent optimism concerning future development of democracy and strengthening of human rights. The plays I analyse criticise the regime. The focus here is how resistance in the plays is expressed in the representations of identity positions. The authors theoretical position and concepts derive from discourse theory and post-colonial studies, where politics of representations is seen as part of political struggle. A post-colonial reading strategy focuses on hybrid representations which avoid narratives told through polarisations and essential conceptions of identity. The plays are analysed in relation to how identity is represented in the narratives of gender, race and ethnicity. Do the plays offer multiple or stereotypical representations of identity? Especially "The Members" provides new identity positions and refers to a "citizen" identity. Both plays anticipate the political and socio-economic crisis which has been developing in Zimbabwe since 2000. The plays strategies of resistance also form the basis for the present political opposition towards the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) government
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