Memory and Erasure: Gukurahundi and the Culture of Violence in Zimbabwe

Memory and Erasure is part of a growing body of academic literature to properly document and narrate the Gukurahundi genocide which, hopefully, may contribute to survivors and victims' families' quest for justice and closure. Deployed in January 1983, the Fifth Brigade's legacy has continued to cast a dark shadow not just over Matabeleland and Midlands, but over the entire country. As the title of the book - and also the chapters - forcefully underline, a culture of violence led by the state and those who control its levers pervades the whole of Zimbabwe and continues to do so partly because of the failure to address the Gukurahundi genocide and its aftermaths, which marked the height of Zimbabwean authorities' tendency to use violence to crush dissent and opposition.

Collectively, these essays explore different aspects of the Gukurahundi in order (1) to challenge the silencing of the genocide as a mainstream public issue in Zimbabwe, (2) to demonstrate how, deliberately and systematically, Zimbabwe's rulers have refused to allow this issue to be resolved and have, in the process, completely disregarded the views, demands, feelings and sensitivities of affected individuals and communities, (3) to explore and critique the institutional, legal/ constitutional and political frameworks that have sustained the failure to find a solution, (4) to demonstrate how Zimbabwe, as a state, bears collective responsibility for Gukurahundi crimes and should therefore hold itself accountable and institute a clear and honest programme to provide a lasting solution that does not lead to further division, and (5) this collection emphasises, in various ways, that the solution to the political culture that has engulfed Zimbabwe and prevented it from attaining its independence goals lies in resolving the aftermath of Gukurahundi and addressing the culture of violence, repression and impunity in Zimbabwean politics.