Ritual ceremonial life: song text and spirit manifestation among the Zezuru People of Hwedza, Zimbabwe
| dc.contributor.advisor | Bruinders, Sylvia | |
| dc.contributor.author | Chikomo, Elijah | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-11-13T13:09:06Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-11-13T13:09:06Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025 | |
| dc.date.updated | 2025-11-13T13:01:54Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | Ethnomusicologists, and scholars from adjacent fields, have examined and viewed music and spirituality from various perspectives. Studies have been successful in examining the function of music in worship in many cultures. The Zezuru people are a Zimbabwean Shona subethnic group and they practise bira rematendo, (a ritual ceremony) in which songs are performed to pacify ancestral spirits. This thesis examines how song text fosters spirit manifestation in a Zezuru bira rematendo ceremonial performance. I further report on the origin of songs performed at bira rematendo ritual ceremonies for the purpose of creating a conducive environment for spirit manifestation. Three theoretical frameworks guide the research, these are historicism, multispecies ethnography, and communication models. Guided by the three theories, and employing ethnographic methods of participant observation, face-to-face interviews and video recordings, the following are interrogated: the Zezuru religious life, the significance and role of the song textual meanings in linking the living and the living-dead. The study demonstrates how song texts bring out song meanings which communicate with ancestors while enabling manifestation of ancestral and alien spirits in the context of Zezuru bira ritual performance. Furthermore, the study illustrates the resultant physical behavioural change of practitioners during song performance in the bira rematendo event. | |
| dc.identifier.apacitation | Chikomo, E. (2025). <i>Ritual ceremonial life: song text and spirit manifestation among the Zezuru People of Hwedza, Zimbabwe</i>. (). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,College of Music. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42219 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.chicagocitation | Chikomo, Elijah. <i>"Ritual ceremonial life: song text and spirit manifestation among the Zezuru People of Hwedza, Zimbabwe."</i> ., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,College of Music, 2025. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42219 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.citation | Chikomo, E. 2025. Ritual ceremonial life: song text and spirit manifestation among the Zezuru People of Hwedza, Zimbabwe. . University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,College of Music. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42219 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.ris | TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Chikomo, Elijah AB - Ethnomusicologists, and scholars from adjacent fields, have examined and viewed music and spirituality from various perspectives. Studies have been successful in examining the function of music in worship in many cultures. The Zezuru people are a Zimbabwean Shona subethnic group and they practise bira rematendo, (a ritual ceremony) in which songs are performed to pacify ancestral spirits. This thesis examines how song text fosters spirit manifestation in a Zezuru bira rematendo ceremonial performance. I further report on the origin of songs performed at bira rematendo ritual ceremonies for the purpose of creating a conducive environment for spirit manifestation. Three theoretical frameworks guide the research, these are historicism, multispecies ethnography, and communication models. Guided by the three theories, and employing ethnographic methods of participant observation, face-to-face interviews and video recordings, the following are interrogated: the Zezuru religious life, the significance and role of the song textual meanings in linking the living and the living-dead. The study demonstrates how song texts bring out song meanings which communicate with ancestors while enabling manifestation of ancestral and alien spirits in the context of Zezuru bira ritual performance. Furthermore, the study illustrates the resultant physical behavioural change of practitioners during song performance in the bira rematendo event. DA - 2025 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - Zezuru KW - Hwedza KW - Zimbabwe LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2025 T1 - Ritual ceremonial life: song text and spirit manifestation among the Zezuru People of Hwedza, Zimbabwe TI - Ritual ceremonial life: song text and spirit manifestation among the Zezuru People of Hwedza, Zimbabwe UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42219 ER - | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42219 | |
| dc.identifier.vancouvercitation | Chikomo E. Ritual ceremonial life: song text and spirit manifestation among the Zezuru People of Hwedza, Zimbabwe. []. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,College of Music, 2025 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42219 | en_ZA |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.language.rfc3066 | eng | |
| dc.publisher.department | College of Music | |
| dc.publisher.faculty | Faculty of Humanities | |
| dc.publisher.institution | University of Cape Town | |
| dc.subject | Zezuru | |
| dc.subject | Hwedza | |
| dc.subject | Zimbabwe | |
| dc.title | Ritual ceremonial life: song text and spirit manifestation among the Zezuru People of Hwedza, Zimbabwe | |
| dc.type | Thesis / Dissertation | |
| dc.type.qualificationlevel | Masters | |
| dc.type.qualificationlevel | Masters |