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Ritual ceremonial life: song text and spirit manifestation among the Zezuru People of Hwedza, Zimbabwe
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 bi...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
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College of Music
2025
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| _version_ | 1867613169255448576 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Chikomo, Elijah |
| author2 | Bruinders, Sylvia |
| author_browse | Bruinders, Sylvia Chikomo, Elijah |
| author_facet | Bruinders, Sylvia Chikomo, Elijah |
| author_sort | Chikomo, Elijah |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | 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. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/42219 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | English eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:31:52.071Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | College of Music |
| publisherStr | College of Music |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/42219 Ritual ceremonial life: song text and spirit manifestation among the Zezuru People of Hwedza, Zimbabwe Chikomo, Elijah Bruinders, Sylvia Zezuru Hwedza Zimbabwe 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. 2025-11-13T13:09:06Z 2025-11-13T13:09:06Z 2025 2025-11-13T13:01:54Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters Masters http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42219 en eng application/pdf College of Music Faculty of Humanities University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Zezuru Hwedza Zimbabwe Chikomo, Elijah Ritual ceremonial life: song text and spirit manifestation among the Zezuru People of Hwedza, Zimbabwe |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Ritual ceremonial life: song text and spirit manifestation among the Zezuru People of Hwedza, Zimbabwe |
| title_full | Ritual ceremonial life: song text and spirit manifestation among the Zezuru People of Hwedza, Zimbabwe |
| title_fullStr | Ritual ceremonial life: song text and spirit manifestation among the Zezuru People of Hwedza, Zimbabwe |
| title_full_unstemmed | Ritual ceremonial life: song text and spirit manifestation among the Zezuru People of Hwedza, Zimbabwe |
| title_short | Ritual ceremonial life: song text and spirit manifestation among the Zezuru People of Hwedza, Zimbabwe |
| title_sort | ritual ceremonial life song text and spirit manifestation among the zezuru people of hwedza zimbabwe |
| topic | Zezuru Hwedza Zimbabwe |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42219 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT chikomoelijah ritualceremoniallifesongtextandspiritmanifestationamongthezezurupeopleofhwedzazimbabwe |