While censorship laws and the mechanisms to enforce them have always existed in Zimbabwe, official censorship of music occurs rarely, if ever. Such direct measures are simply not needed.
A climate of fear affects composers, singers, DJs, journalists and writers alike, muting and even silencing many artistic voices.
In this report for Freemuse, Banning Eyre gives a detailed insight into the mechanisms in Zimbabwean music, which lead to self-censorship.
"His findings show that the structure of censorship in Zimbabwe is a far more refined form of censorship than the one we usually see, it involves the recording industry, DJs and the musicians themselves of course. People don't dare to speak out. The result is "self-censorship", a lesser known form of censorship, which we need to describe, discuss and analyse", says Marie Korpe, Freemuse Executive Director.
The report also examines three case studies:
1) the reported restriction of two Thomas Mapfumo songs during and after the 2000 elections,
2) incidents surrounding the controversial Oliver Mtukudzi song "Wasakara," and
3) the failed effort to launch Zimbabwe's first independent radio station, Capital Radio.
Banning Eyre is one of the United States' foremost journalists on African music. He is the author of two books, including the acclaimed "In Griot Time: An American Guitarist in Mali," and is Senior Editor of www.afropop.org, the website for the weekly public radio series Afropop Worldwide.
Report abstract is online now at www.freemuse.org.
From 1st of November the report will be available in PDF-format at the Freemuse web site.
For more on Zimbabwe, please visit the Freemuse website; interview with Zimbabwean musician Andy Brown, and much more...
Freemuse (Freedom of musical expression) is an independent international organization advocating freedom of expression for musicians and composers worldwide.
Since August 2000 Freemuse has published reports on the censorship of music, established the first website on music and censorship worldwide, and much more...
