Carrying spirit in song: music and the making of ancestors at Zezuru kurova guva ceremonies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21504/amj.v8i3.1828Abstract
Among speakers of the Zezuru dialect of Shona in central Zimbabwe, the kurova guva ceremony is held roughly a year after the funeral of an adult man or woman whose spirit is said to be wandering in the bush after death without regulated ties to its kin. Kurova guva is performed to call the spirit of the deceased back from this ambiguous position, transforming it into a recognized mudzimu ancestor. Musical performance is an integral part of ritual action at kurova guva, where song is used to summon the spirit of the deceased and carry it home, transforming the wandering spirit into a mudzimu ancestor.References
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Bourdillon, Michael 1998 The Shona Peoples (Revised Edition), Gweru, Zimbabwe: Mambo Press
Chapanga, E. 2004 "An Analysis of the War Metaphors Used in Spoken Commentaries of the 2004 Edition of the Premier Soccer League (PSL) Matches in Zimbabwe", Zambezia, 16(1)
Chiwome, E.M. 1992 "Traditional Shona Poetry and Mental Health", Zambezia, 14(1)
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Dewey, William J. 1994 "AK-47S for the Ancestors", Journal of Religion in Africa 24(4)
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This reference contains 3 citations:
Gelfand, M. 1959 Shona Ritual; With Special Reference to the Chaminuka Cult, Cape Town, South Africa: Juta & Co.
1962 Shona Religion; With Special Reference to the Makorekore, Cape Town, South Africa: Juta & Co.
1971 "A Description of the Ceremony of Kurova Guva: Escorting the Spirit from the Grave to the Home" (Research Report), Zambezia, 2(1)
Goercke, Brian 2004 "The Impact of Traditional Shona Beliefs on HIV/AIDS Intervention in Zimbabwe", Master's Thesis, Duquesne University
Gumbrecht, Hans Ulrich 2004 The Production of Presence: What Meaning Cannot Convey, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press
Hannan, M. 1996 Standard Shona Dictionary (Revised Edition), Harare, Zimbabwe: College Press
Holleman, J.F. 1953 "Accommodating the Spirit Amongst Some North-Eastern Shona Tribes", in The Rhodes-Livingstone Papers, Number Twenty-Two, Cape Town, South Africa: Oxford University Press
Jantzen, Jans 1992 Ngoma: Discourses of Healing in Central and Southern Africa, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press
This reference contains 2 citations:
Kauflman, Robert 1970 "Multi-Part Relationships in the Shona Music of Zimbabwe", Ph.D. dissertation, University of California at Los Angeles
Berliner, Paul, "Political Sentiment in Shona Song and Oral Literature", Symposium: American Ethnomusicology 6(1)(1971), West Haven, CT: University of New Haven
Lan, D.M. 1985 Guns and Rain: Guerillas and Spirit Mediums in Zimbabwe, London: James Currey
Magaya, Cosmas 2000 "Shona Spirituality and Related Music: The Function of Specific Songs in Shona Ceremonies", Lecture Given at Zimbabwe Music Festival, 20 August 2000, Eugene, OR
This reference contains 2 citations:
Muller, Carol 2009 "Musical Echoes: Diasporic Listening and the Creation of a World of South African Jazz" (Forthcoming)
1999 Rituals of Fertility and the Sacrifice of Desire: Nazarite Women's Performance in South Africa, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Pongweni, Alec C. 1982 Songs that Won the Liberation War, Harare: The College Press
Ranger, Terence 1995 "Religious Pluralism in Zimbabwe: A Report on the British-Zimbabwe Society Research Day, St. Anthony's College, Oxford, 23 April 1994", Journal of Religion in Africa: Religion in Contemporary Zimbabwe 25(3)
Rodlach, Alexander 2006 Witches, Westerners, and HIV: AIDS & Cultures of Blame in Africa, Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press
This reference contains 2 citations:
Serematakis, Nadia 1991 The Last Word: Women, Death, and Divination in Inner Mani. Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Muller, Carol (1999) Rituals of Fertility and the Sacrifice of Desire: Nazarite Women's Performance in South Africa, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Turino, Thomas 2000 Nationalists, Cosmopolitans, and Popular Music in Zimbabwe, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Turner, Victor 1967 The Forest of Symbols; Aspects ofNdembu Ritual, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1967
Interviews
This reference contains 3 citations:
Chigamba, Tute 2000a Interview by author, 21 June, Harare, Zimbabwe
2000b Interview by author, 5 July, Harare, Zimbabwe
2000c Interview by author, 11 July, Harare, Zimbabwe
Chingodza, Musekiwa 2002 Interview by author, 19 January, Harare, Zimbabwe
Dutiro, Chartwell 2001 Interview by author, London, UK
Dyoko, Beauler 2002 Interview by author, 15 August, Eugene, OR
Dzomba, Rhoda 2000 Interview by author, 26 July, Harare, Zimbabwe
Juma, Judith 2000 Interview by author, 24 July, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Magaya, Cosmas 2000 Interview by author, 26 July 2000, Harare, Zimbabwe
Barnes, Sandra 1997 "Africa's Ogun Transformed: Introduction to the Second Edition", in Sandra Barnes (ed.) Africa's Ogun: Old World and New, Bloomington: Indiana University Press
Berliner, Paul 1971 "Political Sentiment in Shona Song and Oral Literature", in The Soul of Mbira; Music and Traditions of the Shona People of Zimbabwe, Berkeley: University of California Press
Bourdillon, Michael 1998 The Shona Peoples (Revised Edition), Gweru, Zimbabwe: Mambo Press
Chapanga, E. 2004 "An Analysis of the War Metaphors Used in Spoken Commentaries of the 2004 Edition of the Premier Soccer League (PSL) Matches in Zimbabwe", Zambezia, 16(1)
Chiwome, E.M. 1992 "Traditional Shona Poetry and Mental Health", Zambezia, 14(1)
Comaroff, Jean and John 1993 "Introduction", in Jean and John Comaroff (eds) Modernity and Its Malcontents: Ritual and Power in Postcolonial Africa, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Cox, James L. 1995 "Ancestors, the Sacred, and God: Reflections on the Meaning of the Sacred in Zimbabwean Death Rituals", Religion 25
Daneel, M.L. 1994 Old and New in Southern Shona Independent Churches (2 Vols.), The Hague, Netherlands: Mouton
Dewey, William J. 1994 "AK-47S for the Ancestors", Journal of Religion in Africa 24(4)
Farmer, Paul 1992 AIDS and Accusation: Haiti and the Geography ofBlame, Berkeley: University of California Press
Fry, Peter 1976 Spirits of Protest: Spirit Mediums and the Articulation of Consensus amongst the Zezuru of Southern Rhodesia, London: Cambridge University Press
This reference contains 3 citations:
Gelfand, M. 1959 Shona Ritual; With Special Reference to the Chaminuka Cult, Cape Town, South Africa: Juta & Co.
1962 Shona Religion; With Special Reference to the Makorekore, Cape Town, South Africa: Juta & Co.
1971 "A Description of the Ceremony of Kurova Guva: Escorting the Spirit from the Grave to the Home" (Research Report), Zambezia, 2(1)
Goercke, Brian 2004 "The Impact of Traditional Shona Beliefs on HIV/AIDS Intervention in Zimbabwe", Master's Thesis, Duquesne University
Gumbrecht, Hans Ulrich 2004 The Production of Presence: What Meaning Cannot Convey, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press
Hannan, M. 1996 Standard Shona Dictionary (Revised Edition), Harare, Zimbabwe: College Press
Holleman, J.F. 1953 "Accommodating the Spirit Amongst Some North-Eastern Shona Tribes", in The Rhodes-Livingstone Papers, Number Twenty-Two, Cape Town, South Africa: Oxford University Press
Jantzen, Jans 1992 Ngoma: Discourses of Healing in Central and Southern Africa, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press
This reference contains 2 citations:
Kauflman, Robert 1970 "Multi-Part Relationships in the Shona Music of Zimbabwe", Ph.D. dissertation, University of California at Los Angeles
Berliner, Paul, "Political Sentiment in Shona Song and Oral Literature", Symposium: American Ethnomusicology 6(1)(1971), West Haven, CT: University of New Haven
Lan, D.M. 1985 Guns and Rain: Guerillas and Spirit Mediums in Zimbabwe, London: James Currey
Magaya, Cosmas 2000 "Shona Spirituality and Related Music: The Function of Specific Songs in Shona Ceremonies", Lecture Given at Zimbabwe Music Festival, 20 August 2000, Eugene, OR
This reference contains 2 citations:
Muller, Carol 2009 "Musical Echoes: Diasporic Listening and the Creation of a World of South African Jazz" (Forthcoming)
1999 Rituals of Fertility and the Sacrifice of Desire: Nazarite Women's Performance in South Africa, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Pongweni, Alec C. 1982 Songs that Won the Liberation War, Harare: The College Press
Ranger, Terence 1995 "Religious Pluralism in Zimbabwe: A Report on the British-Zimbabwe Society Research Day, St. Anthony's College, Oxford, 23 April 1994", Journal of Religion in Africa: Religion in Contemporary Zimbabwe 25(3)
Rodlach, Alexander 2006 Witches, Westerners, and HIV: AIDS & Cultures of Blame in Africa, Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press
This reference contains 2 citations:
Serematakis, Nadia 1991 The Last Word: Women, Death, and Divination in Inner Mani. Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Muller, Carol (1999) Rituals of Fertility and the Sacrifice of Desire: Nazarite Women's Performance in South Africa, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Turino, Thomas 2000 Nationalists, Cosmopolitans, and Popular Music in Zimbabwe, Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Turner, Victor 1967 The Forest of Symbols; Aspects ofNdembu Ritual, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1967
Interviews
This reference contains 3 citations:
Chigamba, Tute 2000a Interview by author, 21 June, Harare, Zimbabwe
2000b Interview by author, 5 July, Harare, Zimbabwe
2000c Interview by author, 11 July, Harare, Zimbabwe
Chingodza, Musekiwa 2002 Interview by author, 19 January, Harare, Zimbabwe
Dutiro, Chartwell 2001 Interview by author, London, UK
Dyoko, Beauler 2002 Interview by author, 15 August, Eugene, OR
Dzomba, Rhoda 2000 Interview by author, 26 July, Harare, Zimbabwe
Juma, Judith 2000 Interview by author, 24 July, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Magaya, Cosmas 2000 Interview by author, 26 July 2000, Harare, Zimbabwe
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Published
2009-11-30
How to Cite
Kyker, Jennifer W. 2009. “Carrying Spirit in Song: Music and the Making of Ancestors at Zezuru Kurova Guva Ceremonies”. African Music : Journal of the International Library of African Music 8 (3):65-84. https://doi.org/10.21504/amj.v8i3.1828.
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