Chamisa writes PhD thesis on Alick Macheso

A Zimbabwean academic Dr Vimbai Chamisa has written a PhD thesis on Sungura music, focusing on the genre maestro Alick Macheso.

Against the backdrop of Social Identity theory, Chamisa seeks to interrogate popular public interest in Sungura music for both its performers and audiences.

This is in order to ascertain how it is an expression of the lives and identities that have emerged through certain socio-political and economic conditions and circumstances in Zimbabwe.

The study focuses on the historical background of Macheso’s music, examining how his life history has influenced the nature of his Sungura.

She selected songs by the musician to understand how they enable the expression of collective identities in post-colonial Zimbabwe.

She suggests Macheso’s life history has influenced his music, shaping and defining it with a unique social meaning.

This history articulates discourses of social identity as it parallels the nature of the production of power within everyday human interactions typical in post-colonial Zimbabwe.

Newshawks