ABSTRACT
Chapter Six examines the commodification of the mbira repertoire through nationalist songs and the homogenous notion of mbira music that does not address the diversity of lamellophones in Zimbabwe, but rather promotes the music from two types of Shona mbira, the mbira nhare (Zezuru mbira from which ZANU-PF is generally represented) and the nyunganyunga. The homogenisation of mbira music is provoked by overemphasising certain types of Shona mbiras by the government without considering diversity or circulation of mbira music in southern Africa. ILAM’s archive offers a valuable resource that helps to question the postcolonial present in Zimbabwe.
