The portrayal of politics and christianity by the Zimbabwean print media during the socio-economic and political crisis (2008–2013)

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dc.contributor.authorBeauty, Muromo
dc.date.accessioned2019-05-27T10:01:34Z
dc.date.available2019-05-27T10:01:34Z
dc.date.issued2018
dc.descriptionA doctoral thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the award of PhD in Media Studies to the School of Language, Literature and Media Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2018en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThe use of Christian biblical discourses by the African ruling elite to negotiate hegemony remains a site of contention in African politics and the academic space. This study examines how the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front (ZANU PF) government and politicians especially former president Robert Mugabe appropriated and deployed Christianity Biblical discourses to negotiate and renew a waning hegemony against a backdrop of rising political opposition, mainly from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), in the post-2000 epoch. While significant studies have examined intersections of religion and politics in post-colonial Africa at large, studies employing a media studies approach in contemporary Zimbabwe are few and far between. This study employs an eclectic approach, drawing insights from Gramscian hegemony, Althusserian Ideology and Bateson’s framing theory to examine the nexus of ZANU PF political discourse and Christianity religion as reflected in selected media. The study is qualitative employing an interpretive approach. A total of 79 purposively selected newspaper articles from both state controlled and privately owned media organisations published from 2008-2013, were subjected to Discourse Analysis in an attempt to gain insights on the relationship between Christianity and ZANU PF politics in Zimbabwe. The study shows that to save a dwindling hegemony, former president Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF government at large turned to the pulpit for political ‘salvation’ and legitimacy. In essence, the state controlled media portrayed Mugabe as a ‘God-ordained’ leader and a Messiah to Zimbabwe’s economic, social and political problems.en_ZA
dc.description.librarianXL2019en_ZA
dc.format.extentOnline resource (viii, 246 leaves)
dc.identifier.citationMuromo, Beauty (2018) The portrayal of politics and Christianity by the Zimbabwean print media during the socio-economic and political crisis (2008-2013), University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, https://hdl.handle.net/10539/27250
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/27250
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.phd.titlePhDen_ZA
dc.subject.lcshZANU-PF (Organization : Zimbabwe)
dc.subject.lcshZimbabwe African National Union
dc.subject.lcshPolitical parties--Zimbabwe
dc.subject.lcshZimbabwe--Politics and government
dc.subject.lcshMuromo, Beauty (2018) The portrayal of politics and Christianity by the Zimbabwean print media during the socio-economic and political crisis (2008-2013), University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, https://hdl.handle.net/10539/27250
dc.titleThe portrayal of politics and christianity by the Zimbabwean print media during the socio-economic and political crisis (2008–2013)en_ZA
dc.typeThesisen_ZA
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