Many times I have walked into Innov8 Bookshop along George Silundika Avenue in Harare. I asked the staff if they stock any Zimbabwean literature. They always beam with sunny smiles and say “Mabhuku arimo akawanda.” I follow eagerly, ready to spend a huge chunk of my paycheck. Books are my weakness.
By Bookworm
Indeed, the shelves have books by Zimbabweans but not the type I am looking for. Local motivational writers, who often self-publish, are the busiest writers in the country at the moment. These books, whether godsend, guilty pleasure, snake oil, are responding to a desperate need in us.
Our need for the “good news” has been gradually necessitated by the weakening and erosion of our social structures. Somehow, for many Zimbabweans our futures are summarised in that optimistic buzzword: Zvichanaka.
Motivational literature thrives in a particular environment — one created by the disappearance of certain public values that once fulfilled our lives. Strains of self-help culture — entrepreneurship, pragmatism, fierce self-reliance, gauzy spirituality — have been embedded in our national DNA since the “prophets” started getting a prominent place in our society.
The popularity of motivational books reflects the national psychology. While my initial impulse was to ignore them completely, I have started reading them as a critical exercise in introspection. For undergraduate students in literature, psychology and sociology, this is an area worth critical exploration.
Surprisingly, however, there have not been many genuine critiques of self-help literature. It is too prevalent and powerful a phenomenon to overlook. Questions regarding their relative merits and potential dangers deserve careful consideration.
With an ageing political leadership (a 91-year-old president), Zimbabwe is losing its vitality and direction, its democratic ideal of self-determination and strength of character. The stuffing has been knocked out of us. But instead of getting insight from the motivational speakers, we are being led astray. Zimbabweans are forfeiting their intelligence for gullibility. We are a docile people who not only accept mediocrity, but look away when those we have elected to represent our interests take advantage of us.
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What shocks me is the poor level of writing and analysis in the published body of local motivational literature. There is currently a ready acceptance of therapy model.
Unfortunately, most of these books are essentially identical, full of bullet points, exclamation marks, a lot of bold print and hot air. So much of it is just a dreadful bag of charlatanry. I have been persuaded and cajoled to edit some of these books but the writing is atrocious and lacking in originality.
But who is it that is feeding us these messages, and precisely what gives them the authority to do so? And is it just coincidence that Prophet Angel, Prophet Magaya, Prophet Makandiwa are also prodigious authors of this type of literature? What has become of us?
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