Abstract
Narratives of ethnicity about the pre-colonial era tended to strain colonial and post-colonial relations between the two main ethnic groups in Zimbabwe, the Shona and the Ndebele, and their largely ethnically defined political parties, the Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) and the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU) respectively. The colonial state exaggerated the militant nature of the Ndebele people during the pre-colonial period and blamed them for victimizing the Shona. This contributed to ethnic violence that reached a climax in the 1980s when the colonial white settler regime was replaced by ZANU-PF. This article argues that, while political factors were at play, the political and social power of narratives of ethnicity fuelled the 1980s violence and continues to shape contemporary politics in Zimbabwe.
