Butterfly Burnin
Butterfly
Burning
Setting of Butterfly Burning

When: 1945-1948

Where (see handout): Zimbabwe, Bulawayo (city), Makokoba
(suburb of Bulawayo)

Two main ethnic groups: Shona (majority) and Ndebele (minority)

Colonial history of Zimbabwe divided into 4 phases: British South
Africa Company (BSAC) (1890-1923), responsible government
(1953-1963), the federation (1953-19?3), and the Unilateral
Declaration of Independence (1965-1980)
Historical Context
The BSAC was a mercantile company based in London.
 Granted royal charter in October 1889 to enter south-central Africa
 Led by Cecil Rhodes
 Forcibly took land and cattle from residents and redistributing it to
white settlers. Africans relocated to less fertile, overcrowded
reserves
 Poor living conditions
impoverished Africans, forcing
them into wage labor on white
farms in order to pay taxes in the
required European currency
 1896 - The First Chimurenga /
The First War of Liberation
A BSAC stamp
Historical Context cont’d

Responsible government institutionalized the racism of the BSAC, e.g.
through the Land Apportionment Act of 1930.

1940s – Unprecedented rural-urban migration (among African
population).


1946 – Native (Urban Areas) Accommodation and Registration Act

Segregated living areas in cities

1946 – Widespread protests; 1948 – General strike
1965 – Unilateral Declaration of Independence. Yvonne Vera was
born in 1964.
About Yvonne Vera

Born on September 19, 1964 in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia

Attended primary school in rural Matabeleland, then transitioned to
secondary school in urban areas (during the 1970s).

Attended York University in Toronto, Canada. Studied literature and
film criticism up to a doctorate degree.
 Married John Jose, a Canadian she had met while
teaching in Bulawayo.
Wrote 4 award-winning novels, 1 collection of
short stories and edited several anthologies of
African women’s writings.
 In 1997, became Director of the National Gallery
in Bulawayo.
 Died April 7, 2005 (40 years old).
When Yvonne Vera was writing
Butterfly Burning (1998)…
Prime Minister Robert Mugabe

1970s: Guerilla warfare led by African resistance
movements, leading up to Chimurenga II (1966-1979)

Robert Mugabe, one of the leaders of the liberation
movement, is appointed first prime minister of the
Republic of Zimbabwe on March 3, 1980.

“Although Zimbabwe’s independence of 1980 was
achieved after a protracted civil war prompted by
racism, sexism, infringement of blacks’ fundamental
human rights, and persistent inequities in resource
distribution, no radical changes were introduced after
independence and the racial tension continued
through the 1990s.” – Saliwe Kawewe
Themes: Childhood


How and where (and why) are children present?

Fumbatha as a child (Chapter 2)

Children of Sidojiwe E2 (Chapter 3, pp. 16-22) – : Why are they included,
and positioned where they are in the book?

Phephelaphi’s first child (Chapter

Phephelaphi’s second child (Chapter
Is the representation of children in this book similar to any we have
read?
Themes: Womanhood
‘Of the recurrence of normally private, painful themes in her novels,
Vera told The World and I, "The position of women needs to be
reexamined with greater determination and a forceful idea for
change. In Zimbabwe, as perhaps elsewhere in the world, there is
limited understanding of each moment of a woman's worst tragedy
or her personal journey. Women have been expected to be the
custodians of our society as well as its worst victims, carrying on no
matter how hemmed in they feel and how abandoned in their
need.”’ - "Yvonne Vera." Contemporary Black Biography. Vol. 32.
Detroit: Gale, 2002. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 4 Mar. 2012.

Who are the main women in the text and why are they there? Do
they represent different “facets” of womanhood?
Themes: Butterflies/Fire

Why the title?

Butterflies: pp. 3, 46, 64, 103.

Fire: pp. 21, 117, 120, 150.
Vera’s writing style, AKA Why we should have
more than 1 week to read this book

What makes Vera’s writing style so unique?

What adjectives would you use to describe the narrative voice?

What effect did this voice have on you? Like/dislike/indifferent?

Why does she use first person when she does?
Kwela

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beu3fWfaInQ
"I would love to be remembered as a writer who
had no fear for words and who had an intense love
for her nation."
– Yvonne Vera
References

BBC News: Africa, “Zimbabwe profile,” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14113618

Britannica, “British South Africa Company,” http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/80349/BritishSouth-Africa-Company-BSAC-BSACO-or-BSA-Company

Electoral Institute for the Sustainability of Democracy in Africa, “Zimbabwe: British South Africa Company Rule
(1890-1923), http://www.eisa.org.za/WEP/zimoverview1.htm

Embassy of Zimbabwe, “History of Zimbabwe,” http://www.zimembassy.se/history.html

Encyclopedia of African History, Vol. 3. Ed. Kevin Shillingto. Fitzroy Dearborn, New York, 2005.

“Kwela.” Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwela

National Geographic, “Kwela Music,”
http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/view/page.basic/genre/content.genre/kwela_744/en_US

Vera, Yvonne. Butterfly Burning,

“Yvonne Vera.” Contemporary Black Biography. Vol. 32. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Gale Biography In Context. Web. 4
Mar. 2012.
References: Images


Maps in handout:

http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com/photolib/maps/Map%20of%20Rhodesia%201938%20%28Zimbabwe%29.jpg

http://www.ezilon.com/maps/images/africa/political-map-of-Zimbabwe.gif

http://being.publicradio.org/programs/sacredwilderness/images/map_zimbabwe.jpg
http://stampuoso.com/2009/11/rhodesia-sg-146-161-and-162

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4108/4964663699_a2ef76b98d.jpg

http://cdn2.staztic.com/screenshots/comcustomlwpfirebutterfly-3-1.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Mugabecloseup2008.jpg/220px-Mugabecloseup2008.jpg

http://www.anglonautes.com/art_books/art_books_21_century_2000_2010/art_livre_vera.jpg

http://images.dpchallenge.com/images_challenge/0-999/830/800/Copyrighted_Image_Reuse_Prohibited_655925.jpg

http://infolific.com/images/photography/nature/DSCN4958.jpg