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Praise Zenenga

  • Department Head, Africana Studies
  • Associate Professor, African American Studies
  • Member of the Graduate Faculty
  • Associate Professor, Applied Intercultural Arts Research - GIDP
Contact
  • zen08@arizona.edu
  • Bio
  • Interests
  • Courses
  • Scholarly Contributions

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Scholarly Contributions

Chapters

  • Zenenga, P. (2017). Drama and the Aesthetics of Dystopia in Chiurai’s Art. In While The Harvest Rots: Possessing Worlds of Chiurai's Art(pp 105-122). Johannesburg: Goodman Gallery.
  • Zenenga, P. (2016). Regime Loyalty and Rebellion: Re-inventing the Colonial Censorship Nightmare in Zimbabwe. In Global Insights on Theatre Censorship(pp 191-210). New York and London: Routledge.
  • Zenenga, P. (2016). Staging the Politics of the Belly: Depictions of Food and Violence in the Zimbabwean Play Super Patriot and Morons. In Food and Theatre on the World Stage. New York and London: Routledge.
  • Zenenga, P. (2015). “Regime Loyalty and Rebellion: Re-inventing the Colonial Censorship Nightmare in Zimbabwe,”. In Insights on Theatre Censorship.. London & new York: Routledge.
    More info
    “Regime Loyalty and Rebellion: Re-inventing the Colonial Censorship Nightmare in Zimbabwe,” a chapter in O’Leary, Catherine, Diego Santos Sánchez & Michael Thompson. Insights on Theatre Censorship. Routledge (Forthcoming 2015).
  • Zenenga, P. (2015). “The Total Theater Aesthetic Paradigm in African Theatre,”. In The [Oxford] Handbook of Dance and Theater. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    More info
    “The Total Theater Aesthetic Paradigm in African Theatre,” a chapter in George-Graves, Nadine, Ed. The [Oxford] Handbook of Dance and Theater, Oxford University Press (Forthcoming 2015).
  • Zenenga, P., & George-Graves, Ed, N. (2015). The Total Theater Aesthetic Paradigm in African Theatre. In The [Oxford] Handbook of Dance and Theater(pp 236-251). Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.

Journals/Publications

  • Zenenga, P. (2014). 6. “Political Prostitutes: Conflicting Loyalties and Identities in Middle-Class Zimbabwean Popular Theatre (1998-2008)” . Routledge, 2014.. South African Theatre Journal, 27(1), 61-75,.
    More info
    Political prostitutes: conflicting loyalties and identities in middle-classZimbabwean popular theatre (1998–2008)Praise Zenenga*Africana Studies Program, University of Arizona, Tucson, USAMiddle-class popular theatre narratives and discourses emanating from various crisis driven contexts in Zimbabwe reflect prevalent political affiliations, sentiments and interests. Methodologically, Marx’s historical–materialist framework offers a means of analysing middle-class’s vacillating economic status, political shifts and realignments drawn from specific scenarios of everyday life and stage performances. The articleargues that in the context of a rapidly changing, complex and conflict-filled world, boundaries between staged performances and everyday life performances unavoidably become blurred, not only out of the dire need to evade political censorship and restrictions, but also because of the need for political survival and realignment. On both the performance stage and in their everyday life performances, the middle class isconstantly involved not only in forging strategic alliances, but also in constructing and staging its class identities (Schechner 2003, p. 5). Its location between the elite and the low class accounts for the intermediate class’s vacillating tendencies especially in crisis-filled situations. Through the double lens of performance theory and historicalmaterialism, this article illuminates the complexities of shifting identities, loyalties and power bases in both staged popular theatre performances and everyday life performances among the Zimbabwean middle class.Keywords: Theatre; performance and everyday life; protest theatre; political theatre and popular theatre; theatre censorship; middle class theatre

Presentations

  • Zenenga, P., Nichols, J. T., Zenenga, P., Nichols, J. T., Zenenga, P., & Nichols, J. T. (2015, September). Motion Capture on the Cheap. Immersive Education Summit. Paris, France: Immersive Education Initiative.

Others

  • Zenenga, P. (2015, December). Non-Refereed Article: Amakhosi: Culture of the People, by the People, for the People. 2015 Prince Claus Awards, Amsterdam: Prince Claus Fund, 2015. Print..
  • Zenenga, P. (2015, January). Non-Refereed Article: Guzha Daves. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Stage Actors and Acting. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015. Print..

Profiles With Related Publications

  • Jennifer T Nichols

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