This book examines the politics of landscape and heritage by focusing on the example of Great Zimbabwe National Monument in southern Zimbabwe. The controversy that surrounded the site in the early part of the 20th century, between colonial antiquarians and professional archaeologists, is well reported in the published literature. Based on long term ethnographic field work around Great Zimbabwe, as well as archival research in NMMZ, in the National Archives of Zimbabwe, and several months of research at the World Heritage Centre in Paris, this new book represents an important step beyond that controversy over origins, to focus on the site's position in local contests between, and among individuals within, the Nemanwa, Charumbira and Mugabe clans over land, power and authority. To justify their claims, chiefs, spirit mediums and elders of each clan make appeals to different, but related, constructions of the past. Emphasising the disappearance of the 'Voice' that used to speak there, these narratives also describe the destruction, alienation and desecration of Great Zimbabwe that occurred, and continues, through the international and national, archaeological and heritage processes and practices by which Great Zimbabwe has become a national and world heritage site today.

About the Author
Joost Fontein

Reviews
'Fontein does an excellent job of describing the ways in which different groups of actors, from the clan chiefs and leaders who contest preeminence at Great Zimbabwe in historical terms, to the archaeologists and curators of National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe who situate the site in contexts of science, nationalism and the economics of tourism, collide and cooperate... [He] has written an important book about the roles that Great Zimbabwe plays in Zimbabwe, the controversies that still swirl around it, and the way in which communities in the area see this place--not merely as an archaeological site, but as a place of continuing religious and historical significance. The value of this approach is not restricted to Zimbabwe, and The Silence of Great Zimbabwe should be read by any archaeologist or heritage manager working on the continent today.' American Antiquity 'Fontein's careful attention to multivocality offers the reader an unprecedented appreciation for the personal and political motivations of each and every stakeholder, and, ultimately, for the fact that the silence of Great Zimbabwe represents a broader problematic that looms over the contemporary horizon of historical discourse as it enters into the field of tourism-driven heritage.' Journal of African History Vol 49, 2008 'This book provides the essential, pioneering platform upon which all future studies will surely build... This book is a good beginning. Hopefully, it will encourage a re-thinking of the current management approach to the site. Zimbabweanist archaeologists and historians can take note and present inclusive and representative local histories that are relevant to those who matter the most-the people of Zimbabwe.' Paul Hubbard, South African Archaeological Bulletin



Book Information
ISBN 9781598742213
Author Joost Fontein
Format Paperback
Page Count 264
Imprint Left Coast Press Inc
Publisher Left Coast Press Inc
Weight(grams) 408g