Song and Zimbabwe’s Increasingly Layered Perceptions of China and Zimbabwe–China Relations: The Case of ZANU PF’s “Nzira Dzemasoja” and Winky D’s “Made in China”

The Zimbabwe African National Union’s (ZANU)—later called ZANU PF (Patriotic Front)—relationship with China preceded Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980. An enduring tribute ZANU paid to China for its support is “Nzira Dzemasoja,” a song that attributed principled conduct in guerrilla warfare to Mao Zedong’s teaching. This study places Zimbabwe–China relations in the idealism of “Nzira Dzemasoja” and then juxtaposes them with emerging narratives—using Winky D’s (real name Wallace Chirumiko) song “Made in China” as an example—in urban Zimbabwe which counter state-sponsored blandishments about Zimbabwe–China relations. The study uses constructivism as a theoretical framework and Chris Alden and Yoon Jung Park’s upstairs-downstairs schema to argue that “Nzira Dzemasoja” represents positive upstairs/state-level perceptions of Zimbabwe–China relations born out of history while “Made in China” represents critical downstairs/ordinary level frustrations which result from the ongoing influx of low-quality Chinese products and tensions between Chinese employers and Zimbabwean workers and local communities, and the authoritarian and incompetent nature of the Zimbabwean state, which China arguably ignores. This supplements the literature on music as an instrument for scaling Zimbabwe’s political contours. The study finds that non-state actors are challenging the state’s monopoly over constructing images of China and Zimbabwe–China relations.