Politicising and commercialising death and pain in The Uncertainty of Hope by Valerie Tagwira

This paper attempts to analyse the politicising and commercialising of death and pain in The Uncertainty of Hope by Valerie Tagwira, through the lens of trauma and resilience theories. The purpose of this paper is to explore and interpret the myriad interrelations that exist between death, pain, politics, and commercialisation as presented in the novel. The analysis found that death and pain as presented in the selected novel are closely intertwined with politics and commercialisation. The politicisation of death and pain is portrayed through character analysis. Death and pain are subsumed in the larger political and economic environments and they are also commercialised through the female body in particular. Death and pain are transformed to satisfy political and monetary needs, whereas people’s emotions and feelings are not considered and death is used as a form of generating income for businesses.