Appreciating vulgarity in raw Zimdancehall music as expression of truth

Sex Gospel in Zimbabwe’s Pentecostal Christianity as a Response to Social Change: The Case of Apostle Kapandura and Mai Lucia Gunguwo

“…Sexualised and vulgarised discourses containing explicit portrayals of human sexual organs, sex positions and human excretion are culturally deemed vulgar, uncouth and offensive, and therefore not permissible in the Shona people’s broad public space (Mpofu and Salawu, 2020a; Parwaringira and Mpofu, 2021a, 2021b). Vulgar refers to unrefined and offensive language that is morally crude, derogatory, rude, taboo, or obscene (Eder et al, 2019).…”

“…The presence of sexuality and vulgarity in the public domain is a controversial subject, and scholars, parents, religious figures and other stakeholders have objected to the increased sexual and pornographic content in public spaces such as the media (Bayraktar, 2013). Existing studies in Zimbabwe have focused on sexualised content in African language broadcasting (Mpofu and Salawu, 2020a, 2020b) and vulgarity in Zimdancehall (Parwaringira and Mpofu, 2021a, 2021b). No study known to us has interrogated the presence of vulgarity in Pentecostal Christian sex gospel.…”

“…Thus, profanity/vulgarity can be deployed to expose hidden truths in the society that cannot be unmasked through conformist language. Parwaringira and Mpofu (2021b) maintain that vulgar can be deployed to express social realities that are often ignored and avoided in the mainstream. Thus, against the background of vulgar lingo’s functional roles in the society, vulgarity in the Pentecostal Christian church should not be disparaged as irrational profanity without appreciating its context and the reflected truths.…”