The Work of Poetry

Ruling from the Grave? The Political Instrumentalization of Robert Mugabe’s Corpse in Contemporary Zimbabwean Politics

“…our commander, mentor and leader' (African News Agency, 2019). This was an attempt to immortalize Mugabe and use his body as an endorsement and continuation of Zanuism and Mugabeism (Clymer, 1999). Many Zimbabweans deemed the speech dull and uninspiring for a president.…”

“…These theories are insufficient insofar as they help us understand governmentality and power as they do not afford us a critical appreciation of the political power of the corpse. I propose corpse-power theory, which borrows from Gell’s (1998) anthropological agency theory and is a development of Clymer’s (1999) corpse theory as a framework for understanding the dead body as ambivalent, something more than dirt and a disposable object but as something materially, politically, socially and economically alive ‘imbued with traits, characteristics and meaning’ (Harper, 2010: 311). Corpse-power theory suggests that the corpse exercises its power at three levels at most: over itself, the living and its susceptibility to be used by the living for various socio-political and economic ends.…”

“…The corpse has power and self-determination over itself and also over the living, be it family, business or political associates. Thus, corpse-power theory further proposes that a dead body has an identity and meaning, even the disposable one, and is surrounded by various narratives with political, social and economic possibilities as corpses ‘can be used to demonstrate veneration of a hero or to effect an ultimate punishment on an enemy’ (Clymer, 1999: 92). Corpses are riddled with ‘personal and institutional conflicts, negotiations and appropriations’ (Greenblatt, 1990).…”