The Empathetic Moral Universe in Oliver Mtukudzi’s Music

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Authors: Munyaradzi Phiri (Great Zimbabwe University, Zimbabwe)
Speakers: Munyaradzi Phiri
Topic: Multifunctionality
The (SCOPUS / ISI) GLOCAL AFALA 2023 General Session

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Abstract

An upkeep of a good moral sense has always been strongly enshrined in the ‘true’ Zimbabwean concept; where one is led to have the thought that, ‘to be Zimbabwean is to be morally empowered’. The moral dispensation has taken various dimensions through different platforms in the 21st century Zimbabwe; morals have been seen and defined differently by various groups of the Zimbabwean populace. This study seeks to explore the life of the late Dr. Oliver ‘Tuku’ Mtukudzi as a visionary bearing the Zimbabwean flag in constructing a sound moral culture ‘ubuntu’ and his fight against moral decay on a global platform. The declared national hero through music and his lifestyle demonstrated a colourful display on a myriad of moral value issues which the researcher importantly finds necessary to bring about and discuss. A desktop research approach shall take a central stage in data acquisition, as the researcher focuses on reviewing primary and secondary data especially from published sources on the life of Oliver Mtukudzi. The study at hand becomes highly pertinent largely to a Zimbabwe that stems from a high value of moral practices dating back since time immemorial; and importantly to the Great Zimbabwe University it resonates from the niche of the institution on culture and heritage which emphasizes the upholding of good and sound moral practice, that is, ‘ubuntu’. It therefore the aim of this study to shed light on how the life and music of Dr. Mtukudzi emphasized the upholding and constructing of a sound moral culture especially on Zimbabweans.

Keywords: Oliver Mtukudzi, moral culture, moral decay