DISRUPTING PROSE: DOES THE ZIMBABWEAN NOVEL ASSIMILATE OTHER GENRES? A STUDY OF HOVE’S BONES

Abstract

This article is part of a larger study on novelness in the Zimbabwean novel, and is restricted to the novel’s quality of assimilating other genres. This follows Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory that the novel is an incomplete and ever-growing genre as it is a culmination of other genres. This article examines Chenjerai Hove’s first novel published in English, Bones (1990).The article notes that Hove has employed within the novel oral literary elements such as the proverb which appears extensively. It is also observed in this article that Hove has included other elements such as dialogue, monologue, and the lyric. The article concludes that through the use of other genres, particularly the poetic quality, the novel turns out to be an easy read and reflects the needs of the peasants whose cause it intends to champion.