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Dambudzo Marechera Quotes
1952–1987
Dambudzo Marechera (1952–1987) was a Zimbabwean novelist, poet, short story writer and playwright, born on 4 June 1952 in Vengere Township, Rusape, Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. Born Charles William Marechera, he grew up in poverty and experienced racial discrimination and political unrest during colonial rule.
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28 quotes
“A writer is part of society; a writer notices what is going on around him, sees the poverty every day.”
“There must always be a healthy tension between a writer and his nation.”
“As long as he is serious, the writer must be free to criticise or write about anything in society.”
“When culture is emphasised in such a nationalistic way that can lead to fascism.
“There is no sense of home any more, no feeling of being at one with any specific portion of the earth.”
“I am against everything, against war and those against war, against whatever diminishes the individual’s blind impulse.”
“Even my own voice is no longer my own.”
“For the working classes and the peasants, it’s still the same hard work, low pay, rough conditions of living.”
“When politicians talk about culture, one had better pack one’s rucksack and run.”
“Their actual lives, the way they flinched yet did not flinch from the blows dealt out to us day by day in the ghettos.”
“The idea that a writer should always be positive, that’s always being crammed down one’s throat.”
“You mention the name ‘home’ to me, it means nothing.”
“Writing can always turn into cheap propaganda.”
“I run when it’s A LUTA [CONTINUA] time.”
“I don’t think independence so far has really made any significant change as far as the working class are concerned.”
“I don’t know that the writer can offer the emerging nation anything.”
“A gun will actually kill somebody, but a pen can stimulate thought.”
“What I read about one-party states makes me, frankly, terrified.”
“We are a continent of refugees; one day here, another day there.”
“I’m just a writer. I’m not carrying guns against you.”
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