Abstract

‘Mukondombera’ (a colloquial Shona word for AIDS) is a Zimbabwe’s popular song about HIV/AIDS, performed by diverse artists since the onset of the disease in the 1980s. For decades, global dialogue of the ramifications of HIV/AIDS has dominated scholarly research, news and media, including music. This study takes a look at how ten songs entitled ‘Mukondombera’, produced between 2013 and 2022, encode the dilemma of HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe. The songs were conveniently sampled from online music applications (YouTube Music, Spotify, Apple Music and SoundCloud) and were analysed using the inductive Content Analysis method. The study reveals that, whilst Zimbabwean musicians continue to show a steadfast commitment to deconstructing and disseminating HIV/AIDS messages, they portray a gloomy outlook of the disease. The ‘Mukondombera’ songs depict promiscuity as an inevitable source of HIV and individual behaviour change as a viable solution to end the pandemic.

Key Words: ‘Mukondombera’, HIV/AIDS Messages, Popular Music, Zimbabwe, Inductive Content Analysis.

About the Author

*Clemenciana Mukenge, Ph.D., is a lecturer in the Department of Creative Media and Communication, University of Zimbabwe, Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe. Her research interests are Health Communication, Development Communication and Media Communication.

^JCMR Journal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 2023, pp. 63-73.

© Association of Media and Communication Researchers of Nigeria (AMCRON).

Article Citation

Mukenge, C. (2023). ‘Mukondombera’: The battle of Zimbabwean popular music to deconstruct and disseminate HIV/AIDS messages. Journal of Communication and Media Research, 15 (2): 63-73.

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