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Enemies Of The State: The Symbolic Annihilation Of White-Zimbabwean Identity In The Twenty-First Century, Rick Malleus

Discourse: The Journal of the SCASD

This article explores the Zimbabwean government-controlled newspapers’ symbolic annihilation of white-Zimbabwean identity in the twenty-first century. Zimbabwe has been through political, social, and economic upheaval in the last 15 years, and it is in this context that the media’s construction of white identity is examined. Using a content analysis of online articles from The Herald and The Chronicle, six themes of constructed white identity were identified. The government media’s motivation for this symbolic annihilation of white-Zimbabwean identity is discussed, and the article concludes with a consideration about why this construction of white-Zimbabwean identity matters.