Lena Englund

The purpose of this research is to study the Rhodesian discourse in the autobiographical writing of Peter Godwin, a Rhodesian-born writer living in New York today. A great number of memoirs and autobiographical texts by white Rhodesian/Zimbabwean writers have emerged during the last fifteen years, and several of these writers, including Godwin, have been criticized for reviving a Rhodesian discourse which means holding on to colonial attitudes and ideals. My aim is to determine to what extent this is really the case in Peter Godwin's writing. I also examine what parallels can be drawn and conclusions made in relation to other white Zimbabwean autobiography.