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This article analyses representative life stories that reflect the experiences of people who participated in the Namibian liberation struggle, as well as one narrative that reflects the traumatic effect of the brutal murder of her mother witnessed by a five year old girl. The stories detail the vicious nature of settler colonialism in South West Africa and the motive that drove youths to abscond from school to join SWAPO camps in neighbouring countries. Two of the male authored texts focus on the political dimensions of the struggle, with minimal personal details; the two accounts penned by women who obtained secondary and tertiary education in exile and underwent military training foreground the personal dimension that is understated in the male accounts. The human side of war, suffering and discrimination is captured in all the accounts, in differing degrees. The strong Christian beliefs of the selected authors are a striking feature in most of the life stories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which editor discusses various articles within the issue on topics including belonging within South African literature, renaissance of the genocide and impact on collective memories of Namibian communities.

A literary criticism of the book "Dreams" by Kavevangua Kahengua is presented. It explores the themes of several poems in the book including "Ongua Jandje," "Lost Companion," and "Coming Home." It also examines the story of exile and return in these poems and the implications of the symbols used in the literary works.

This article presents an introduction to this issue on Zimbabwean literature.

This essay evaluates the portrayal of women in Nyamfukudza's fiction. It highlights the remarkable consistency in his representation of women from the publication of his first book, "The Non-Believer's Journey," in 1980 to the collection of short stories "If God Was a Woman," in 1991. The predominantly negative views of women found in his works revolve around reductionist depictions of prostitutes, "b##ches," fallen women, temptresses, and disillusioned wives. Male authority is underpinned by traditional norms that project men as heads of households and sexual predators. Despite the fact that many of the stories are ostensibly narrated by women, the overwhelming impression is misogynistic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]