We are having this silly secret Santa thing at our office party in a couple of weeks time. You know how it works: you draw a name and you buy a gift for that person to the value of, say, fifty bux, and someone else who drew your name buys a gift for you. I’ve drawn the name of a Shona oke from Zimbabwe, so I thought I’d look for something to do with his culture. To that end I ran a search on Loot.co.za (books section), and these are the first few hits:–
Peasants, Traders, and Wives - Shona Women in the History of Zimbabwe (Paperback)
Elizabeth Schmidt R457
Rhetoric in Shona Audio Agricultural Adverts Aired on Radio Zimbabwe (Paperback)
Otto Tendayi Mponda R900
Shona Religion of Zimbabwe (Paperback)
Takawira Kazembe R1241
Judaic Traits in Funerary Customs of the Shona of Zimbabwe (Paperback)
Canisius Mwandayi R955
Why are these books (paperbacks nogal) so expensive? I suspect it’s because of the lack of economies of scale–they can’t expect to sell more than one copy of “Rhetoric in Shona Audio Agricultural Adverts Aired on Radio Zimbabwe”, and that will probably be to the author’s mother.