This powerful quote means that when someone's voice is suppressed or ignored, it's akin to denying their very existence and identity. It emphasizes the importance of speaking up and being heard for self-preservation.
Quote by Tsitsi Dangarembga: “To be silenced is to be erased.”
To be silenced is to be erased.
Insight
Historical Context
A resonant theme across her work and public advocacy, particularly highlighted during her political activism and detention in 2020. This statement underscored the authoritarian efforts to suppress dissent and the vital importance of voice for the survival of democracy and individual identity in Zimbabwe.
About the Author
Zimbabwean novelist and filmmaker whose 1988 debut novel Nervous Conditions was the first novel by a Black Zimbabwean woman to be published in English. The novel's title is drawn from a line in Fanon's preface to The Wretched of the Earth. She received the PEN International Award for Freedom of Expression in 2021 after being arrested at a protest in Harare.
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