Beyond Hope for a Brighter Future: Radical Love and Solidarity in NoViolet Bulawayo’s Glory

Abstract

Drawing on the theory of solidarity and affect studies, this article examines the emotionally charged description of the emergence of a solidarity from below in NoViolet Bulawayo’s Glory, which challenges the traditional discussion on the role and value of certain emotions in fostering coalitions against injustice. Set in a fictionalised post-2017 Zimbabwe, this novel underscores the importance of contextual considerations to advance such arguments from a more nuanced and deeper perspective. While the prevailing hope for change among Jidadans is displayed as insufficient to bring them together to stand up for their rights, their shift towards intense feelings of frustration and anger at being treated unfairly proves essential for collective action amidst deep social and ethnic divides. In particular, it is the protagonist’s bitterness and resulting defiant attitude which inspire others to unite in a spirit of mutual support, despite their differences, to liberate Jidada. Glory thus highlights radical love as an essential affective component of solidarity, specifically through the representation of the arrival of better days for Jidadans. In this sense, my ultimate contention is that Glory exemplifies a form of creative solidarity, due first to the opportunity it provides to envision more just futures and, second and most importantly, to its potential to foster critical consciousness on the necessary forms of being and acting together to build those better futures. Echoing Black feminist views on solidarity and coalition politics, the text advocates for intersectional alliances across differences and necessarily rooted in an ethics of radical love.