Types of Marriages and their Counselling in Bikita

Abstract

The types of marriage in Shona society before missionary influence as examined in this paper were: serial polygamy, polyandry, sororal polygamy, fraternal polygamy, and monogamy. The early missionaries, with all good intentions, brought a marriage template to the Shona people of Bikita that consisted of just two marriage categories: monogamy and polygamy. The latter was condemned as non-Christian and one of the early moral endeavours of the Church was to rid society of polygamy. Marriage in every society has
existed as an inevitable institution for the purpose of the continuation of clans. In this paper the author examines the types of marriages that were common in Bikita district. Perhaps, unlike in other cultures, marriage in this district is more complex than is generally believed. While marriage has been serialised as being monogamous, polygamous, and other sub marital arrangements, it has hardly been questioned as to what led to such marriage arrangments. Polygamy in this paper is not taken as mere concupiscence of the flesh, but as a cultural and religious obligation for the Shona people of Bikita. The research design used in this paper is qualitative and inclusive of many views on marriage, its definition, process, and purpose in the community. To get the views of respondents, the interview method was used in addition to observation by the author. It was found that both the process as well as the
marriage itself in Bikita was quite complex and took several shades. Marriage counselling therefore requires sensitivity to these differences.