February 11^th, 2004

Of Books on Ethiopia, and “Organic Ethiopia”

By Fitsum Getachew

It is not very often that books in English on Ethiopia are published here. Still less so by Ethiopians. An expatriate friend of mine has always wondered why Ethiopians never dared to do it (and I share the disappointment, excepting research-papers-turned-to-books). I was also wondering about the rarity of Ethiopian plays, poems, novels and other literature on Ethiopian life, written in English, by Ethiopians. Talents abounded, I thought, then why? Could the negative public feedback coupled with the meagre returns constitute obstacles?

To start with, few Ethiopians are assiduous readers, (still less voracious!) But there are signs of people’s admiration for the arts and literature. (I am always fascinated by the long queues that I regularly see in front of theatres. This can only be explained either by people’s passion for plays/dramas, or by the inefficiency/disorganization of theatre operators, impresarios). For this reason alone, many people abandon the idea of going to theatres, discouraged. (And I am one of them.)

Another reason for scarcity of writers could be the low rate of literacy, and the even lower rate of sufficiently educated people, beside of course lack of resources to buy books. Even the habit of buying/reading newspapers is a very recent phenomenon. The quality and content of the press, specially the public one, is such that there is no question for readers to buy it. The private press faces huge obstacles on its road to growth and maturity, beside its own inherent problems. (Many would like to identify ‘independent press’ with ‘opposition media’ or fixed criticism against government! The dichotomy between the public and private press is taking the undesirable shape of ‘pro’ or ‘con’ government! On the other hand, the public’s expectations have increased thanks to their exposure to foreign media outlets. No wonder people show little interest in buying ‘government papers’ (‘Zemen’, ‘Herald’ etc) as they already do absorb their daily ration of ‘government news and views’, through government-controlled electronic media!

Under such circumstances, only few indomitable individuals can plunge into such agitated waters. Nevertheless, a sort of ‘birth of reading culture’ among certain categories of people, mostly Amharic papers, is gradually emerging. I feel encouraged when I see drivers, shopkeepers, waitresses, guards, immersed in papers. One day, every one will love reading! Some are developing readership even in English! Perhaps the explosion of private schools and colleges can hopefully contribute to such metamorphosis. Certain newspapers are becoming a part of weekly fixtures, and this is positive. The more people are oriented to reading, the more they appreciate and understand their world, the society they live in, the affairs that impact them, and the more they become conscious/active participants in their matters, in the decision making process. They realize, leaving others decide for them could be horrible! Demanding participation in free elections becomes therefore an imperative logical step, following such consciousness! If only we could identify ourselves with our kebeles, woredas, House of Peoples Representatives! Does ‘democracy’ have some other mysterious meaning?!And we desperately need it. The formidable challenges that lie ahead can never be overcome without such public consciousness and participation. An illiterate and thus indifferent, civically unconscious, apathetic population may be easy to ‘control’, ‘subdue’ for power mongers. But the consequent modest aspirations, the alienation from what they should consider their legitimate rights and stakes, contributes little to resolving social problems. Such citizens are rather liabilities, walls against social progress, non-affordable in today’s globalized, competitive world. We should admit that we need to ‘catch up’ with the times we have been losing, idly sitting, surrounded and shielded by our mountains and valleys! (It matters little if such view is dissented to! I see it as a glaring reality.)

Finally, thinking about books on Ethiopia, I came across one a few weeks ago (inadvertently, following a ‘commentary’ on an Amharic newspaper)! I had not come across any publicity about the book. Books written in Ethiopia are few, and the ones in English are even fewer for the reasons we saw above. The poor market, economic constraints and other habits or priorities have evidently suffocated authors’ entrepreneurship. Hence, Ethiopian writers can be taken as ‘heroes’, and the ones that have managed to acquire a certain readership should be genuinely congratulated. Writing here can thus be considered an expensive luxury. Perhaps, one may resort to it if pushed by the passion, and ready to endure sacrifices!

In any case, some literature in English is springing! Hopefully, such phenomenon will slowly expand and create a reliable ‘clientele’. Certainly, if the impetus exists, the talent/creativity, the ideas would not be too scarce, and in time, the quality could only improve.

The book that I want to talk about is titled “Organic Ethiopia”. The name itself is suggestive. It is actually written by a person that I know quite well. The author, Markos Retta, has been in the same Law School at AAU that I attended, beside working with me, at the English Desk of Ethiopian Television as ‘news editor’. I have also seen his articles on ‘the Reporter’ and ‘Addis Tribune’(both private local English newspapers). I was informed that he was completing a play in English, and when I saw that he had published this book first, I was surprised. Some of my friends who had come across the book have been talking about it, and I did not hesitate to buy it, (despite the relatively high price). Here, publishing costs are prohibitive.

Any way, “Organic Ethiopia” is congested with ideas, arguable and controversial, as much as one would like to. As it attempts to talk about the current Ethiopian society, the existing socio-economic and political institutions, parties, government, policies and measures, budget allocation and strategies and approaches to meet the challenges that the nation faces etc, it can give rise to fierce controversies depending on whose side one can be. Many of the topics dealt with in the book rotate around Ethiopians’ day to day burning issues, of all walks and trades. I have found that many of the premises and conclusions proposed are, to say the least, far-fetched if not idealistic. As much as I can admire the honesty and steadfastness of the author, the ardent love for his nation behind the whole exercise, I also cannot refrain from believing that his views drift to some sort of facile realisation or super realism (very hard to reconcile with today’s hard/cruel reality!). ‘Pride’, ‘sovereignty’, ‘culture’, have been consistently preeminently glorified, (beware critiques of Ethiopia! The Ugandan journalist knows something about the author’s fury!) until I gathered the impression that they could seem to me our panacea! I cannot see their reconciliation or compatibility with the demands of modern day reality. ‘Context’ has been an idea repeatedly underlined by the book. Ethiopia’s reality is different and others’ suggestions as solutions to our problems are ‘out of context’, the book argues. The conclusions to which the book so easily arrives seem too good to be true. ‘We can make it without foreign aid or foreign investment, (we sustained a war by ourselves), Western values and ideas may be superfluous to us; why do we cry for relief aid? we have always somehow survived; population growth is not necessarily a menace, we will not eat each other! we should not beg at any cost! We rather perish, it is more glorious!? etc’ are some of the ideas to which pages have been dedicated. But I still find myself displaced by many of such propositions.

Part Two

Admitted that any writer has the right to hold and propagate the ideas of his/her choice, and we should respect them, (within the limits of the law), nevertheless, a reader would need ‘convincing material’, proof. Otherwise, doubting the ideas would be the least to expect. Or it would be considered as ‘mere speculation’, a sort of day dreaming! An academic exercise, benefiting from ‘freedom of expression’?

Commenting just cursorily on “Organic Ethiopia”, (and it is hard) I think in any case that credit should be accorded to the author for writing and publishing the book any way. This by itself is positive. If we don’t begin to break the wall or resistence of openly talking about our issues, (no matter how personalized they could be), our chances of developing our literature, our culture of discussion and tolerance, exchange of views, (no matter how weird they can be), we have less chances of progress, improvement. We can’t always expect foreigners to do our homework, to come and study our society, write our story, (inevitably from a Western culture perspective). I remember once what the renowned and ‘angry’ US-based Ethiopian film producer/director/educator Professor Haile Gerima said about African movie, and the role of Africans in Western movies. He said they (the ‘Whites’) were making history, and we were made to absorb their ‘inventions’ as ‘spectators’ only. Hence, his decision to engage in movie making, and produced “Sankofa”, a ‘notorious’ film about Africans, made by Africans. The author of “Organic Ethiopia”, Markos Retta, therefore, can be appreciated for choosing to write about Ethiopia, from an Ethiopian perspective, from a citizen’s heartbeat, and in English, (so that he could have a wider audience, beyond our frontiers).

Secondly, choosing a very ‘critical’ ‘controversial’ subject, and risking unpopularity must be considered another sign of courage/determination. One would say he somehow fits into the picture that he tried to portray. His legal background combined with his media exposure, must have shaped him. He has shown unusual and enviable conviction, and seems to have reached a personal conclusion on many issues.

Thirdly, his ambitious literature begins with a critique of what is going on in our society, the urge that he felt to contribute to ‘finding a solution’ or various alternative solutions. He begins by describing the problems, from his vantage point, naturally, the reality, and even gives some clear examples that shows our societal contradictions. He then proceeds to suggesting what he thinks are what we should be directing ourselves to. His optimistic perspective could deserve admiration as his burning patriotic concern. But that is another matter.

Nevertheless, in so doing, it is not that “Organic Ethiopia”, irrespective of the validity or not of the ideas compressed in it, is exempt from flaws. Some serious, others quite venial. In the first place, there are a number of irritating typographical errors. The author could have readily avoided them, had he proofread the script carefully before printing. At times such errors have conditioned/changed what he had intended to say, influencing the flow of argumentation. At others, they could discourage a not-so-zealous reader. And such negligence diminishes the tenure of the text (Unfortunately, such recurrence has become characteristic of Ethiopian literature, beginning with papers, periodicals...) Reading while editing or vice-versa, cannot be enjoyable.

Another flaw of the literature is the way the flow of ideas is lined. The sequence. There are so many words and phrases which have been unduly or unnecessarily repeated, giving the impression that the author has not had enough time to go through his script carefully, thus avoiding redundance, both of ideas as well as words. For certain type of writing, they may not be noted, but when they are brought as a book, they tend to tire you out. At times the story freezes on an idea, or it moves very sluggishly. And even if this was intended to emphasize the ideas, I personally would have preferred them shortened, to the point and this would not have impacted on the aestatics of the writing. And knowing the author’s capacity, disappointment is an understatement.

Without yet going into the crux of the ideas, (there are a plethora of them, it seems that Markos has a stand on everything that happens in the world!) I have noted that the way it is written has often drifted into colloquial language, rather than formal. Considering that the book dwells on damn serious matters, such usage of words and phrases do not contribute to the value of the text. One can argue that it could be the ‘style of the author’, but I wonder if the kind of literature that is proposed can admit frequent colloquial language. Perhaps, experts in writing skills can define such rebus.

In terms of the ideas that are expressed or publicized, well, there we can have as many ideas and opinions as the number of people who read them. Markos has consistently argued that Ethiopia , beginning from the title, needs to be ‘organic’ without being too much exposed to the so-called civilized western world. While many of the assertions that he puts could be debatable, highly opinionated, nevertheless, many can be proved beside the science of economics and politics by people whose specialization is in these disciplines . His ideas verge towards idealism and impracticable in a world where a certain type of civilisation is actually making and unmaking the world. In the position that our society finds itself, many of the alternatives that “Organic Ethiopia” suggests seem far-fetched and unrealizable. Ethiopia cannot be placed outside the world’s system, a certain framework. For that matter, even superpowers such as the United States cannot opt to stay out of the world’s reality, and this can be a ‘given’. The cultural values to which the book is very much attached and seems very fond of, seem not to find such appreciation by many. Cultures inevitably intermix, intermingle and emphasis on ‘purity’ could have its days counted!

True, we need to recognize and acknowledge that we have a distinct culture and history, a diversity of peoples, and values. But to sit on these glories and see ourselves excelled by every nation on earth, would not be to the tastes and expectations of many. Whether we like it or not, one of the parameters of life is definitely economic opulence, (even if the author seems to prefer to denigrate it). Education (as intended by the western world), as a gateway to growth and development, has not been appreciated. Here again many would dissent with Markos’s assertions. Leadership should/could be authoritarian and human rights are relative terms or ideas in ‘our context’. I also think there are too many issues discussed in the book, perhaps more than can be dealt with in a book of this size. I would have thought that such a ‘treatise’ would need more documentation, source, more authoritative proofs than the book has cared to present. As much as the ideas are many and varied, there is also a clear sense of audacity, partisanship, and ‘outspokenness’. It has not used any ‘restraint’ in labelling and dismissing with certain words or pronouncing negative judgements, on many of the current ideas in vogue. International aid, relief, self-reliance, famine, DPPC, leaders and their behaviour, intellectuals, sovereignty, development, globalization, culture, economics and on it goes. All subjects that the book intends to dwell on. It talks about the need for a paradigm shift, from the current state of affairs, and how they are conducted to a new one that the author suggests.

As much as one could appreciate the effort of the author to be frank and unequivocal, one cannot however fail to observe that the book needs more beef on the table to demonstrate and make his case. Evidently, the reader cannot guess what is ‘in the mind of the author’, and how he intends to implement his ideas. If he is suggesting experimentation, well, then people will have to be consulted, if they agree or not. We need to consult planning experts, bankers and accountants and see what exactly we have in terms of resources that can be harnessed and used to develop our country. The sense of pride and patriotism expressed repeatedly in the book could be taken as positive but how long can we ‘feed’ on these ‘values’? is a question that needs to be addressed! Can they be our pancea?

All in all, as a first time writing and on such a crucial and controversial theme, (perhaps after extensive reading and research), the author should be expected to present other works with better organization and flow of logic, in a more convincing analysis. What is good to reiterate here is, a long journey will have to start somewhere anyway!

Title: “Organic Ethiopia, Reflections on, Its search, confusion and way-out”

Author: Markos Retta

Number of pages: 193

Year of Publishing: 1996 E.C.

Price: Birr 40

“This book is dedicated in honour of the heroic Ethiopians past and present who paid their lives to preserve Ethiopia in exceptional independence and organicity...” (From the preface.)