A couple of weeks back with all sorts of sanctions thrown at Russia from all over the US and Europe there was this bizarre news which says from one European country. (By the way when was the last time even European countries of whose existence we used to hear once in a blue moon featured on the evening news with such frequency? It is like even places which seemed to be in the midst of an eternal sleep were nudged into action. How interesting it could have been if we were talking about only roses and smiles heralding the start of the healing of a badly sickened world! Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Could this world really get any messier than it is right now? I hope there will come a time soon when the world really dissects what has really been going on over there minus all the lies, deceptions and, sadly, hate-charge rhetoric.)
Getting back to what I wanted to raise a literature professor in a European country was told to stop lecturing on Fyodor Dostoyevsky! What! Can you just think of that! If this happened a few years back those who gave the orders would have been taken for loonies who broke out of some mental institution. Look have become so confusing and meshed up it’s even difficult express your thoughts and be heard. It’s shocking this no- Dostoyevsky story hasn’t generated the heated debate it should have even if only to hold up the lofty ideals of literature which have passed through the last few centuries. I mean we weren’t yet over raising eyebrows about the carpet bombing of sports and sports people and now Dostoyevsky, of all people, is in the firing line! Can you just imagine what things will come to in future major conflicts which are sure to come someway down the years or decades? If ‘the decisions’ as to whose works of literature should or shouldn’t be read are made in war rooms, well, it’s going to be one sad, very sad world. The after-effects on the young who are just getting introduced to the wonderful world of classical literature like that of Dostoyevsky’s would not be nice.
Now we’re not a nation where the reading culture is that pronounced. I’m being too nice. In fact for all practical purposes we could even say it isn’t yet off the ground in any visible way. Yes, politics, too, played an important role in scaring the young away from reading. During the revolution years if you’re an avid reader you must be up to something sinister, so think the red-hearted cadres. In fact, those who were around couldn’t forget an official of the then Ministry of Information officially destroying hundreds of books. And he was supposed to be an educated person. Even in the media where reading should have come up top of the professional musts you sometimes should look over your shoulders because the act of reading seldom got you the thumbs-up. I remember once when I worked at a newspaper somebody reported me to the department head with, “He’s reading English fiction in his office.” In those days such accusations weren’t easily to be brushed off. It depends to who they are told. In my case, the department head, an avid reader himself, literally chased the accuser away, “Why don’t you read like him instead of gossiping around!” Many years later after all of us had gone our own ways I run into my accuser in a recreation center. I don’t know why but he raises the issue of reading and ‘he encourages me’ to read as much as I can. That was more than I can take. I told him that I knew about him reporting me to the boss all those years back. If I tell you his face turned green you’d think I’m pranking you or doing something as foolish. So I wouldn’t tell you about his face which turned into dark green. Ha! The guy probably thought no one knew even after all those years. So unfortunately especially during the ‘revolution’ years you were not praised for sticking to reading. Don’t ask me why that was the case. Maybe some revolutions have the unwritten goal of doing away with “the reading habit,” which they might have concluded was a feudal-imperialist conspiracy!
A few years back one of the oldest libraries in the country sold hundreds of very precious books in an act which to say the least was shocking as many were rare copies of manuscripts which survived quite a long time. Then no one knows from where in the bureaucracy the orders came, but those who bought the manuscripts for tens of thousands of birr were told to return them. Did I go off line by jumping from Dostoyevsky to here! It happens.
What I’m trying to say is that as for me I’m confused how this world getting all even more messier with all the lines being erased and in case of armed confrontation everything and everybody is ‘legitimate’ target. I mean come on, let’s be frank; how can you talk about world literature without significant focus on Russian greats? Or maybe we should forget anything about world literature because without Dostoyevsky or any other literary greats from anywhere there couldn’t be anything like world literature. With apologies to Dostoyevsky, case closed!
Ephrem Endale: Contributer
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SUNDAY EDITION 10 APRIL 2022