BY KFLEEYESUS ABEBE
Ethiopia has a long tradition of writing that is decorated on stones, owning unique alphabet, religious manuscripts, and historical records. Modern literature, however, is a century-long phenomenon characterized by poems, short stories, novels, and memoirs particularly in Ethiopia’s working language Amharic. There are also Ethiopian literary works in English.
Ethiopian diaspora can be credited with its current active engagement in literature bridging the gap in Ethiopian history and helping the world have a holistic image of their country of origin. Ethiopian American Novelists Dinaw Mengestu and Maaza Mengiste wrote captivating stories exploiting Ethiopian history and culture. Ethiopian British Lemn Sissay is known for his memoir which is filled with unusual circumstances. He is also an award-winning poet.
The Ethiopian diaspora literary movement is still fervent as Ethiopian Canadian, Adel Ben-Harhara published his Memoir in three volumes in 2022.
The Ethiopian Herald had a chance to sit down with the author and ask his inspiration, the challenges he endured in writing the books, and his thoughts on culture, language, and literature.
The Ethiopia Herald: You begin the story by saying: “I am kind of suppressing guilt.” What do you mean by that?
I have presented the first sixty years of my life, as well as my family and cultural history, in three volumes. Volume One, To have Nothing, covers the first sixteen years of my life growing up in Ethiopia. Volume Two, Hope in the Sky, portrays two periods of time when I lived in North Yemen, totaling twelve years. Volume Three, My Silver Lining, covers the years I lived in the US before my second stint in North Yemen. It includes my current life in Canada, my home since leaving North Yemen for a second time.
Living on three continents has defined the person I am today a man who has been influenced by and represents a mix of Ethiopian, Arab, American, and Canadian cultures. I was taught Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Marxism, and Mormonism, and I have both rejected and embraced various elements of each. My spiritual, ideological, philosophical, and cultural views and values comprise a mosaic that represents all that I have experienced, observed, and absorbed during the six decades that I have walked and run on this planet.
When I decided to share the twists and turns of my life in a book portraying events that occurred while traversing multiple cultures, languages, religions, and geographical areas, I was confronted with a few hurdles: suppressed emotions of guilt and fear about my past.
Guilt; I was worried about hurting or upsetting the people who would be characters in my life story (my family and friends). There are details and events in my memoir that are not talked about in my cultures. I was petrified of violating the norms and values I grew up with and crossing the religious boundaries I was taught not to cross. I didn’t want to embarrass or shame my family, but I needed to be honest, first and foremost with myself but also with my readers.
Fear; writing about me, my most intimate and vulnerable moments, and having to look at my own life in the mirror? Doing so would involve taking a piece of my soul and putting it forward for public consumption. There are details of my life in these books that no one knew about until now (except the people involved). Now the world will know some of the most intimate moments of my life! The notion of sharing my emotions but also my personal history was scary; releasing these emotions and details almost broke me!
EH: The second fascinating thing is that you started taking journals at age 10. How did that come? Have you been exposed to fancy school or do you have it from your parents?
Since childhood, I knew something was different about my circumstances. I wanted to keep a record of my experiences, so I started writing my journals at the age of ten or almost eleven, but I didn’t have the conviction to say, “I have a story to tell.”
The journals I was writing were my way of expressing my pain, my anguish moments. So, it was a means to skip the pain I had. It was not someone who told me to write. It was not something I thought about, but it was a means to cry, complain, explain, and express my pain. That is where it started.
EH: The title of your first book is To Have Nothing. What do you want to tell us? Are you going to tell us how it feels to have nothing?
To Have Nothing is characterized by a peculiarly nostalgic, reflective tone. Nostalgia is triggered by old photographs or objects and the material remains of the past but also by conversation. It is a longing for longing; it is both retrospective and prospective.
The passage of time is probably the most basic facet of human perception. It is a process through which the beauty of childhood joys and pains remain. Yes, memories may fade. And traumatic memories in particular may be suppressed, but they do not disappear.
The title of this book, To Have Nothing, speaks to the struggles I encountered during most of the first sixteen years of my life. At the age of five, I was thrust from being a well-cared for child with an aristocratic father and two mothers to being homeless and essentially orphaned almost overnight. For a couple of years of my childhood, I had no parents, no home, no food, no future, and no hope. I was at the mercy of the Almighty.
EH: So, what do you expect the reader to gain from reading your book?
I have struggled to overcome immense challenges throughout my life, but I’ve also experienced great victories. Challenges and triumphs mold a person into who they become, and we all continue to evolve as we keep moving through life, applying what we have learned as new hurdles and dilemmas come our way.
My purpose in writing my memoir is first and foremost to share my life story in hopes that it will entertain, motivate, and inspire others. But my intention extends much farther. I want to raise awareness and provoke deeper thought and personal growth within readers (as the world continues to embrace multiculturalism) and within myself.
EH: The other interesting thing about you is you are also trilingual. How did it help you?
I can speak, read, and write three languages. When people ask me where I am from or what my native language is, I’m hesitant to respond because the answer is not straightforward. If I say I am Yemeni and speak Arabic, people assume I am a typical Arab, which I am not. But to say I am Ethiopian and speak Amharic also does not present the full picture of who I am.
In my formal Amharic lessons, at the age five I was taught Geʽez. The teacher was a Jew. He thought me Judaism, too. And I have an afternoon to study Arabic.
Studying one language is difficult let alone two of them. On top of that, there were two religions. Juggling these two languages and memorizing the Quran and trying to understand Torah, built my brain to think and operate differently.
EH: You have been in many cultures, and you live in Canada which is very diverse. What do you recommend Ethiopia in proving a harmonious and peaceful country?
Although I have settled in western Canada and am enjoying a fulfilling life, Ethiopia and Yemen are also my homes and will forever be my native lands. They are where many of my family members reside. They are the countries that provided me with numerous learning opportunities that continue to influence my approach to life’s challenges and joys.
Ethiopia is an ancient nation where all aspects of diversity existed in it for centuries. Perhaps the world should have learned from Ethiopia how to coexist, because Islam started here 1444 years ago and perhaps the rest of the world never heard of it. Christianity has been around for the past 2015 years. Judaism lingered in this land for several centuries before that. So, to tell Ethiopians how to co-exist is to teach your mother how to deliver a baby.
Ethiopia is the only country divided up its nation into elements of ethnicity (ethnic federalism); as to me that is what continues to prompt war and conflict. It seems a recipe for disaster as each group observably clings to its own ideas and practices and aims to choke out the other.
EH: You are a person who went through a very tough childhood. Is there anything you have in mind to help children?
I donated the Amharic version of my book as a public property. That is my way of paying back to humanity and supporting children who are faced with growing up without parental love and guidance, as I was.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 17 FEBRUARY 2023
