There’s this story I was told by a young fellow who’s the sort of fellow you come across rarely these days. His loves for books is boundless; and I’m not exaggerating. Especially when it comes to local works in Amharic he is a sort of a reference material. Ask him any question and you wouldn’t be disappointed. Whether it is about what new works have made it to the shelves of bookshops or what to expect in the coming weeks or months he knows.
One aspect I really admire about the fellow is that he doesn’t wait for people’s comments or criticisms and book reviews to read any new work or throw it away. (Unfortunately, especially on the social media there are comments which tell you to throw certain works far and wide because they are not worth reading! Why do they do that? That, dear readers, is a question I would have liked answered by those who really have the knowledge about the issue or even evidence-based personal comments.)
So this young fellow I’m telling you about isn’t easily moved by social media blitz for or against a certain. He in fact makes sure he stays away from platforms where such comments about works he hasn’t yet read abound. He’s of the pinion that it’s not only difficult, but impossible too, finding genuine literary comments. “The wrong crowd has taken over,” he says. I never asked him what he meant by ‘the wrong crowd’. If there is some ‘wrong crowd’ there certainly would be the ‘right crowd.’ Tricky, very tricky; wouldn’t you say?
However recently he makes an exception and joins a group discussing a certain novella. Most of the participants were fans of the work and elevated it to a sort of a modern day classic. He says one after the other the comments sounded that they were discussing a Nobel Prize winning work. As the one-sided discussions were coming to a close a participant who stayed quiet the whole time offers to give his comment. Once he started the roof comes down without any warning. He had barely said a few sentences when almost every one turning on him.
No one listened to any one as almost all accused him of being jealous of the writer with the proverbial Amharic upper cut “Duros Hebesha!” meaning that since he was an Habesha that was expected of him. Look the funny part about people who use the “Duros Hebesha!” phrase is that they think of themselves being on a different pedestal looking down on everyone else.
Believe me such an arrogantly irresponsible comment is more common even among the better educated and those who are supposed to be more reasonable in their comments and doings. I’ve noticed this trend on some who return home for one reason or another after a couple of years abroad. They leave as a Habesha and return as a Non-Habesha!
So the guy who tried to present his genuine comments uncontaminated by any personal prejudices or favoritism and what does he gets! The mob-like verbal pounding of a group which he must have thought knew better. He sits down and once the group indulges in its ‘customary’ one sided game the guy quietly steps out. This fellow who told me the story has vowed never to make the same ‘mistake again.
True that the social media has gone a long way in bringing literary works to the attention of the public. In fact it’d be only fair to say that without social media’ involvement many works would never have left the shelves of the bookshops or even in the worst of cases the warehouses of printing presses.
But then when it comes to discussing literary works the story takes a new twist and you’re forced to ask, “Is the social media destroying our literary world under our very eyes?” And believe me no one on their right mind would accuse on naivety or anything for that. Many times than not real and genuine literary discussions are thrown out of the window and the narratives indulge in shockingly crude name-calling, accusations of one side being biased about the other side which mostly is the proprietor of the work in question.
Then there are book launching ceremonies which are growing by the day. I have to admit these days in certain instances there are some changes as more and more emphasis seem to be given on the literary aspects of the work being launched. Of course there is still a long way to go to make things even better. But then you can control the proceedings of book launchings but you can’t do that on the social media. And again unfortunately the social media could make or break the opportunities for the new work to attract the attention of the public.
Sometime back I used to be a regular at book launchings. But after several months I quit. Why? I’ll tell you why. Little by little the literary events were turning into some of sort of holiday celebrations where you talked nothing about the new works and just enjoyed the coffee, popcorn and the Dofo Dabo! Look, if I was in need of those things there are far more perfect places to go to. But book launchings are just book launchings and nothing more.
So it’d have been nicer if organizers kept the popcorn and the Dofo Dabo! for themselves and told us about we came to launch. I could understand the holiday spirit of those whose works are being launched and those around them. After all coming out with a new work is a sort of landmark in its own way. But cutting back on the glitter and focusing on what should constitute book launchings would be great achievement.
I think then it’s high time the literary family searches for ways where we can have genuine and unbiased literary discussions on works, new or old, because that is the only way to eventual literary stardom for authors, poets and the like. Otherwise there would be no bridges we could cross with the proverbial uppercut punch “Duros Habesha!”
Ephrem Endale Contributer
The Ethiopian Herald December 3/2023