Reconstruction 6.4 (2006)
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Identity and Credibility in the Global Blogosphere /
David Sasaki
<1> The post-national writer, in all its manifestations, is the most interesting and fruitful thing to have happened to world literature since the birth of modernism. It's safe to say this will be the literary hallmark of the new century, with the internet its Gutenberg. And post-nationalism itself is a sign of hope. After centuries of barbarity, a Union in Europe only became possible when it was harder to define who was French or German or Italian or Dutch. We can imagine what the world would be like if only Americans would become post-American.
That was Eliot Weinberger speaking at the PEN World Voices conference in 2005; a man I had never heard of until he was mentioned on the weblog of the Jamaican novelist, Marlon James. Weinberger's quixotic vision of the post-national writer yearns for prose and plot that transcend the narrow and muffled category of nationality. A young writer living in St. Petersburg is no longer to be considered a Russian novelist as were Tolstoy and Doestevsky. Rather, she is simply a writer, touching on the same universal themes as her peers in Egypt, Ecuador, and Fiji. And because literature is a universal aesthetic, each writer should have access to a universal audience. According to PEN, however, translations account for less than three percent of all literary books published annually in the United States.
<2> And as Marlon James makes clear after having his first novel rejected by dozens of publishing houses, the post-national writer can't help but think of the American consumer:
The fact is everybody blames the American reader for his narrow focus while envying his stacked wallet. And while there may be some truth to that, the far bigger problem is the industry that refuses to believe in the intelligence and open-mindedness of that very reader. The industry that will not take a chance on non-american, non-suburban white fiction unless it fits two very defined parameters, both of which I tried writing after my first novel was rejected.
Publishing houses will take a chance on the immigrant's coming-to-America novel and, inversely, happily buy the rights to chronicles of white writers traveling to dark places. Far rarer is the English translation of a foreign novel by a foreign author, which is why Marlon James describes himself as "not white enough to write a black novel."
<3> Eliot Weinberger realizes that if a post-national literary revolution is to take place, the internet shall be its printing press and if Marlon James is correct in his assertion that the American reader is condescended to by the major publishing houses, then those readers will soon discover the wealth of post-national writing published freely on weblogs around the world each day.
<4> But is the global blogosphere really free of nationalistic identity and politics?
<5> On the one hand, we frequently encounter individuals who transcend the very concept of nationality: A Mexican-Chicano-Swede, for example; or a Japanese-American who lives in Tokyo and calls the world his home; or a Jordanian-Palestinian-Kuwaiti who lives and blogs from Bahrain. And yet, on the other hand, global conversation often assumes a radically nationalistic and race-conscious tone where legal citizenship becomes synonymous with a writer's credibility to observe, discuss, and critique cultures that are not her own. Or, as Kevin Minh - a Vietnamese-American living in Seattle - puts it:
What is it with white American males who travel to a foreign country and come back presuming they "know" a whole culture? Are we to believe that these men are outfitted with an osmosis/camouflage gene that allows them to travel to a foreign country and soak up its essence and blend into the native surroundings in order to fraternize with the locals? Then, they return home, book and movie deal already in hand, to write and speak extensively about their exotic adventures and proclaim their expertise in the field? Of course, I'm being facetious, but do notice that I am denigrating a certain annoying characteristic called "White privilege". In the White privilege paradigm the tendency is to speak one's mind as if it were the bible-truth, without reservation or qualification, and convince oneself that apologies and concessions are for weaklings
<6> In the global blogosphere, where our neighbors have more to do with mouse clicks than proximity, Minh's observations soon made their way to Vietnam's expatriate blogger community. Mel Schenck - "a San Francisco architect [who] hopes to find the antidote to burnout by returning to construction in Vietnam" - points out that he does not speak Vietnamese, however:
I definitely feel that I have achieved some understanding of the circumstances and culture of Vietnamese life, and I enjoy offering my observations for the possible benefit of those who will follow me in the coming investment rush to Viet Nam. But the longer I am here, the more I realize how much more I have to experience and learn. I have come to understand that it would be presumptuous to think that I have done anything other than scratch the surface of the Vietnamese culture and society. But I want to try to understand as much as I can. My real fascination with Viêt Nam is its people and their friendliness, and with their culture and approach to life. There is much for me to learn here.
That doesn't mean he'll stop his observations any time soon. Quoting the comment of an adopted Vietnamese-American blogger who refers to herself as "Ethnically Incorrect Daughter," Shenck writes:
But I think Sume of the blog Ethnically Incorrect Daughter has a good solution -- she wrote in a comment to Kev Minh's posting: "Why not take them head on, pick their opinions apart, point out the flaws and show them for the experts they're NOT? At the very least, make it known that their's is not the only opinion out there." I might not like it, but I hope I would learn from the experience of others challenging the gross generalizations to which I know I am prone. I hope that these challenges would come from Vietnamese people themselves. I attempt to ask questions and try out my ideas on the Vietnamese around me, but they too reflect a limited cross-section of the population and culture. I am sure I could learn a lot about Vietnamese life and culture from reading Vietnamese blogs if I could read Vietnamese.
<7> Kevin Minh focuses on race, nationality, and even gender when he condemns the know-it-all presumptuousness of traveling white, American males. Among Indian bloggers, however, questions of credibility have tended to center less on biology and more on geography. KM, an Indian blogger residing in New Jersey, describes the etymology and implication of the term Non-Resident Indian or "NRI."
The term "NRI" has bothered me ever since it first began showing up in Indian newspapers, probably in the late 80s or early 90s ... I am certain the term was created for administration purposes. That's how governments see things when it comes to framing laws for property ownership, assets etc. The 1980s witnessed the first visible wave of temporary migration from India to the Middle East and pretentious words like "diaspora" and "hyphenated identities" weren't invented yet. Mother India didn't want to let go of her sons, it seems. Ergo, "Non-Resident Indian".
Fair enough.
But the way the Press uses it, "Non-resident" isn't an innocent, neutral description, but a strong modifier. It is an artificial gap between two humans. We, resident, They, Non-resident.
Neha Viswanathan, now residing in London, agrees that the term is used to invalidate the opinions of Indian expatriates on matters of their homeland.
It’s interesting how often people try to shut me up by calling me an NRI (Non Resident Indian). What does she know? She’s an NRI. How can she talk about issues in India? She’s an NRI. What right does an NRI have to talk about development in India when she sits in London choking over her Starbucks Mocha? Even if I have lived in India for a day, I would still have this right to speak about the country. Even if I have never stepped foot in Mexico, I have a right to be curious and to share my perception.
Given the number of Indias within India - isn’t everyone an NRI? Everyone is not a resident of one of the Indias. Even if you’ve spent 80 ripe years in India - can you claim to know every city, person, village, river, tree and monkey? So what are you - just because your IP says you are sitting in a corner of India - an RI? (Resident Indian?)
When people find it hard to argue with your ideas - they pick on your identity instead. And that really makes me laugh. Because then for sure - I know I am right.
An anonymous commenter on Viswanathan's post, however, argues that the online antagonism between non-resident and resident Indians is largely a matter of tone.
The opposition comes when NRI’s sound heavily condescending, calling resident Indias "morons" and "idiots" and terming whatever they have been doing unconsciously for years as Beastly - nothing short of an outsider, especially westerner [perspective].
But Viswanathan, in response, remains steadfast in her right to criticize from afar.
So where is my content condescending? It is honest from my point of view. I am not going to give it a thick layer of salad dressing and be compassionate. I am not addressing a bunch of toddlers here. Adults can take honesty with a pinch of salt or a truckload of sugar. Their call. But argue with the idea - is what I am saying. Understand my content - that is fine. But don’t attempt to dismiss my intelligence as NRI talk.
Much of the criticism of Indian bloggers residing in other countries seems to stem from the assumption that they will not return; that their own future has little to do with the future of India. Kamla Bhatt, who shares her time between Manhattan and Bangalore, points out that this isn't the same global economy as the 1970's and 80's and that many expatriated Indians are in fact returning.
Thankfully, because of a couple of key developments, NRIs, who were once labeled as "Non-Returnable Indians," have now found a way to go back to India. There are many opportunities available for them to go back and live and work in India. I got an opportunity a couple of years ago to be able to live in India, and spend time with family. "You have not changed at all. You still speak Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi?" I would often get asked. Hello! I moved to a different country, but I did not loose my ability to speak languages were some of the thoughts that went through my mind.
<8> Residence and nationality took a back seat to skin tone and ethnicity in an explosive controversy surrounding the September 2006 Digital Citizen Indaba on Blogging in Grahamstown, South Africa. In a summary of the multitude of opinions about White bloggers discussing African issues, Ndesanjo Macha explains that "the controversy, for the most part, has centered around the words, African and indaba. Indaba is a Zulu word, which means a council where indigenous people of Southern Africa meet to discuss important matters." Yet the list of speakers, as African Bullets & Honey notes, was anything but indigenous:
From the list of speakers, listed below, it appears to my untrained and possibly quite mistaken eye that their last names are not very black African; at least they wouldn’t be in East Africa. (Whisper: Will it be a roomful of white folks working for the betterment of the African?)
It appears from the program that the attendees will be treated to dispositions from lawyers versed in internet issues - whatever those are - and that there is even a session to establish ‘an African Citizens Code of Conduct.’ Now that last one I find weird. The power of the internet and blogging is precisely that it is not being planned or coordinated centrally or even subject to a particular point of view. In any case are Africans so misbehaved or even depraved that they are always being subject to codes of behavior?
Sokari Ekine, a Nigerian blogger who has lived in the U.K., U.S., and now resides in Spain, added to the criticism of the conference with a slice of sarcasm.
INDABA? more like the gathering of the Big White Chiefs oOOPS but wait I forget "we are all Africans now. Maybe there will be a hall full of eager black faces looking intently at the white chiefs for guidance and hope for the future of this great land. How will we ever manage on our own?
The remark prompted British freelance journalist and blogger Andrew Heavens to call the Indaba race controversy "tiresome," an adjective that did not sit well with Ekine.
Race! Race, ethnicity are always so, oh, INCREDIBILY TIRESOME, so DREARY for white people. I mean it really is just a fucking pain in the backside. After all we live in a world of multicoloured rainbows with like minded people just trying to get along and here comes one African woman who lets pigs fly and takes issue with big white chiefs standing in for their "coloured" sisters/brethren. STOP IT - STOP talking about colour, race, white, black, ethnicity, nationality. Mr English journalist blogger is tired of the CONTROVERSY around skin colour and ethnic background at a conference on blogging in Africa? Who are you to stand there and tell me I am TIRESOME AND TO QUESTION YOUR PRESENCE IS CONTROVERSIAL? What are you doing there instead of an Ethiopian blogger, a Ghanaian blogger, a Democratic Republic of Congo blogger, a White African blogger? What is it you have to say in your imaginary colour blind world? What is it you have been doing for the sisters/brethren? Do you think you can just flick aside criticism and have your silence? By all means disagree with what I have to say but DISMISS as TIRESOME?. No, Mr Ingiland, pigs will fly before you dismiss skin colour and ethnicity as TIRESOME!
Commenting on Ekine's weblog, Nigerian Chipla Vandu is also suspect about the foreign presence at the Digital Citizen Indaba on Blogging. "It appears that in order to make anything look 'serious' on the African continent," he comments, "a bunch of outsiders must be invited. So much for giving room to homegrown talent!"
But Imnakoya disagrees:
I think I can spot Emeka Okafor, Ory Okolloh, and Zim Pundit as speakers, and probably more Afrikans than I can recognize. I see nothing wrong with these conferences, nobody is losing anything and besides, is all about sharing ideas. There is no monopoly of ideas. If ‘original Africans’ feel ignored, then they should organize one! Right?
<9> One of the conference speakers, Ory Okolloh, avoided the race controversy for the most part, noting that she has "little time for polemics" and would rather focus her energy making change than ranting online. "That being said, the debate was welcome and while I think that some of the commentary was way overboard in terms of paranoia over an African blogosphere take-over-by-whitey, I will never question the right to question...hell, Mzalendo was born out of the very idea that individuals should question their government. Furthermore, isn’t that what blogging is all about...at it’s very core...individual expression..."
Ethan Zuckerman, a friend of Okolloh's and a non-African speaker at the Indaba, agreed that the conference was worthwhile despite its shortcomings.
Critics who worried that the Digital Citizen Indaba would be South Africa-centric, light on blogger speakers and have more white than black speakers were correct on all three counts. Organizers acknowledged all these shortcomings at one point or another during the event, and I suspect the next iteration of the conference - whether in Grahamstown or somewhere else on the continent - will be a hell of a lot more representative.
The Indaba was very white, very South Africa-centric, excluded a lot of great bloggers, and was probably held in the wrong location. And yet, it was a really enjoyable and useful conference.
<10> The still-recent invention and diffusion of the World Wide Web marks the first truly global channel of communication and a new marketplace of self-published literature. There are no rules dictating what must be discussed or who should be discussing it. But in the free market of ideas, the credibility of content is still largely linked to notions of the author's nationality, residence, and race.
<11> If an international cadre of Weinberger's post-national movement actually exists, they have surely discovered the necessity of navigating a cyberplace which is still divided by the political and socio-cultural boundaries of 20th century cartography. We can be sure, however, that as the migrations of both culture and people accelerate the definitions of those boundaries and the legacies they represent will become increasingly ambiguous.