Enrique Iglesias, Cultural Totem and Before the Beginning

 It seems that the totemic sacredness of the Sri Lankan culture has been violated by Enrique’s ‘Sex and Love’ concert in Sri Lanka. Totem is a symbol that serves as an emblem that characterizes or/and represent the spiritual as well as the mythical content that is collectively shared by a particular community, clan or group of people. Behind the recent controversy in which even President of Sri Lanka made a statement to ‘ban’ such concerts in future which may pollute the ‘essence’ of Sri Lankaness, lot of criticism are based not on the nature of such concert but one female fan throwing her bra at Enrique. According to the Sathhanda Sinhala newspaper, these kinds of events are often ‘staged occurrences’ where the event organizers in advance organize such show- bits as part of the flow of the whole event. In that case the ‘staged authenticity’ (I borrow this term from American sociologist Dean MacCannell 1975) has transformed into a more real event than reality. The reality could have been that this particular fan throws her brazier (or any other undergarments) at Enrique out of her own authentic feeling of ecstasy or may be thrilled by his attractive figure and passionate stage personality which transcends freedom of sexuality and so on. The final discourse of this whole event is 'reduced' to a threatening enemy, a female fan who 'conspired' to  steal the harmonious integrity of our society. The Sinhala-Buddhist spiritual essence (the dead primordial father figure is spectrally rejuvenated and reincarnated  through tattoos such as  Sinhale ) that remained unpolluted for centuries even before powerful Indian and European invaders! has apparently been thundered by a female figure who was absolutely 'unknown' before this event.      

I think if the event is a 'staged' phenomenon, this political outcome is far more dangerous than it occurred spontaneously. In a spontaneous movement, a hysterically excited fan may do so out of overwhelming emotions towards the artist. But since this is deliberately ‘staged’ for public display, it is an organized and pre-planned violation of a fundamental taboo of a society.  In this case, ‘they knew what they were doing’ by using a female figure against her own culture (she, as a trans-national fan of Iglesias, may probably not stick to the existing Sri Lankan cultural values).  The spiritual logic of late-capitalism is to overcome the old-fashioned binaries of modernity (Zizek 2011); man/woman; high/low culture; loyalty/betrayal; good/bad; truth/false;  spirituality and materialism etc. and lead the postmodern subject towards a hyper-trophy situation. The tantra of late-capitalism is to perform transgressive outburst of enjoyment for the gaze of the Other (2011: 8).  The offender here is a woman who is held accountable and is to be crucified in compensation for her violation of the taboo.  In this new late-capitalist framework, woman who embodies the ‘inherent primordial loss’ generally breaks away (or forced to, by the market forces) from the basic social bond and stages traumatic events for people to enjoy. She presents the social truth by trying to appropriate the ‘loss’; the Symbolic Order -  or, in other words, lack of common social link between the members of a social group that creates object-love where there is universal identification. What is simply meant by this is that there is no ‘ontic-domain’ (to identify universal comradeship) beyond identiarians such as race, culture, gender etc. to represent authority.  In this context, the hysterized mob identifies with Enrique’s fragile sexual image (behind Enrique’s active sexy performance, he has a passive sexual orientation) where there is no heroic image of universal emancipation for them to look for.   

The totemic element in almost any society involves matriarchal female substance whose existence is elevated to the level of a pure object that is not supposed to be polluted or violated. According to Freud, the totem is identified with our social being or our present existence; how can we ‘be’ of something and ‘be’ beyond ourselves. In other words, totem not only constructs our being in the present but helps formulating our spiritual existence in future. However, an emotional ambivalence is resulted from its dialectic divergence between 'sacredness' and 'uncleanness'.  For example, female figure (mother), on one hand, is considered sacred but, on the other, is treated as a vulgar personality (whore). When woman stimulates man sexually, she, at the same time, possesses menstruation process that restricts such sexual temptation. Totem and taboo invoke and depend on the function of a certain societies' Law. In a primordial context, all the women in the clan are possessed by one father who drives away his sons as they grow up. The jealousy father is later encountered violently by his sons and they finally kill him and devour him (patriarchal horde). And by this act, they accomplish their identification with him. The totem meal, mankind's fist festival, would thus be the most primal commemoration of man's criminal deeds and this is the beginning of all social and moral organizations in human civilization (Freud 1985: 203-4). With the origin of moral restrictions, religion and law resulted from dead- father, Freud reveals that  it is the beginning of the complex constitutes of all neurosis. According to Andrew Roberts,

'The dead father became stronger than the living one had been - for events took the course we often see them follow in human affairs to this day. What had up to then been prevented by his actual existence was thenceforward prohibited by the sons themselves, in accordance with the psychological procedure so familiar to us in psychoanalysis under the name 'deferred obedience'. They revoked their deed by forbidding the killing of the totem, the substitute for their father; and they renounced its fruits by resigning their claim to the women who had now been set free'.

Out of this guilt, according to Roberts, man created two fundamental taboos; namely incest and patricide. ‘Freudian primordial parricide in which the sons, driven out in the cause of the sexual monopoly of the overbearing father, somehow come together and, in their combined strength, kill and eat him’ (Fitzpatrick 2001: 12). It is from this act Freud derives the origin of society and law. The violation of totem is a traumatic encounter and is a Real. The totemic construction of woman and the notion of pollution are primordial ideas and the criticisms against this act emerge from the country’s pre-modern origins. In the generalized perversion in postmodern Sri Lanka, such spectral violation of primordial law is experienced as ‘commanded’ by its enjoyment. The contradiction between ideological individualism (‘I do whatever I want since I have paid 30,000 rupees’) and market oriented standardized enjoyment (Tutt  2010: 3) in which the notion ‘this is how you should enjoy’ is injected (or commanded) to the subject. What is observable in this event is there is a provocative ‘elimination of paternal authority’ in our society (that is why this fan’s father’s position is questioned) and the President Maithripala Sirisena's immediate response to this event is also based on the 'threatened' legitimacy of the paternal figure who is supposed to preserve the essence of the nation. As expected, he clearly confirmed that his government does not allow anyone to destroy the spirituality of Sri Lankanness while also paradoxically representing the Liberal Capitalist structure that sustains obscene transgressions. Capitalism is only possible through such ‘radical’ violations (revolutions!).  

Those who staged this event by transgressing a fundamental taboo of the society, by the time this article is written, have publicly apologized for certain technical issues in the show but have not expressed anything with regard to this controversial scene. This whole show became a public concern not because of ticketing issues or artist's delay and the like. The organizers (a firm owned by Mahela and Sanga) who belong to a successful business category in Sri Lanka carefully avoids the politico-cultural controversy of the event (the postmodern de-politicization). The liquid global capital from which they immensely profit stands above national politico-cultural boarders. Such silence is understandable under the new pervert philosophy which seeks temporal and alternative heroes such as Enrique Iglesias who is sustained on our inability to reach jouissance. However, rather than holding one particular female responsible for historical patriarchal failure in politics, Sri Lankans should understand this event as a producer of truth that we desire to suppress. In the Zizek-Badiou debate, what Badiou claims is truth is a discourse that is resulted from an Event (Badiou 2006). According Badiou, 1917 Red Revolution or French Revolution or 9/11 are such events where truth is produced as post-evental phenomenon (2005). The contemporary discourse that identifies this particular female figure as a destroyer of our society (in this event) has largely forgotten  to take into account what the next step should be by doing so. Are we going to invite the primordial authoritarian master to come back, purify and save us from modern evils? Though this precise event is not universally collective political action, the outcome and the impact always exceeds the situation itself. It is true that she has broken a totemic rule in her own pervert manner but the violation of Truth-Event forces us for a new beginning. This new beginning should not be based on some nostalgic return to the past  whose fragile ideological framework is comfortably exploited by the totalitarian master.

Let's conclude this short essay by identifying the symptom that floats between the spaces of the benevolent master and totalitarianism (the one who promises to save us from modern evil). In a pervert global order where there are no true heroes but pre-Oedipal masters who demonically execute banal barbarity across globe, I will quote few lines from Enrique's song 'Hero',

  'I can be your hero, baby

   I can kiss away the pain

   I will stand by you forever

  You can take my breath away' (Enrique Iglesias).

You can hear the hysterical murmur demanding subjectivity to the command of the benevolent master who temporarily promises to take all your pain away and cure your historical wounds. Benevolent Master always promises a degree of surplus enjoyment and becomes a slave of the instrumental enjoyment of late-capitalism (Iglesias plays the role of the master and the slave at the same time). The surplus enjoyment of the whole Iglesias event is derived through 'something more than the musical experience' itself. More than the musical experience is publicly supplemented by this fetish sex symbols-objects such as female undergarments. This particular female fan merely became the object of this 'staged' Iglesias subjectivity of the unconditional command towards transgressive enjoyment that you cannot resist. But by rising above the traditional decent feminine role (let's say this event is organized behind-the-scene), she has staged a manipulated 'excessive outburst of passion' (Zizek 2011:114) which can be termed as an Event that epitomized the negativity with which Sri Lankans' politico-cultural harmony is maintained (Truth).  From the present indifferent hypocrisy towards our own political failure and crucifying a woman as a homage (Badiou terms this situation as 'subjectivity' in the following diagram) we must move towards a new being/appearance; a new form of politics that truly changes the present hysterical-pervert status quo.  In her own gross and enigmatic subjectivity at the threshold of the benevolent master, in a Zizekian sense, she has slapped her neighbor! (2011:119)  Isn't her intrusive gesture a wake up call for a new beginning? 

Further Readings:

1. Badiou, A. (2005). Being and Event. (trans. Oliver Feltham). London. Continuum.

2. Badiou, A. (2006). Truth Producer in Politics (Lecture delivered by Badiou). in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alain_Badiou#/media/File:Badiou-an_original_drawing.jpg

3. Fitzpatrick, P. (2001). Modernism and the Grounds of Law. UK. Cambridge University Press.

4. Freud, S. (1985). Totem and Taboo. in ‘The Origin of Religion’ (Vol. 13). London. Penguin.

5. MacCannell, D. (1975). The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class. USA. University of California Press.

6. Sathhanda Weekend Newspaper. (2015. 12. 27). Change the Channel if You Cannot Stand to See the Bra being Taken Off. in http://sathhanda.lk/news/ideology/1375-2015-12-26-04-27-00.

7. Tutt, D. (2010). Oedipus and the Social Bond in Zizek and Badiou. (Vol.8-No.1). in International Journal of Zizek Studies.

8. Roberts, A. (2010). Totem and Taboo: Extracts from Sigmund Freud. (retrieved from http://studymore.org.uk/xfre1913.htm). 

9. Zizek. S. (2011). Living in the End Times. London and New York. Verso.

                                                                                                                                   Mahesh Hapugoda

Higher Education for Future Sri Lanka: Suggestions for Improvement

Higher Education for Future Sri Lanka: Suggestions for Improvement

Mahesh Hapugoda

Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka

Lot of questions in higher education is left unanswered in the post-independent Sri Lanka. The misalignment between economic models under experiment and the end product of education has historically caused unimaginable devastations. The sparks of those destructions still gleam across generations and ethnicity. After decades of negligence, rhetoric, trial and failures, again we have come to another milestone of history where there is hope for revision, reconciliation and recovery. What role does education have to play in this juncture? What is the role of academic scholars and policy makers? How far scholarly research and findings will help Sri Lanka to improve the present status quo and prepare its people for the process of transformation to a digitalized global era? Especially, when humanity in this part of the world is considered as disposable, as Zizek notices, (in Hapugoda 2015) education can perhaps be the only weapon to way forward. Absolutely agreeing with Zizek's notion (in Wall and Perrin 2015) of returning to modern classical education with free thinking, critical investigation, philosophical insights and radical findings; also positively considering Yannis Varoufakis' (2015) observation that modern university education is devoid of liberal-critical investigations based on social changes (challenging the inner limits of our own disciplines), this article reviews the manner in which Sri Lanka should undergo decisive changes to meet the challenges in future in line with the technological miracles of the twentieth century.   

Sri Lankan society, like any other post-colonial nation, is made of complex internal contradictions.  At a macro level changing agrarian economy, civil uprisings, party politics, unemployment, crisis in education, infra-structure development and corruption have gradually made Sri Lanka lives miserable over the last sixty years. Ethno-cultural contradictions, human interactions, tradition and interpretations, religion, impact of social media and digitalized realities, changing nature of human relationships and disintegration of traditional family function at a micro level to drive us to an entity of uncertainty.   Both aspects are part of the social transformation that demands inevitable change.  In a situation like this what is necessitated is transformative education. Since we are in a process of serious socio-cultural transformation from tradition to modern, the nature of education should facilitate the individuals to cope with the ‘fundamental shift in people’s beliefs and values’ (Miao 2000:3) while also producing a vision for the future. Theoretically speaking, in these conditions people desire for three major knowledge interests; they are, technical interest in controlling and manipulating the environment, a practical interest in understanding human behavior and social norms, and an emancipatory interest in developing people’s self-awareness (Habermas 1971). The responsibility of the scholars in creating a learning environment and subject content for such transformative education still is not fully realized by those who are actually responsible for higher education reforms. In this context, there must always be a national coordination between incentives for higher scholarly research and the policy designing for the future. 

   

The mismatch between academic research and national requisites has worried many intellectuals over the last twenty years. The nature of academic research might not necessarily demand national requirements or the scholarly researches are not driven by the priorities of a particular socio-cultural context. Sometimes they may not exactly fit into the phase of ‘solutions’ that societies wait for. Research is an independent project that intends to make discoveries and provide ‘new theoretical insights or improved understanding of issues’ (Creedy 2002: 7). Therefore, theoretically, scholars are not bound to conduct research for timely recommendations or solving issues. However, it is also clear that every scholar has a social obligation to do something for the betterment of a particular community that he or she lives in. Hence, in a crucial moment like this where we still struggle to come to term with what our future would look like, it is not unfair to demand some concern from the academic community to use their experience, knowledge and focus to contribute for the future development of our nation. In short, the policy makers need to look into the findings of the scholarly researches (both national and international) when designing policy frameworks. So, how are we going to make the connection between scholarly research and national requirements? The connection, as I think, should technically be made through an integrated National Plan for future development of Sri Lanka. When I say ‘technically’, we must keep in mind that though things can be done through institutionalized regulations, the best motivator is the moral obligation that occurs to us spontaneously and drives us to work voluntarily. What is felt to us should come from within, not from an external agency. If we truly want future success, there is no way than the hard way.

Since the nature and requirements of Higher Education in the Third World (very much applicable to changing societies such as ours) keep on changing in quick succession in a context of fast evolving globalization, there must be a Nation Plan for Higher Education which should be subject to change in every five year. Such plan for Higher Education should necessarily be integrated to the National Development Plan. A centralized body representing all Provincial Councils and other key governmental bodies should identify the national educational requirements every year and report them the above body. There must be a co-ordination between such body and the National Universities and National Vocational Bodies before deciding on the priorities of research areas in Higher Education and subsequent funding concerns. The common grievance of the university academics is the lack of co-ordination between academic research and policy implementation bodies which seriously consider such research findings. For example, there was no substantial research conducted or any empirical observation done in the field of TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) prior to introducing the recent National Policy called Speak English In Our Way adapted under the Ten Year National Plan for Trilingual Sri Lanka (possible theoretical implications of this policy is observed by R. Ibrahim 2012) . The recommendations of this report are apparently based on a Socio-Linguistic Survey of Sri Lanka conducted in 2010 August. While the concept appears useful and timely in the context of social harmony, an undergraduate research conducted by the Faculty of Social Sciences and Languages, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka found out that the lack of co-ordination with the respective teachers in secondary education, lack of awareness and preparation, mismatch between school reality and the kind of training received have functioned as hindrances in achieving its full potential (Hennayaka 2013). There is no adequate theoretical underpinning (derived from both local and international evidence) to see the precise scientific relationship between the implementation of ‘trilingualism’ (or multilingualism) and enhancement of ethnic harmony in Sri Lanka. As far as the improved economic competitiveness of the minorities is concerned, it is also doubtful whether such measure preciously meets the ‘thwarted aspirations’ (Bandarage 2009: 63) of those who ferociously waged a secessionist war against the majority Sinhalese.  

Sadly, it is also important to mention that another ongoing research by an undergraduate in the Faculty of Social Sciences and Languages found that there is no proper ‘coping strategy’ and a teaching methodology adapted for the war-affected and traumatized school children in North and East (Herath 2014 and Hariharathamotharan 2014). When education has historically become a major concern of the Tamil politicians and intellectuals (Perera 1999; Dissanayaka 2003; Wijesinha 2007; Anandasangaree 2007)  such humanistic and pedagogical approach should be the most important national concern of a nation which suffered a devastating war of thirty years, and does not want the history to repeat. First, there is no mechanism to find out the true requirements of such communities and second, there is a disparity in the academic research interests and national requirements. There must always be an alignment between the two. And if we truly want a ‘truly free and open society’ (Amaratunga 2002: 93) where ‘human life is rightly employed in perfecting and beautifying’ (John Stuart Mill 1976) higher education stands in the forefront in shaping future humanity.  Therefore, a research culture that looks into the true needs of communities, their real issues and aspirations and setting national goals which go hand in hand is necessary.

Such research culture is the key to reach the international standards of globalized university education.  In the policy manifesto of the present UPFA government, there is a remark on the need of an intellectual who is globally acknowledged (Mahinda Chinthana 2010: 16). This also talks about university education and its competitiveness in the global context. In this case, while enhancing subject knowledge, English Language competency, IT and other life skills (and soft skills) among the undergraduates and staff, the research culture should also be taken into serious consideration. The academic staff should publish their findings in internationally recognized/ index academic journals while there is a similar mechanism for the undergraduates as well. What the editors of those journals often say is that the conceptual framework of the local authors does not fit in line with the contemporary literature developed by Anglo-American research paradigms in the last twenty to thirty years. Therefore, there must be a change (difference) in the kind of research literature that is often adapted by local researchers. We should focus on the reading culture as well as the type of exposure to the recent developments in the global academic scene. 

However, there must also be certain priorities for academic research and funding. We must identify the most significant areas of study for national development for the next twenty years or so when certain research proposals are considered for national funding such as UGC Research Grants and NCAS. One such area can be primary education in distant areas such as North and East; another would be health issues in such regions etc. Such priority can be an incentive or motivation for young researchers from Humanities/ Applied Sciences. If they need funds for international publications or conference presentations, and if their research areas fall in line with such national priorities, more grants should be allocated for them. The UGC has already published such priority list in their web site. But in their guidelines to financial assistance for academics it has not prioritized anything in relation to social harmony, conceptualizing postwar/future Sri Lanka, primary and secondary education, inequality in education, language policy, power devolution and decentralization, good governance, etc.   

What is suggested here is one should not conduct scholarly research according to some priority list prepared by a government agency. It also does not mean to discourage other academic areas which are not included in the national priority list.  The independent discoveries irrespective of national priorities or concerns should go on as usual. Such independent research too can come out with unexpected discoveries which can cause ‘paradigm shifts’ in our thinking. But whatever that must be prioritized should be given a special concern. In this case, education should be given an utmost priority.

Changes should start from education. Such changes should guided by scholarly research. New research findings should pragmatically be incorporated to the process of education. Any effort to redesign Higher Education for the future Sri Lanka has to consider few major global developments that took place in the last few decades. At least, Sri Lankan higher education should consider the followings for its future development strategies;

a.    Device based education: Smart phones and portable tabulates have opened up a new space for distanced education where the teacher’s intervention has been minimized.  Since this is coupled with Outcome Based Education (OBE) and Open Online Courses (sometimes referred to as MOOCS- Massive Open Online Courses), the traditional mode of delivery has to change. It should be mentioned here that some of these elements were introduced to Humanities streams by the World Bank funded HETC (Higher Education for the Twenty First Century) Project from 2013. At the same time, the traditional classroom based education too has to undergo structural changes. The online learning management systems and software have a strong impact on learning process of the students both secondary and tertiary levels. The traditional syllabi have to be realigned to incorporate and facilitate the process of inculcating new skills, aspirations and orientations of the new generation into the teaching and learning process. Technology is the meeting point of the requirements of the new age and expectations of the digital generation. If properly utilized, the technology can actually minimize the human resource gap between ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ in primary and secondary education. It is important to remember that a digital device cannot simply replace the role of a teacher (Hapugoda 2012), but sharing information can also make a difference.  

b.      Getting ready for the Digital Age: In future, the internet will be available like electricity in every household, and it will automatically be embedded in the ordinary lives of citizens in the next ten years. Since it facilitates learning beyond geographical boarders, this can give a new outlook to the traditional way of classroom education and the way of scholarly research delivery. It has introduced rapid methods in knowledge dissimilation and interpretation encompassing traditional geo-political barriers. However, the researchers should look into this upcoming change in the communities and make suggestions to get rid of the adverse effects that such change in medium of communication and information sharing can generate in the lives of people. They should understand that the evolution of technology will eventually ‘reconstruct’ all the socio-cultural models that man has developed in the 20th century (example: political and public sphere, education, communication, social relationships, health, business and entertainment). Together with positive outcomes, there will be negative developments such as internet abuse, plagiarism, unwanted exposure to pornography and crime, violation of privacy and security, devoid of reality etc. Education should prepare individuals for this aspect of societal evolution at present and in future.  

c.     Critical Thinking and education free from traditional bias: Given the context that our children have grown into deep ethnic and cultural divisions, the education has a pioneering role to play to eliminate the traditional biases within our societies. Therefore, in the face of transformation to digital era and to student based learning (or outcome based learning), the quality content and critical inquiry of modern education should not be forgotten at any cost.  The quality content of education should modernize the individuals’ minds and translate him or her to think positively, rationally and secularly. Secular education does not mean that the modern individuals should not carry an enlightened spiritual integrity. The true meaning of this is that such spiritual contend must emerge from logical reasoning. For instance, one can be religious, but not without its rational emancipation potential in understanding self and relating to the other. Only such individual can respect his social Other and tolerate the difference. Only rational thinking and logical understanding can prevent fundamentalism, terrorism, techno-phobia and social violence and experience passion for diverse human nature.

The love of liberty, in the only proper sense of that word is unselfish; it places no one in a position of hostility to the good of his fellow creatures; all alike may be free, and the human freedom of one has no solid security but in the equal freedom of the rest; the appetite for power is on the contrary essentially selfish, for all cannot have power; the power of one is power over others, who not only do not share in his elevation, but whose depression is the foundation on which it is raised  (John Stuart Mill 1862 cited in Amaratunga 2002).

d.   English Language Proficiency: Today, though technology itself can guide the user (as how to use it) even without a fundamental understanding about language, a higher pedagogical applications require precision in language skills especially English as the language of technology. Technology now facilitates translation and transliteration and the user can familiarize himself or herself with these new trends even from a non-English speaking environment. But this does not solve the problem of creative and logical expression in knowledge building process. Despite the miracles in technology, it is ultimately up to the user to use the language creatively, meaningfully and argumentatively. The mode of communication may change but how to use the language still remains with the originality and skillfulness of the user.

To help the new generation in coping with technology and the future potentials in the world of work, English education should begin from primary stage in school education. It should be made compulsory from a very early stage of school education since it is the language through which higher cognitive capacities can be developed in individuals at a later stage in a post-colonial setting such as ours. Even after centuries from Industrial Revolution and Imperialism, still it is the language of modern secularism, rationalism and individualism.  Whether vernacular can do the same has to be debated elsewhere. 

As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, everything should begin with school education. In this regard, many positive suggestions in relation to improving the quality of school education have been made by Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha in his recent book titled The Care of Children: Theory and Practice (2013).   In the book, Part 1 is devoted to elaborate on the nature of improvements required in school education, especially in areas such as teaching content, evaluation methods, school administration, teacher education and training, structural changes and automatic teacher transfers (see 80-135). With his own experience, he also suggests some important reforms to the existing university education too.

English should be the language of instruction in University education except for certain language based disciplines such as Sinhala, Tamil, Hindi, Chinese etc. At the same time, all the foundation courses in the first year should be taught in English and if the English language requirement is not met by the candidate, it should be a major disqualification for his or her undergraduate profile. Such candidate should not proceed to the next stage without the English language requirement (together with basic IT, General IQ or Scientific Thinking, Current Affairs, Mother Tongue Proficiency etc.).  If any university or Faculty fails to make the English language requirement compulsory, the UGC or the Ministry of Higher Education should re-think of funding them for future. The country has no time or money to waste anymore. We cannot afford to do mistakes once more.  Hence, we cannot afford to spend money for producing unemployable graduates who cannot think creatively and innovatively for rebuilding Sri Lanka. Similarly, we also cannot afford to produce teachers who cannot inculcate modern values and skills in students. We need a new environment where we are collectively responsible for each other and for the future of the country.

In this case, technology, social media and open online courses coupled with critical thinking can be used to materialize social harmony by minimizing obvious cultural differences. Here, technology, device based education and social media would be a melting pot for different people to meet, eliminate their traditional bias and understand each other with respect.    

e.    Networked Global Economy and Education: The IT based transformation in higher education today can go hand in hand with the Networked Economy that is blooming day by day. This requires specific skills in Information Technology and creativity in languages. Service delivery, consultations, financial transactions, online purchasing now take place in an unthinkable speed. Therefore, higher education and its methods of teaching should incorporate the significance and adaptability of these technological forms into the future development of economy through their designing of teaching objectives and outcomes. 

If I repeat, technology evolves in an unimaginable speed. The way we gather, store and share information has changed radically while higher education (especially university education in Sri Lanka) remained unchanged until recent times (at least for Humanities). The Higher Education in future Sri Lanka should always facilitate the younger generation to be qualified and skilled to meet the challenges of the digitalized global era while being knowledgeable about Classical disciplines of the previous era. It should prepare the future generation to find new opportunities, employments and to pursue further higher educational avenues. They must be trained to learn outside the classroom.  Then only Sri Lanka would be able to produce mature adults.  

Further Reading:

Amaratunga, C. (2002). Liberal Perspectives. Colombo. Chanaka Amaratunga Foundation.

Anandasangaree, V. (2007). A Solution for the Ethnic Problem of Sri Lanka. Colombo. The Department of Government Information.

Bandarage, A. (2009). The Separatist Conflict in Sri Lanka: Terrorism, Ethnicity, Political Economy. Colombo. Vijitha Yapa.

Creedy, J. (2002). Starting Research and Writing a Research Paper. International Labor Organization.

Dissanayaka, T.D.S.A. (2003). War or Peace in Sri Lanka: Peace at what cost? (Vol. IV). Colombo. Swasthika Publishers.

Fernanda, S. (2012). Ten Year National Plan for a Trilingual Sri Lanka (2012-2022). file:///C:/Users/ACER/Documents/Ten%20Year%20National%20Plan%20-%20English.pdf

Habermas, J. (1971). Knowledge and Human Interests. Boston. Beacon Press.

Hapugoda, M. (2012). Teacher as an Anonymous Agent of Universal Good: Discussion on the Role of Teacher in the Short Story ‘The Morning Clouds’ by Yasunari Kawabata. International Symposium presentation and abstract published in the proceedings. Belihuoya. Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka.

Hapugoda, M. (2015). Seya, Kondaya and the Disposable Humanity in Capitalism. in Thrimana Online New Magazine. http://3mana.com/seya-kodaya-and-disposable-humanity-in-capitalism/

Hariharathamotharan, S. (2014). Traumatized Children and Community Care. Working MPhil/PhD project. Faculty of Graduate Studies. University of Colombo.

Hennayaka, D. (2013). The effectiveness in implementation of the National Plan for a Trilingual Sri Lanka: In relation to the role of English in school education. (Abstract published in the proceedings of Student Research Sessions, Faculty of Social Sciences and Languages, p. 179). Unpublished undergraduate dissertation.

Herath, P. (2014). English Education in a Postwar Context: Evidence from Vavuniya District. Ongoing undergraduate research. Faculty of Social Sciences and Languages, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka.

Ibrahim. R. (2012). ‘Sri Lankan English’, ‘Speak English Our Way’ and ‘the Other’. Abstract published in Proceedings of Jaffna University Interational Symposium. University of Jaffna.

Mahinda Chinthana: Vision for the Future. (2010). Election Manifesto by Hon. Mahinda Rajapaksa. http://www.srilankanelections.com/userfiles/file/mahinda_chintana_vision_for_the_future_sin.pdf

Miao, C. (2000). Transformative Learning and Social Transformation: A Cross Cultural Perspective. Ottawa. National Library of Canada.

Mill, J.S. (1862). Centralisation. Edinburgh Review.

Mill, J.S. (1976). On Liberty. London. Penguin.

Perera, S. (1999). The Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka: A Historical and Sociopolitical Outline. Washington DC. World Bank.

Varoufakis, Y. (2015). Questions and Answer Session in the Oxford Union. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWB6lY2GBjQ

Wall, T and Perrin, D. (2015). Slavoj Zizek:  A Zizekian Gaze at Education. UK. Springer. 

Wijesinha, R. (2007). Declining Sri Lanka: Terrorism and Ethnic Conflict: The Legacy of J.R. Jayawardene. India. Foundation Books.

Wijesinha, R. (2013). The Care of Children: Theory and Practice. Sri Lanka. International Book House.  

(This article was initially published in EduLanka online)

A question to Mr. Sampanthan

In this brief blog post, I ask a simple question from the Leader of Opposition, Mr. R. Sampanthan. The nature of this query has nothing to do with ordinary ethnocentric onslaughts by Sinhalese nationalists on minority politics or Mr. Sampanthan himself. It must be mentioned here that I was very hopeful and looking forward to see as to how he would illustrate the universal qualities of such position encompassing all traditional boundaries to address  the grievances of the whole nation.

As Mr. Sampanthan said on the day he became the leader of opposition that he too would do all that would be done by a Sinhalese Leader of Opposition, the Sri Lankan are very doubtful about the above statement. Since so many things happened in the Sri Lankan society for the past few weeks from child abuse, excessive use of police power, public cry to legalize capital punishment to some confused allocating of ministerial portfolios etc. As far as the Sinhala society is aware, no concern has been expressed by Mr. Sampanda over those issues except on the international attention received by Hon. Maithripala Sirisena. The role of the Opposition Leader is not restricted to issues related to the ethnic problem or such grievance. May be those are important to the TNA on an emotional basis but there are other issues emerging in the country which need to pay attention to. Those issues are not bound to North and East which Mr. Sampanthan represents, but are common issues of general significance. Both Tamils and Sinhalese experienced Police and military discrimination over the last three decade. In this new juncture, democratization process is important to both communities and the voice of the Opposition Leader is desired by the country irrespective of ethnic boundaries. As he claimed few months ego in fulfilling his duty to all Sri Lankans, this is the time to raise his voice and walk the talk.

In this case, I am asking a simple question based on a statement made by Slavoj Zizek: 'Something that is there instead of nothing is always a symptom'.  Whatever said and done about equal opportunity for Tamils in Sri Lankan politics over our own historical guilt, we actually do not have an Opposition Leader in its true sense; whatever is there is a always symptom.

The role of the opposition leader or any political role at any level is not to cater any 'ideological gap' to compensate for any historical guilt. Such leader should address the true problems of the society in which millions of individuals are discarded by ruthless capitalist world order. The political consequences of lack of a true opposition can be really dangerous. One section of the opposition is only interested in the outcomes of Geneva and its impact of re-shaping the nationalist agenda. Another section is supporting the present government. Even the TNA and JVP are less critical about the government and that is understandable. As many critics claim one must give a reasonable period to this government to solve some of the serious national issues (national reconciliation and constitutional design) that were not addressed by the previous governments. The 'political gap' that is created because of this silence is taken over by electronic media. When one looks at the way media behaved in some social issues in the last few weeks, they show dangerous 'symptoms' in the formation of the daily life world. This pervert substitution of political space is also another 'something instead of nothing'. 

Seya, Kondaya and 'Disposable Humanity in Capitalism'

Finally, everybody found 'him'. For the last few days, Sri Lankan public wanted to know one thing and one thing only. They immediately wanted to find, 'who raped and murdered Seya Sadeumi?' The often asked question by media, certain segment of intellectuals and professionals, Ranjan Ramanayake and other politicians and many who protested in cities including Buddhist monks was who could do this kind of heinous and appalling crime. They never expected the question could turn out to be this traumatic encounter. However, now every body found the most traumatized answer which made us all ashamed of ourselves, which made our whole existence completely meaningless as politician, critics, educators and law makers. When one seeks the truth, it comes back to you in a traumatic manner. Always the encounter of truth is more true than truth itself.
                     
                         Desire=Drive (to know) - Truth=Knowledge (the effect of truth and the hitherto                                    traumatic encounter)

Who is he? He is someone who could not read or write, or did not even have a mobile phone. He does not wash his face or brush his teeth. He used to eat raw fish or steal cooked rice from neighboring houses. According his mother, his ultimate school education was grade one or so...so on and so forth. He is someone who does not even know the 'fundamental rules of a civilization'. He may not narrate to us an inner/hidden story of some obscene spiritual origin. We will find a fundamental ideological deadlock of impossibility of judging him in line with modern civilizational rules. According Zizek, he is someone who was made 'disposable' by the present capitalist system. This condition is applied to Seya Sadewmi and the victimized school child as well, They are all 'once used' and then discarded, neglected and damaged irreparably as if they are non-humans. These people are of no use to the true function of the capitalist system. They are very marginal consumers of its commercial space and commodities. For Zizek, those who have 'entered' the capitalist system can see its infinite possibilities to actualize their dreams; speed cars  which go in light speed, pornographic existence to discover your inner potentials and limits  to sustain obscenity, find the right partner so that you reach the ultimate form of happiness and travel to some exotic country so that you may meet you spiritual tranquility etc. All the good and services are at your fingertips in a matter of few seconds. The man who is held responsible for the murder of Seya is someone without this fundamental dream of self-actualization. He did not get access to the list of itineraries that 'modernize' you! This list always provided by the consumerist commodities that give you perfection and radicalize your existence. (The Liberals can now argue that if he at least had access to pornography, he would not have committed  this crime - he being a voyeur!). 

In the logic of capitalism, while satisfying some segment of its consumers, a vast majority of citizens (sometime entire Nations) is neglected or considered useless or permanently unusable to its current productive needs (including university students and teachers). It does not need the so called professional now. They are in advance unusable according to its new rules of apartheid and doomed to face a very nihilistic future. It uses its military and police authority to further distance such individuals from the system. The phrase 'global' actually doe not mean global. There are so many countries, nations and entities in Asia, Africa and South America where capitalism even does not bother to enter. In the same way, in producing labour to function the capitalist system, there are areas in Sri Lanka where bourgeois education, law or humanity do not bother to enter. No government agency could at least properly 'rehabilitate' Kondaya when he was first caught for a similar crime (if I use the same bourgeois terminology). In some part of rural Sri Lanka, there are areas where one cannot buy a piece of soap without walking two-three kilometers. How can the modern capitalism 'civilize' them? What mega plans does it have to take these people into its command? Since its logic of profit does not focus on any further expansion into distant areas, I think, these people will be subjects permanently abandoned by capitalism.   

The public reaction to these murders is not difficult to understand. They wanted the government to perform the duty of the executioner. If one carefully watched the media coverage of this event, what people were demanding (including his own relatives) was to publicly 'hang' the murderer (the obscene carnival) or to 'slowly torture' (banal barbarism) him until death. They forced the police to act irrationally and immediately (which put lot of people in unnecessary trouble) as if they saw an epidemic was about to kick off. Even the Sri Lankan President Hon. Maithripala Serisena, being an 'Stalinist instrument of public outcry' and an authentic instrument of the obscene capitalist function of exclusion, commented that he too does not have any objection in legalizing death sentence. It seems that the President considers the ongoing public outcry as a metaphor of 'objective meaning' of some historical necessity. But it is an obscene fantasy of general will that hypocritically 'covers' their own guilt. Such capital punishment can ritualistically be performed in a Stalinist carnival that paradoxically twists 'yesterday the King today a beggar'.     

The truth becomes a traumatic encounter when we found him hidden in a 'jungle' not very far from a major suburb in Sri Lanka. Kondaya is a worthless, disposable non-human subject (watched by thousands of 'worthy and harmless' spectators in the Negombo Hospital) marginalized by the present status quo waiting his capital punishment. Now the promoters of capitalism  can swiftly say that their project is still 'unfinished' (please remember that this phrase was not borrowed from Habermas), and, in the next phase of commodity fetishism, we will surely humanize/civilize the uncivilized. Those who march in the streets demanding death sentence never talk about the everyday cry to 'violate rules' and actualize your desire. In our passive subjectivity in capitalism it is always easy to find one isolated individual/event and hold it responsible for our constant guilt. 

...all that remained to hope was that on the day of my execution, there should be a huge crowd of spectators and that they should greet me with howls of execration'  

disposable humanity= (ඉවතලන මනුෂත්වය)

Reference: http://www.lacan.com/zizstalin.htm

Watch the following video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud2Wq9wT7cQ

Mahesh Hapugoda

When Big Things Occur....

The earthquake that hit Nepal a few weeks back again reminded us of the fact how the modern humanity is still 'unprepared' for bigger challenges (watch Slavoj Zizek's interview with Aljazeera about his 2014 book 'Living in the End Times').  At least for the first few days, the nature of the magnitude of  the catastrophe was quite beyond management for the relief group consisted of several mighty nations and regional commonwealth countries.   The international media went on reporting how thousands of locals and international pleasure seekers were trapped in this tragic event. The after effects had been more devastating and those who helped rescue efforts found that the situation was far beyond their ability to manage. The Nepal government was assisted by all the regional countries and some superpowers to overcome the situation. Very much like the Tsunami  that hit the some parts of Asia in 2004, no country had ever prepared for a hazardous situation of this magnitude and managerial bodies were initially clueless about the situation. Sometimes ago after the Tsunami disaster, Time magazine published an article titled 'Are we ready for another Tsunami' (Read the article:  http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1661462,00.html ). It feared whether we are ready for another catastrophic situation like this in future. However, it came again but in another guise.

But now that Nepal became yet another Asian country that was devastated by a similar natural disaster.  The contemporary Liberal government give all the promises to safeguard its citizens from any natural (or otherwise) calamity. They promise that the efficient management/administrative bodies can quickly respond to such situations. Yes. They can respond to situations like controlling Dengue or Malaria, or sometimes deploying police to suppress mass rallies etc.  Bur the real issue is how far they can 'efficiently' act when Nature reacts to man's foolishness. When the greedy consumerism destroys all the resources for momentary pleasure benefiting only few billionaires in the world, and when the nature reacts in its own way? This is another obvious example where Nature brings 'unexpected returns' to the carelessness about our way of life. Surely, once more, another big thing (nature) has occurred and thousands were dead and another countless number of people missing. Are we actually safe in the hands of these Liberal prophets when such big things happen?

Read:
S, Zizek. (2014). Living in the End Times. London. Verso. 

Maithripala and the 'Missing Element'

Majority of those who support Mr. Maithripala Serisena, common candidate for 2015 Presidential Election in Sri Lanka, may not be pleased to hear that 'something is terribly missing' in his approach in creating a good governance for future Sri Lanka. Those who want to abolish executive presidency and its 'organic evil' have legitimate reasons to support him, and I too have no objection in restoring democracy and good-governance in the country. But we have temporarily forgotten a significant aspect that decides the future shape of our country where corruption and malpractices have further devastated the living conditions of public. The reformations like good governance or anti-corruption methods will only make us temporarily forget about  the true evils and inner contradictions of capitalism that encompasses the whole life world today. However, more than anything else, ethnic otherness and power devolution cannot simply be put off from the public discourse for immediate strategic reasons. If we forget that important element from the discursive public sphere now, there is no way that it can be debated with its own complexity drawing public attention. We all already know that something important is actually (deliberately) missing in his political approach but we simply disavow it. My effort in this small article is to remind you of the risk of being negligent about what is not debated at this moment as to what should be done in future (if he wins the election) to bring back real democracy and national reconciliation.

In modern psychoanalysis, 'the missing element' represents Object a; 'the void at which the symbolic order remains perpetually riven' (McMillan 2012: 55-56). Here, Object a signals the limit point of symbolic order and its possibility of suture.  In this context, what is missing in Maithripala's campaign (මෛත්‍රිපාල සහ 'මගහැරුණු මුලදර්මය') and his political manifesto is the attention that should be given to the ethnic Other, which historically caused this catastrophic end that we experience today. The real symbolic order for the nation can be achieved only through a proper power sharing solution which we lacked after independence. One can claim that the silence over the 13th Amendment can be strategic until the election is won, but such strand is misleading and cunning. The reason why I claim it is cunning is that the complexity of this issue is not taken up in the public sphere.   As long as you delay or escape or avoid this issue being taken up argumentatively in the public arena, considering the diverse groups that Maithripala is supported today to win this election, it will be really difficult to take it up later. Even some political critics doubt his promise to abolish the Executive Presidency remains vulnerable due to the pressure from the Nationalists (read Kumar David's article in Colombo Telegraph).  

Maithripala's political position now is to by-pass or avoid the ideological intervention to the 13th amendment (see the diagram above) and an acceptable solution to the ethic problem in the country, but win the majority Sinhalese votes to be the next President to bring back good governance. This is an ideological trap that we all are unfortunately caught in.  There is no way that we can think of a better future by forsaking the true issues of the Tamil Otherness.  There are no short cuts to this. There is only one way; that is the hard way. In this sense, the symbolic position of all those who 'dream of democracy' at this juncture are split (or riven) between symbolic universe (as Mr. Champika Ranawaka says 'building an honorable society') and the Impossible; strength to stand up for the equity of the ethnic Other.  What they by-pass is a pervert escape, and why many people wish to vote for Maithripala is because he carefully avoids the Real, and maintains a fantasmatic relation with the existing social order; to keep the Tamils at the usual disadvantage position, not to bring their grievances to public discourse and then to win the  upcoming election. It is a reduced symbolization. 

Read: McMillan, C. (2012). Zizek and the Communist Strategy. Edinburgh University Press. UK.  

The Call of Transgression; Even Obama could not Escape

The unbearable is not the difference. The unbearable is the fact that in a sense there is no difference…(Zizek 1994, 2).

The psychological damages that are caused by the primordial generative element of the ‘enjoyment’ symptom to the present global individuality have no limit.  There is no escape from its demand whether you live in an advanced Capitalist nation or just in a corner of the Third World. Once yielded to the manifestation of ‘burning enjoyment’, the individuals unconsciously collapse into a bottomless abyss that carries a black hole effect to which, subsequently, all that they have so far constructed as symbolic entity upon which their present character is built are being relentlessly absorbed never to return.  The Habermasian ‘life world’ of rational integrity through societal modernization seems completely turned upside down since the ‘one that reaches into the depth of organic substance’ (Habermas 2007, 12) of a particular community deliberately decides to take things for granted. Most of this is not their fault but just an essential by-product of yielding to the call of the symptomatic systemic demand to ‘enjoy’.  Everybody has unquestioningly become victims of this symptom which is mostly propagated and intensified through the commoditization of life and through virtual social networks. Predominantly through the unregulated and digitalized technological devices what they ask the individual to do now is not to hide and control his desire but to be too open about it. To add to this, the number of deaths simply caused by social media (mainly Facebook) is on the rise in the Third World, and rather than enhancing ‘Habermasian communication’ for higher level of rationality, the social media are creating absolute havoc in the life-world. The ‘excessive proximity’ generated by these virtual media gives no space for individuality and its ‘unexposed substance’ (something that we never want to reveal to another) which actually creates the balance between private life and social life. Rather, in the present digital context, ‘the subject’ and ‘the desire’ become too close to each other so that the subject has nothing to seek for or to hide. The present global Capitalistic framework has completely lost all the control and regulatory capacities that the world once had on its subjects and, as a temporary escapism,  the only resort that Capitalism could  now turn to is (as it has always historically proved) totalitarianism at least for a ‘false’ regain of its glory.

An individual is always ‘split’ between conscious awareness and the unconscious; what he consciously says and does about politics or social life and a set of unconscious believes that govern how they ‘actually’ live. The civilizing subjects necessitate a certain founding ‘sacrifice’ to be made. This is called ‘castration’ of jouissance; to the extent that a human subject is civilized, there is a ‘cut’ from the primal object of his desire.  To dismantle this significant equilibrium, the present post-capitalist society has been promoting a new sexualized transgressive model (a trap) of ‘enjoyment’. The socio-political Law that the politicians were careful about at least few decades back is the very essence through which they derive a pervert ‘transgressive pleasure’ (enjoyment) today. It is the same violation that the so called public too expects in return for their leaders to ‘perform’ (very much like the pervert role of that of the Hollywood actors). So, we all are caught in a kind of a paradoxical pervert cobweb where there is no ‘exit’.  The politicians are actually not stupid but they all unconsciously pay a servitude to some unknown demand from their own public ‘to enjoy’ (that is why the number of viewers in certain underground paparazzi web site constantly increases). Rather the politicians are conscious of what they actually do. The role of the ‘virtual underground’ is to ‘reveal’ the very dilemma of our existence by saying ‘My God, look at what they do; they violate the very essence of our politics’ and, at the same time, giving that unknown pleasure to the public (in other words, ‘this is how they enjoy’).   Hence, the media world, one can say, is the most pervert entity of all. As Zizek says, the function of media is that they 'hold the balls of the one who tries to rape his wife in order that the balls get dirty' but they do not dare to cut them.       

In the above context today, there is no space for someone to reach ‘satisfaction’ (somewhat similar to Rolling Stone’s popular rock song in the 60s) because the only satisfaction propagated in the global media is ‘transgression’ (violate and enjoy).  In the previous world one reaches his satisfaction by being obedient to the Law, the governing agent of our desire. Now we know that central agent which regulates our desire is dead and everything is allowed and everything is absorbed to the entity of enjoyment.  As said in the standard Kantian version where the ethical subject is torn between the universal moral law and a particular ‘pathological impulses, now in this pervert guidebook of limitless drive to enjoy, there is no ‘inner struggle between complying with the law and succumbing to “pathological” temptations’ (Zizek 2008, 208). In this new world view, it is ‘the spilt’ that is being erased from the subject. Hence you will never feel guilty or ashamed of violating whatever that was previously agreed as societal values (you can import Ethanol or Heroin, do money laundering, murder innocent people and opponents, steal public funds, relentlessly suppress struggles for freedom and discard human rights etc.). According Zizek, ‘the spilt, therefore, does not take place between moral law and pathological desires but between enjoyment and pleasure’ (208) and the pleasure principle is always confronted with some ‘radical evil’ (‘the play’ that is popularly exploited by virtual media).

One reason why many people (including Zizek himself) around the world loved Barak Obama is that he made himself ‘an exception’ (not because he emerged from some mystified and exorcized African entity to save us from some urban evil of the world).  What is that exception? Unlike the Bush administration which propagated Christian values (such as anti-abortion) in determining modern complex human behavior, Obama came up with certain rational and secular human values. When the former George Bush (Jr.) politics relied on ‘postmodernism’ (reverting to history and to the comfort of orthodox Christianity) which led to bind conservatism, Obama’s choice was secularism (including a humanistic approach to health care policy and some other utilitarian liberal needs etc.).  He opted for rationalism which seriously considered the relevance of the application of ethical politics rather than taking refuge in fundamentalist popularism through which he could easily have earned some more Christian votes. In this case, Obama becomes a Habermasian example of advanced Capitalism where science truly functions as ‘an agent of informed common sense’ (Harbermas, 2007, 105). As a veteran politician he could sense the ‘secular borderline’ between politics and religion and believed in political common sense of as a founding ground for dignified human life.  Hence, Obama could be considered as the most authentic and ontologically rational politician who reached the most powerful position in global politics in the recent times where the mode of production has gained a completely different pace.

It is understandable that marriage has its own limitations which sometimes have be overcome (if emotionally possible) through rational means. ‘Since we have no objective knowledge of values beyond moral insight’ (Habermas 2007, 90) the moral self-understanding is an instrument (perhaps the only instrument) which not only determines the destiny of those who are in conflict with each other but those who observe and learn out of it for their future. To quote Habermas in this regard,

‘As long as the moral point of view for what is a just solution to action conflict prevails, the morality of equal respect for each, and solidarity with all, can be justified from out of the reservoir of  rational reason alone’ (94).

What is arguable here is not that Obama unfortunately confronted with a crisis in his marriage but how he actually deals with it in an American post-secular context and beyond. He should not forget the fact that some millions around the world look at him as a role model (one can argue that they also must have the moral self-understanding to determine what is good for them).  Emotionally, he may feel vulnerable and whatever media display in the recent months should not surely disrupt his subjective existential consciousness of his own choice. From a secular point of view, he enjoys the total freedom to walk away from Michelle but his cession to seduction right in front of her in bare public is morally unacceptable (be it in Mandela’s funeral or somewhere else). If there is a hint of narcissist ‘revenge’ from his part, again that is attributed to perversion (consciously performing ‘it’ for the eye of the other).  His act actually disrupts the cohesion of the political community and its moral integrity (a dialogue that is deliberately avoided by standard media), which de-socializes out existing understanding about higher values. He should have avoided this reactionary attitude and the individual situation of ‘the life project of every single person’ (Habermas 2007, 56) would have been a much standard and exemplary case in reference.

And he could not avoid it i.e. the truth of the Zizekian disavowal theory. He knew it but he did it. That is how Obama became a role model of Cynicism. A character well trained, well disciplined, well educated to be the President of United States ‘could not resist it’. In this case, structurally, the function of rationality is ‘argue as much as you will but obey’ (Zizek 2008, xxii). One can still remember how he ‘argued’ about the right and wrong of his opponents, the then politics and policies, values and what is good for America’s future during the election campaigns. That is how his slogan ‘change’ (which everybody has now forgotten) gained momentum and finally some universal meaning.  People trusted him on the basis of the authenticity for his organic and material representation of what he stood for and advocated for. He gained some global popularity on the signifier of the solidarity between the discourse and the representation; not just because, as popularly believed, he is the first Black to reach the Presidency. Now when popular virtual media circulate images of Obama either with Beyonce or former Danish Prime Minister, what immediately comes to mind is the Bakhtin’s carnivalesque suspension of social hierarchy which gets dissolved in the pervert gaze of the other. When he becomes the Law that enjoys itself, and identified himself with a specific form of transgression of the Law (specific form of enjoyment), ‘the code of honor’ that he is going to receive is that the community recognizes himself as ‘one of us’ (Zizek 1994, 55).  The mega ‘change’ that was hailed by a character who seemed to refuse to partake in the obscene superegoistic underside of the contemporary American day-to-day life  once upon a time, from a political point of view, finally ended up by being ‘a just another American’.

1.      Habermas, Jurgen (2007). The Future of Human Nature. London. Polity.

2.      Zizek, Slavoj (1994). The Metastases of Enjoyment: Six Essays on Woman and Causality. London. Verso.

3.      Zizek, Slavoj (2008). Enjoy Your Symptom. London. Routledge. 

Is Eddy Grant a radical in his own way?

In the global reggae music scene, the most highlighted radical figure is unarguably Bob Marley, while British UB 40 capitalized on popular reggae until their disbandment in 2012.  Marley became the icon of many politically motivated youths whereas UB 40 attracted the entertainment oriented, fun loving reggae teens.  Jimmy Cliff falls in between in a particular spiritual make up. So, where does Eddy Grant belong in this whole spectrum of root reggae and popular soft reggae? Both style wise and meaning wise, Eddy is different from the two main stream categories of both root and soft reggae. He has actually invented a genre of his own, known as ‘electronic reggae’ which earned most of his popularity in the 1980s. His major hits such as ‘I donna want to dance’, Do you feel my love?’, ‘Electric Avenue’, ‘Joanna’ or ‘War Party’ became top hits in leading charts during his heydays. After so many genres and artists coming and going in popular electronic media in the last three decades, especially in the radio airplay and in the virtual, his popularity remains unchallenged to this date mainly because of the universal application and characteristics of his unique songs. Emerging from an African background, precisely from Guiana, and with English education after his parents migrated to UK, Eddy could find his own identity in world reggae as well as in radical music. Also, true enough to say that he could ‘electrify’ reggae music in his time.

It is important to study to what extent Eddy’s songs carry political themes to distinguish him from others and invent a place for him in contemporary popular music. First thing to mention here is, may be because of his uprootment from Africa in a very young age, his songs are naïve and nostalgic, retroactively projecting his own ‘missing element’ (and a life-long ‘guilt’ to leave it like that) to this God forsaken continent to which he sometimes re-visits to ‘conduct’ his shows.  Hence, his songs are imaginary revisits (very much like the failed ‘flying back’ in Tony Morrison’s Song of Solomon) to what he abandoned years back. This feature is never evident in Marley’s music which sticks to its undefined spiritual journey whatever it might be. 

Eddy’s ‘Electric Avenue’ starts with a universal address to all the young ones (‘boy’) about the violence that prevails in the streets corrupted by the underground that is always a by-product of Capitalism. Systemic and organized violence, pauperization and underground as evidenced in Opera Wonyosi by Soyinka are the symptoms of post-colonial independent nations in Africa, South Asia and Latin America. Apart from  the failure in their nation building project after independence from their colonial masters, even the advanced industrial nations are affected by the underground resulted from constant economic inequality and social injustice.   Hence Eddy notices that ‘a lot of work to be done’ to bring justice back to these marginalized people. He takes a particular example to show the aggravated nature of their helplessness in the line ‘no place to hang out our washing’. So, we have to voice it out by coming to the street and even we have to take it to a higher level of universal freedom for all the proletariats.   Other than the electric neon lights fixed in the streets, which actually cannot pierce the true darkness of the individuals as said in ‘Sound of Silence’ by Simon and Garfunkel, the workers and the educated crowd have to ‘electrify’ streets with a real spirit to materialize the revolution towards an ultimate freedom.   

boy...

boy...

Now in the street there is violence
And - and a lots of work to be done
No place to hang out our washing
And - and I can't blame all on the sun

Ref:
Oh no we gonna rock down to Electric Avenue
and then we'll take it higher
Oh we gonna rock down to Electric Avenue
and then we'll take it higher

Workin' so hard like a soldier
Can't afford a thing on TV
Deep in my heart I am warrior
Can't get food for them kid.

The paradoxical nature of being employed as a soldier is that the little salary he earns by serving the bourgeois (perhaps to kill another fellow human being) is insufficient to buy a single thing that is fetishly displayed in the television scene.  The fetish objects that are promoted in the electronic media are always about not necessity but more than necessity to satisfy your ‘unconscious lack’. Similarly, he is a good warrior but that is not enough to feed your kids, and may be, he has to turn to underground to get the ‘exploited portion of his salary’ as compensation. 

Who is to blame in one country
Never can get to the one
Dealin' in multiplication
And they still can't feed everyone.

Always the real culprits are invisible in this system (according to Zizek, after Wiki leaks, they are much more visible today than ever before). At a superficial level, we all blame the corrupted officials, bankers and administrators but as an economic system, Capitalism is a destined failure. What is hidden by the superficial ‘recognition’ of corrupt officers is the true culprit of the system, Capitalism itself. Whatever methods they come out with every year (multiplications), they cannot feed the public who starve. What we need is a systemic change not reformation, and Eddy, unfortunately, does not go that far in his song. But we have to agree with Eddy when he repetitively demands us to carry the fight to a higher level to topple the entire system down and rebuild a conducive one for every one.    

Out in the street
Out in the street
Out in the playground
In the dark side of town

The real radical nature of Eddy’s song irrupts with the mention of ‘the dark side of the town’ (Soyinka’s setting of Opera Wonyosi) is where the dark side of the Capitalist economy takes place in the form of prostitution, child labour, drug trafficking, illegal dealings, black money etc. Eddy moves from a bourgeoisie setting to the street where a collective struggle can eliminate the true enemy of the public and materialize emancipator potential of a mega social change.

Oh we gonna rock down to Electric Avenue
and then we'll take it higher
Oh, we gonna rock down to Electric Avenue
and then we'll take it higher

Out in the street
Out in the street
Out in the playground
In the dark side of town

It is agreeable again that we need to reach ‘the dark side of the town’ to see the ‘truth’ produced by the inequality and injustice. For international conferences and delegations, the Third World beautifies the streets by chasing away the ‘dirt’; the beggars, prostitutes and street children. The ‘chased away’ (or the externalized aspect) element is the Lacanian Real of modern Capitalism and this segment, according Soyinka, can be organized to challenge the ‘beautification’ of the town.  

His next song is ‘Jo’anna’, the shortened, personified city of Johannesburg is a popular anti-apartheid hit in 1980s. She treats her own brothers differently but the pressure, hopefully, would enlighten her to see everybody as one.  Eddy notes how she makes ‘few people happy’ while keeping the rest in servitude. Apartheid, like Nazism, is an endemic evil of developing Capitalism and, as Eddy expects, she cannot just give hope if there is not major change in the entire economic body.  For an example, the re-structuralization process in South Africa also could not produce universal results as notably cited in Coetzee’s Disgrace.  Hence, the measures that the post-independent nations have taken ended up in serious failures. So, the evils that Eddy lists up in the next two verses remain just common observations and the quick ‘hope’ that Eddy dreams of ‘before the morning comes’ also stays at the contours of his own dream. However, the futuristic optimism that Eddy tries to articulate here is not negated whatsoever.

Well Jo'anna she runs a country
She runs in Durban and the Transvaal
She makes a few of her people happy, oh
She don't care about the rest at all
She's got a system they call apartheid
It keeps a brother in a subjection
But maybe pressure will make Jo'anna see
How everybody could a live as one.

The segregation and maltreatment for a group of people while keeping the rest happy is made obvious in the line ‘she makes few of her people happy, and don’t care about the rest at all’. Apartheid is directly mentioned and subjection is also made uncovered in the next few lines. Eddy does not hesitate to mentions the injustice and does not aestheticize the naked truth.  The de-aestheticism is another radical measure in his songs and if he ventured to say in an indirect manner, he could have avoided the possible banning of this song in the then apartheid South Africa. However, the rest of the songs lists up some issues and socio-political conditions of the country. He criticizes the role of media who actually hide the real culprits and their vulnerability towards manipulation.  

(Chorus:)
Gimme hope, Jo'anna
Hope, Jo'anna
Gimme hope, Jo'anna
'Fore the morning come
Gimme hope, Jo'anna
Hope, Jo'anna
Hope before the morning come

I hear she makes all the golden money
To buy new weapons, any shape of guns
While every mother in black Soweto fears
The killing of another son
Sneakin' across all the neighbours' borders
Now and again having little fun
She doesn't care if the fun and games she play
Is dang'rous to ev'ryone

(Chorus:)
Gimme hope, Jo'anna
Gimme hope, Jo'anna
Gimme hope, Jo'anna
'Fore the morning come
Gimme hope, Jo'anna
Gimme hope, Jo'anna
Hope before the morning come

She got supporters in high up places
Who turn their heads to the city sun
Jo'anna give them the fancy money
Oh to tempt anyone who'd come
She even knows how to swing opinion
In every magazine and the journals
For every bad move that this Jo'anna makes
They got a good explanation

(Chorus:)
Gimme hope, Jo'anna
Gimme hope, Jo'anna
Gimme hope, Jo'anna
'Fore the morning come
Gimme hope, Jo'anna
Gimme hope, Jo'anna
Hope before the morning come

Even the preacher who works for Jesus
The Archbishop who's a peaceful man
Together say that the freedom fighters
Will overcome the very strong
I wanna know if you're blind Jo'anna
If you wanna hear the sound of drum
Can't you see that the tide is turning
Oh don't make me wait till the morning come

(Chorus:)
Do give hope, Jo'anna
Gimme hope, Jo'anna
Gimme hope, Jo'anna
'Fore the morning come
Gimme hope, Jo'anna
Gimme hope, Jo'anna
Hope before the morning come

Gimme hope, Jo'anna
Gimme hope, Jo'anna
Gimme hope, Jo'anna
'Fore the morning come
Gimme hope, Jo'anna
Gimme hope, Jo'anna
Hope before the morning come.

It is true that we cannot any longer wait to topple down the corrupted system but the impatience here ‘before the morning comes’ and ‘don’t make me wait till the morning comes’ can be misleading from a revolutionary point of view. According to Zizek, the symptom of neurotic psychosis is that such subject lacks the patience to meet the object of desire (see Interrogating the Real) and may try to overtake himself.  Though not exactly relevant to what Eddy says here, the role of a true revolutionary today is to wait ‘not till the right moment comes’ but patiently participating in the act of change in his own way until the ‘opportune moment’ arrives. As a song writer and a performer, Eddy has shown some eagerness in social change which has currently been absorbed by the bourgeois music industry for accumulation of profit. But his lyrics effectively show some character and spirit towards a certain social change.