.The UKZN Griot. Of Survival and Impact
The Griot goes into its eighth year this month and this seems like a good time to offer, as they say at the NRF, a (critical) “self-assessment” (when applying for rating). The fact that the column - and I - survived the conditions imposed by the 2004 merger is the first achievement. As Donal McCracken observed early on, satirical columnists have life expectancies shorter than World War 1 fighter pilots when they piss off the wrong person or get accused of plagiarism (which happens when they run out of ideas and can’t meet relentless deadlines). Not repeating myself has been one of my own concerns. Every time I revisit the same topic, I come in from a different angle, in terms of current contexts and debates. So I think I am OK on that front.
Second, every appearance of the column generates up to 15 responses, depending on whether it’s term or vacation. Almost 100% supportive, they ranged from ‘brilliant’ to long philosophical treatises, especially from my Chinese correspondents who take my tongue-in-cheek writing very seriously. One column was even translated into Chinese for the Ministry of Culture’s web page, while others have been reversioned and published on other organisations’ websites. These engagements are similar to the age-old ‘research letter’ sent by snail mail by which our academic ancestors interacted with each other, and still evident in the august pages of the SA Journal of Science. These little essays I have included in my forthcoming book, Academentia, which I have compiled from the columns. This idea came from the A-rated Mike Chapman.
Third, the UKZNdaba newsletter in which the column is included sees a significant spike in hits. Well, that’s my actual function – to draw more readers to this magazine. UKZN is one of the few universities to actually sport such a mag. Be happy. Write for it. Mug pieces are not the only option. Try some think pieces. Engage this column. Be brave.
Fourth, the column is debated by UKZN students and occasionally invoked in committees and at least one Senate meeting. The Pietermaritzburg English programme once invited a seminar on my method. An honours student wrote her special project on the column, later co-authored with me as an article in an “accredited” journal [1]. Others have been reversioned for academic journals such as The Culture Machine [2], and sections have appeared elsewhere, as in Hacking Through Academentia [3] and in a just published anthology: Making Sense of Research [4].
The column sometimes found its way into other media with whole columns appearing, for instance, in the Mail & Guardian, while the column has also been cited in policy meetings, academic articles, and in presentations nationally. Satire does have its place in “scholarly” writing. DHET, take note! Indeed it has, as creative outputs are now included. Corporate Relations is able to generate materials of direct academic value. That’s why getting higher degrees is important for admin staff also.
My global breakthrough was a set of columns engaging my China experiences. The issues are often the same: the punitive push to publish, accreditation and performance management. The local is mirrored in the global. Everything is glocalised in the post-information age - North Korea excepted. But while science can still make better bombs, no matter one’s ideology, humane science, is now on the back burner, led by the very trying triumphalist Trump. Does that mean that neoliberal instrumentalism will fade? I doubt it, there are too many people now employed in crunching numbers and designing templates that result in often meaningless managerialism that has turned academics into data generating machines. And, in any event, the “little trumper” does not believe in numbers, theory or sanity. So, the whole world sits on a knife-edge as he navigates his own faked-ness.
This reminds me of the Axiom of the Pipe (Trischmann’s Paradox): ‘A pipe gives a wise man time to think and a fool something to stick in his mouth.’ Let’s get back to thinking please and less pipe-sucking, ie form filling and meaningless activity. There must be better ways of assessing and encouraging useful – as opposed to mechanised – productivity. Evidence of thinking is one of these. But how to measure this cognitive state? Well, just ask a philosopher. Philosophers can, of course be useful. After all, Gresham’s Law states that: ‘Trivial matters are handled promptly; important matters are never solved.’ That’s why philosophy is important. Philosophers deal with Very Big Issues; bureaucrats deal with tiny opaque detail. The key is to get the two dimensions to talk to each other in developing an organic model of dynamic management that actually works.
The Griot column is unique on the SA university edu-scape. Corporate Relations is the host, and must be commended for its support of this kind of writing, ensuring the openness of the micro-public sphere and encouraging critical discussion. Apart from some momentary diversions, UKZN has always been a place where one can speak one’s mind - even if there were consequences for many of the old professoriat - but also for the young Turks.
Let’s keep talking.
References
- Tomaselli, K.G. and Sakarombe, P. (2015) Griots, Satirical Columns, and the Micro-Public Sphere. Journal of African Media Studies. 7(3). http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/jams/2015/00000007/00000003/art00005
- Of Science and Souls, The Culture Machine, November 2010. http://www.culturemachine.net/index.php/cm/article/view/425/443
- Tomaselli, K.G. (ed.) (2018) Making Sense of Research. Pretoria: Van Schaik
- Keyan G Tomaselli is a Distinguished Professor at the University of Johannesburg and a Professor Emeritus at UKZN.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are the author’s own