Portrait of a literary critic as a bureaucrat

Literature, both as a cultural commodity and a discipline in university curricula, has been increasingly assaulted by the prevalence of liberal market ideologies and practices, which appear to have pushed literature to a defensive position. The idea that universities should focus on market-oriented courses is partly responsible for the trend where students with an inclination towards and aptitude for literature, nonetheless shift their specialisation to some of the other courses that are considered more lucrative, much to the detriment of literature and its adjacent disciplines.

Simultaneously, very few literary scholars have, in recent times, been in policy making positions within universities in Kenya. Knowing this, I was quite excited when, recently, Prof Egara Kabaji was appointed the pioneer Acting Principal of the Turkana University College (TUC).

For the young, Kabaji is an old hand in literature, having made his name in the 1980s when he hosted literary programs like Books and Bookmen, as well as Culture Talk on the KBC national and only radio station in Kenya then. His literary and cultural commentaries then and later were critical in sustaining a culture of public debate during a historical moment of official censorship during the peak of Kanu authoritarianism.

Later, as a prolific contributor to the Literary Discourse pages in the weeklies, Kabaji was an inspiration to many people in the discipline and beyond, particularly in his ability to straddle literary and media scholarship, to the extent that when, later, the young Masinde Muliro University resolved to set up a School of Journalism and Mass Communication, he was the natural pick for the position of founding director.

I was then a junior member of a fledgling literature department that Kabaji chaired by holding it together with nothing much more than a cheerful spirit and immeasurable optimism.

Kabaji’s departure to found the School of Journalism and Mass Communication triggered his dizzying rise in the Kenyan academy, notorious all over the continent for its unrelenting slow-downs in upward mobility.

News that my former boss Egara Kabaji, writer, critic, and a former communications officer in government, was now the Acting Principal of TUC sent me on the beat to speak to him.  During a two-hour conversation, I got insights into a scholar whose rise in the academy points at the rewards of answering the call of intellectual curiosity.

Not to adulterate the punch in his views to my questions, here are some excerpts: 

DN: You are one of the very few literary scholars in Kenya who have, in the recent past, occupied very senior administrative positions within the university system. This is at a time when university administrators generally, and some politicians, have embraced the idea that the development of this country can only come about via subjects like Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics or the STEM subjects, as they are called, together with economics. As a literary scholar in the administration ranks, do you face dilemmas and contradictions between what you were trained in and what is a trending belief?

EK: Yes, I have occupied fairly senior administrative positions in this country. Incidentally, most of my colleagues in senior positions in universities come from what you may call STEM disciplines. I think we are slowly and surely sidelining a very important branch of knowledge by over emphasising STEM subjects.

Kenya can only develop through a holistic approach to knowledge production. The idea that STEM is the bullet answer to all our problem is obscene. At Turkana University College we are not pretentious about STEM. We are building a university that prioritises search for knowledge and its dissemination in all fields. We have adopted the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) model. While MIT is reputed as the best in technology, it also has a strong humanities faculty. That is why the father of modern day linguistics, Noam Chomsky, is domiciled there.

Turkana County is well known as the “cradle of Mankind” because of the discoveries in archaeology. We want to enhance archaeological and folkloristic research. Apart from STEM subjects we also want to make TUC a hub for cultural studies.

My colleagues have even suggested that we move the centre in literary studies to TUC in our branding. That is why we are planning to have the first and biggest gathering of Kenyan creative artists in May this year and the official launch of the Folkloristic Society of Kenya at TUC. We have invited the Cabinet Secretary for Education, Dr Fred Matiang’i, to grace the occasion and share ideas not just as the CS but as a literary scholar.

Because of my background in humanities I want to preside over a University that has a human face. We are creating an environment for academic excellence. We do not want large classes that hinder close interaction between lecturers and students. 

DN: The idea of literature has changed from the days you joined the academy, so much so that some critics are beginning to suggest that we need to rethink the underlying philosophy of teaching and learning literature in universities. What do you think?

EK: Those who want to teach literature the way it was done in the 60s are lost. The traditional concept of a “text” is dead. The traditional guide book should go with 8-4-4 system! We have to make our contribution to development of literary theory instead of simply getting fascinated with what is coming from the West. 

DN: Are you saying that the idea of literature in Kenya has completely changed?

EK: Absolutely! For example, I am the only full professor of literary communication in Kenya. That should tell you where we are. Very few literary and communication scholars have pursued this line. But it is now an open secret that the delivery of news stories has changed drastically. Literary journalism, for instance, is now in vogue. We need to direct attention on the convergence between literature and journalism. 

DN: You are one of the few Kenyan literary figures who still live the lives of scholars as travellers, by virtue of the fact that you have taught literature in many universities in Kenya and abroad. How have these intellectual travels shaped your view of literature and how it is taught? 

EK: True I have travelled widely. I will never regret having taught in many universities in Kenya and abroad. From my travelling experiences, I have been inspired to write literary works totalling to about 36 works for children and young adults. While serving as a Fulbright Scholar in Residence in Pennsylvania, USA, I was inspired to write Back to the Roots, published by Oxford, and Mastering Poetry by Longhorn. While in Rwanda, under the tutelage of the late Francis Imbuga, I wrote 16 works and all are published. I believe that my stay in Turkana will be very fulfilling while I help lay the foundation of a great university.

DN: Speaking of intellectual travels, the trend usually is of scholars moving from less to more established institutions mostly out of the country in the brain drain phenomenon. In your case, you seem to reverse this trajectory. Why? And what lessons do you think fellow scholars may draw from your experiences with these reverse journeys, so to speak?

EK: That trend of moving from less endowed institutions to more established institutions is a speciality of those scholars whose mind-set is such that they do not want to help build but benefit from what others built. I do not think that is helpful to Kenya. For me to help lay the foundation of the only University College in North Western Kenya is, as it were, a matter of moving the centre as Ngugi wa Thiong’o would say. Scholars, especially the younger ones, have to be locally adventurous. If our fore fathers were not adventurous, then we would not be having the established institutions we have today. 

DN: Back to your creative writing, you seem to have specialised in children’s literature. Do you have a particular reason for this?

EK: Children’s literature is just one of the areas we have not given critical attention to. I look forward to a time when critics and creative writers will dig into our folklore and create content for the media that yearns for good stories. When I started writing as an undergraduate, I didn’t know that I would finally be known for children’s literature and literary communication. I experimented with many genres and I have published literary essays, poetry, radio plays and now I am working on a play whose tentative title is Return of Mulili, in honour of my mentor, the late Francis Imbuga.