About me (It’s all…)
(update: Thanks to having written a timely blog-post on Julian Assange, suddenly people are reading my blog. So, for those people: my name is Aaron Bady, I live in Oakland, CA, my email is zunguzungu@gmail.com, and it’s lovely that you’re reading this)
I was an mzungu in Tanzania, and now I’m an mzungu in California. In Tanzania, you learn that you’re an mzungu when children shout “zunguzungu!” and follow you around, and in California you learn to forget because they aren’t there to remind you. But you still are, so I’ve kept the name, even though I’m now writing about other things. And I won’t define what it means, because you can if you want, and words aren’t so easily corralled into order as it might sometimes seem, thank goodness. And anyway, it’s not such a bad thing to be, really. They were delighted to see me, and I was delighted to see them, if not for the same reasons.
I learned a long time ago that I’m a white guy from the United States, long before I ever left Appalachia. But being called an Mzungu–for out of the mouths of children!–can teach you different things, if you let it. Too many people take the name Mzungu as an insult; but it isn’t, not exactly. Tanzanians sometimes use it as a compliment for other Tanzanians; wewe kizungu sana! It isn’t that either, not quite. Race is physicial, but “kizungu” is tabia or utamaduni, words that get mistranslated as culture or civilization, but mean something deeper about how and why people relate to other people the way that they do. Some people like to be called “Western,” and some people don’t; some people have that option and some people don’t. But I’ve taken the name zunguzungu for this blog not as a claim but as a provocation, and a reminder for myself. I’m really not sure what it means, on the deepest level, and I want to remember that ignorance. It also means many different things, so I want to remember that too. But whatever “zunguzungu” is, I know that I am it; the task, then, is to make that “it” into something good.
I’ll sometimes mention my academic work here, which is doubtless fascinating and of great interest to at least one or two other people in the world besides myself. But what I’m slowly groping towards in this blog (by trial and error) is not so much analogous to scholarly writing but something different, what seems to me more suited to the “web-log” form, as you kids are calling it. Scholarly writing aspires towards abstraction and finalized truth, it presumes comprehension of massive data pools, and it brandishes lit reviews and bibliographies as a way of putting forward the polite fiction that we’ve all read every important book on the subject at hand. We haven’t, of course, and though I’m not convinced that it’s a bad ideal to aspire towards in practice (however impossible in theory), this blog makes no such pretense towards acquired expertise or thorough mastery of the subject. It is true that, at certain points in my life, I will have to claim to be an “Africanist,” but this blog is not one of them. A rule of thumb of mine, by the way, is that whenever anyone claims to be an expert on Africa, they’re probably selling something. So I brandish my ignorance like a crucifix at vampires and foreground what I and we don’t know as much as possible. Please don’t take that for false modesty. It’s not. Ignorance is sort of like dark matter: it doesn’t take up a lot of space and you can’t see it, but it keeps the world turning. And as the mainstream media teaches us, sometimes the better part of knowledge is learning who to ignore, figuring out what the better kinds of ignorance are. So this blog is something of a solipsistic endeavor to unlearn as much of my bad ignorance as possible and inflict as much good ignorance as possible on anyone who cares to join me.
For that reason, I’m trying to put in the foreground two authorial modes that most academic writing fights like hell to obscure: point of view and temporal position. I have a point of view, and so do you, but the polite fiction in scholarship that we do not, that we are disembodied eyeballs surveying the universe, is a fiction I’m going to try not to employ here as much as possible. I think that’s useful. And since we are all moving along different trajectories in our lives, I want to emphasize that as well; what I find interesting, you may not, simply because the problems and questions I’m interested in at the moment are different than yours. That’s okay. Scholarship likes to maintain that “the field” has a present tense existence and is slowly progressing towards some ineffable horizon of truth, and we hear a lot about “turns” and “the new…”, but it seems to me that some of the most interesting and relevant stuff out there was done years ago, if maybe not in ways that are immediately obvious because it now lies moldering on book shelves, bad-ignored because someone somewhere decided that it had been “surpassed.” Not that you can trust the past either, but I’m not interested here in trying to make everything I do topical or necessarily related to “where the field is now” in the way that “real” scholarship has to. I like to reinvent the wheel; sometimes you’ve got to walk in another pair of shoes to really know how they fit, you know? So I take the “commonplace book” format as my leitmotif: things that I read that seem interesting and worth spooling out, I will, for reasons having everything to do with who I am, where I am, and where I’m going, right now. Welcome, and please read charitably.
watz’up watz’up! Awesome blog Aaron. Takes a while to read. You should definitely Youtube it up someday.
It was good to see you after ur trip in TZ. Write when u can. Best, Ash.
Hello Aaron – I’m a stranger who stumbled onto your blog and has thoroughly enjoyed reading about your experiences in TZ and Japan. I have been living in Japan for a total of 2 years (outside of Nagoya and in Hokkaido) and have also lived in Senegal and Ghana (studied in Ghana, volunteered in Senegal). I am looking into graduate school in some as yet undetermined literature/arts related field of African Studies and saw you read for three separate orals fields last year (!!). I would love to know what on earth your focus actually is… and if that’s too nosy, the least I wanted to say is thank you for blogging, and I look forward to reading in the future. Cheers, Jenny
[…] About me (It’s all…) […]
It was the swahili word that drew me to your blog. I love everything African, I’ve been to Dar and Arusha, thoroughly enjoyed both. I like your intro, I’ll visit again.
[…] About me (It’s all…) […]
Preserve Joseph Conrad, however much he offends marxista commentators.
The idea of persistent cultural, or racial, or historical guilt may be as dangerous as any euro-colonial capitalist power. A Goering was guilty. His children are not, at least until they conduct their own putsch.
That may be obvious, but much leftist “ressentiment” as y’all say, seems driven by that sort of low-level retaliation. Darwin, if not Malthus still serve as an antidote to romantic-heroic marxism of the Kotzko/Jodi Dean sort.
wow so off-base
Came to your blog via Cheney’s and see I have a lot of catching up to do! Loved the little I’ve read so far.
I like your blog! Very nice.
16ad835209I’m just commenting to make you be aware of what a perefct discovery my wife’s girl obtained using your web page. She learned such a lot of details, with the inclusion of what it’s like to possess a wonderful giving mindset to have other people completely understand specific hard to do subject areas. You really exceeded people’s desires. Many thanks for presenting the precious, healthy, explanatory and also unique guidance on this topic to Julie. 151
Hi — new to your blog, but I’d like to say this page is probably the best prospectus for a blog that I’ve ever read. Good stuff. I’m hooked.
Thanks for stirring my own ignorance and putting into words what I cannot express myself! Massive line of unpretentious thoughts. Will read u from now on!
“Ignorance is sort of like dark matter: it doesn’t take up a lot of space and you can’t see it, but it keeps the world turning.”
Love this. Can I quote you?
p.s. Chris Hayes of the Nation just tweeted your link. Congrats.
It is yours. Tra-la!
Excellent blog, Aaron. Good combination of various thoughts and topics that people DO constantly forget (like our Foreign policy, for example). I will definitely revisit your site.
“May it be a light for you in dark places, when all other lights go out.” – Galadriel (Lord of the Rings, hey why not?)
Thanks for some great reading, linking and light.
I’ll revisit for sure!
I’m 3rd part Zulu and I noticed that in the Zulu language we have that “zungu” word, which means plot/conspiracy. I’m quite intrigued why they called you by it but then again I do have some knowledge of some forgotten history which connects the Zulu people to the Swahili speaking peoples, therefore i got confirmation of it…
That’s interesting; I’ve never heard that before.
I believe the origin of this word is Arabic. Similar loanwords appear in West African languages. In some W-Af cities, for example, the neighborhood of migrants is called the Zongo.
When I first arrived in Uganda (where I lived for about six and a half years) the children would call after me “Akazungu kali katya?” (little muzungu, how are you?) even though I was an adult.
Though I have a Ph.D. in African history from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I’m an escapee from academia. You and your followers might find my new blog interesting: http://historylynx.blogspot.com
Blogging is a lot of work so I really appreciate your commitment. I’ll be back to your blog soon.
Renee (the HistoryLynx)
…not intending to sound negative. I have noticed you are exposing some conspiracies on this site, so it kind of became prophetic, hehe
Hi Aaron. We went to school together. You use a lot of words! Big ones, too. Bravo! I’m enjoying your blog, thanks for sharing your thoughts with us.
Glad to have stumbled across your site – thanks for the thoughtful offerings!
Your blog is fabulous.
For those of us struggling to define a useful template with which we can reclaim our humanity I want to thank you for sharing your insight.The daily cascade of nerve-racking developments create a dizzying pathos that stunts our compassion ,it is a wonderful thing to be able to peel back our tendency to simplify our motives and reasoning and carry on with the important task of caring. Sincerely Doug in n.w. Montana
thanks Aaron. I really appreciated the piece about Assange and the analysis of his Conspiracy thesis. Passing it around as far as I cna throw. Loving the other stimulating things here too. Good little “coffee shop.”
Just wanted to mention that I also have an experience like yours vis the mzungu thing… I live in Costa Rica, and here I am known far and wide as “gringo…” the little kids (4 and 6 yrs old) who live next door love to call me that… I mean, they LOVE it, it makes them happy… they seem delighted… “mira! viene el GRINGO!” …something exotic, something that perhaps symbolizes the unknown for them, like seeing fireflies at that age, of which there are also many. To me its the fireflies that do it, to the kids, those are just normal.
Thank you Mr Bady,
Yet another ray of sunshine falling on our tattered world. You have “juiced” this old heart. Hope to read more.
I was reading your blog before Assange. Hmph.
Came here via an old friend and ex student. Great to feel the motion in this room. Sallie and I spent the last eight years teaching at a uni in China. Loved the students. Felt different about the system and the ‘leaders.’ Now we are retired and kicking back in Ireland where the bankruptcy winds blow. We are living in interesting times.
I’m one of those people who came here due to the Assange article. Personally, I really like this explanation of your goals and aims for this blog. You’re a good writer.
Personally, in my own blogging experience I’ve tried to shoot for something between academic and personal writing, too. I’ve also done some soul-searching about what it means to be a white guy from the US (relative to, you know, the rest of the world) et cetera, et cetera. But, unlike you, I haven’t actually gone on any “vacations” (that’s not the right word…) for the purpose of actually getting to know the locals, like you apparently did in Tanzania. Good for you, though.
Your “Useless got to eat, so pay me” button isn’t working for me, but I am so grateful for what you’ve been writing. Can you fix it?
Please slow down with writing all this good stuff. I have a job, which I need to keep, and trying to keep up with your ongoing outpouring of golden thought and inspired wisdom is getting in the way of that.
I love your blog. Not going to lie, I have a total intellectual crush on you! Please keep up the good work, though I have to say I sometimes wonder how you have time to write such thoughtful and well-researched pieces, as I barely have the time to just read them. But I try to make an effort to read your blog as often as I can because it makes me feel like I’m getting smarter every time I do 🙂
Hello Aaron,
I’m a new fan, recently come to your blog. Want to quote you all over the place.
Jane
Hey Aaron – Would you consider a post sometime on how you read online? I’m amazed at the quality and quantity of great reads you post and would like to know how you personally filter it all … photos too!
thanks,
Nate
[…] me close, then, with some words from my explanation for why I named this blog what I did: I learned a long time ago that I’m a white guy from the […]
I actually thought your analysis of Assange’s motives and strategy was pointless hagiography and well overdone. But then I found your blog, which is awesome.
I just checked your wish list to find a way of thanking you for your precise and perceptive blog and, as a long-time LRB subscriber, I’ve got a free year-long gift subscription to pass on if you’re still in need of one; let me know. And, I thought you might like to take a look at The Poetry Translation Centre’s website http://www.poetrytranslation.org/ We’ve translated lots of African poetry, especially from Sudan and Somaliland and there are some Swahili poems in there too. Heartfelt thanks for all your hard work. Keep it up!
this, alone, was worth the read!
“Scholarly writing aspires towards abstraction and finalized truth, it presumes comprehension of massive data pools, and it brandishes lit reviews and bibliographies as a way of putting forward the polite fiction that we’ve all read every important book on the subject at hand. We haven’t, of course, and though I’m not convinced that it’s a bad ideal to aspire towards in practice (however impossible in theory), this blog makes no such pretense towards acquired expertise or thorough mastery of the subject.”
[…] About Me! […]
just heard you on KPFA and found your blog. I will enjoy reading it and commenting. great job!
here is archive page on KPFA if you wish to listen. Segment with your interview begins about 0:30.
http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/76319
I knew it “zunguzungu” had some East African innit and thats why i was attracted to this blog via twitter. Btw did you ever come to Uganda while you were in TZ?? Anyway its the same here [Uganda] children call out and wave to any mzungu mzungu who passes by.
Thanks for enabling me to gain new tips about penoarsl computers. I also have the belief that certain of the best ways to help keep your notebook in best condition is by using a hard plastic case, as well as shell, that fits over the top of your computer. These types of protective gear will be model targeted since they are manufactured to fit perfectly within the natural covering. You can buy all of them directly from owner, or from third party places if they are intended for your mobile computer, however not every laptop can have a cover on the market. Once more, thanks for your points.
Wow, I think you will be a great OB. It seems like you have a real love for children, faelmiis, and people in general. Sad to say that those qualities are rare traits in todays world. I believe not just anyone should be in just any job because you could be in a job that you hate and end up making everyone who comes in contact with you at work miserable. You have the joy and care to be great at your job and effect those you will be working around not only by your knowledge , but by your love for what you do.
That’s an ineneligtlt answer to a difficult question xxx
I love these articles. How many words can a wordsmith smith?
not only was i, too, here before your Assange post: i still have not read it, and, but for the grace of its creator, go i still. the grace surely breathed into it by your hand merely bumps it up to last. so thpbthpb.
which is to say, a tip of the virtual hat to a peer and inspiration.
(other noumena that populate my native response — perhaps that poem i ‘finished’ today? — at not yet a half century perhaps at last gotten the knack of reversing the order of communication and thought — yes! i can do it! she says, leaving it ‘unmentioned’)
[…] thirteenth Caine Prize shortlist is here and already the stories are generating some buzz. The blogger Aaron Bady has urged some writers to blog and tweet (#Caineprize) thoughts about the shortlist (see his post […]
[…] thoughts on the stories on the Caine Prize’s shortlist as part of a collaborative effort with the blogger Aaron Bady. Last week, I offered my thoughts on Rotimi Babatunde’s Bombay’s Republic. So, what do I […]
Thank you for your farm. I spent a few years (a very long time ago) trekking the bush in W. Africa. Deep bush, few villages, many never saw a white man before (although I ceased being surprised when there would be someone, in the middle of nowhere, who had graduated from Oxford or Harvard or Berkeley. Somehow, the most off-the-map places managed to take a peek at the rest of us, as they felt necessary. Anyway, the kids would invariably appear whenever we got within a few miles of a village (even if we didn’t know where we were or that anyone else was in the vicinity). First one or two might appear some ways behind us; then a few more and a few more….until we’d be surrounded by kids. Some touching our skin to see if the color rubbed off, otherwise laughing and chattering in languages we often didn’t understand or seem to need (Mandingo was generally universal, but gestures, faces, expressions were always the most exact and reliable).
It took about a year until I began to notice that a few kids would always drop away as we got closer to a village. Three or four boys, usually, while the rest stayed with us until we arrived. Finally, I caught on. They were the advance guard, carrying a report on us to their elders. We had been assessed, tested, sniffed, scratched and analyzed until they could make a good threat-assessment and get a general sense of what species of critters we were. I guess we were mostly some kind of good ‘Zunguzungu’ because we never failed to get a warm welcome, enjoy our visit, feel bad when it was time to leave and get begged to stay awhile longer. That isn’t to say I am a good person (I have the usual assortment of obnoxious traits), but the respect and affection was mutual and it was always a tearful occasion when we said goodbye (usually something in the form of “I go come.” (& who can bear not inferring your return when you are about to leave people that have become dear to you?)
Later, I met my beloved – on the other side of the world. She came from small village on Big Island that was buried in a million metric tons of lava some while back. I got another name, then.. “Damn Haoli” – Like “Zunguzungu” has its deeper nuances, both good & bad. I figure it is mostly good when applied to myself and am comfortable with using it for self-reference, and being reminded that I don'[t know what it means and that I’m still as capable of being a bad haoli as a good one. Sometimes Frannie calls me that and I know she means the bad kind (being my obnoxious self), but that’s the way of all intercultural beloveds (she’s Japanese) so we muddle through like every one else. Her family refers to me as “Not bad for a damn haoli”, which I take as a high complement and that’s been plenty good enough for me.
Again, thanks for your farm. I go come, Red.
What article, or writer, has most impacted your thinking about WikiLeaks and the issues it’s raised?…
*Aaron* Bady [https://zunguzungu.wordpress.com/about/ ]…
[…] Some of you will get the cultural reference there. If not do take the time to savor his “about me” […]
Hello Aaron, I stumbled upon your blog via a link posted on fb involving a discussion on the merits of secret intelligence organizations (here in Australia we have ASIO and ASIS).
I greatly appreciate your article on Julian Assange and the Computer Conspiracy which explained the goal and purpose of Wikileaks much more clearly than anything else I have read so far. I haven’t had the time yet to look at your other material but I am looking forward to reading more, and I thank you for writing in a style that is accessible to ordinary people not overly familiar with such complex issues.
You have a rare gift and you are using it wisely by sharing 😀
Hard to explain how I got here, but hope to find time to read about certain topics.
At first I thought the name was a chess reference, zungzwang, or compelled to move.
Then I found this reggae song, by Yellowman — there is some kind of connection, right?
(I was researching “world music” and “tropicalia” when I bounced over here somehowza…)
¡¡¡¡°¢Éú¡¢ËïÁÖÐË¡¢ËïÁÖÐ˵ĸ¸Ç×Ëï´óÈË£¬»¹ÓаµÑ©×éÖ¯µÄ¼¸ÃûºËÐĸßÊÖ¡¡×ܹ²Ê®ÓàÈË£¬¶¼Êdz¯Í¢ÖÐ×îÎªÖØÒªµÄÈËÎҲ¶¼ÊÇÑ©ÐÇ´óµÛ×îÐÅÀµµÄÈËÎï¡£ÕâЩÈË£¬Ò»¸ö¸ö¶¼ÊÇÀàËÆµÄ±íÇ飺µ£ÓÇ£¬ÂÔÏÔ½¹¼±£¬ËƺõÔڵȴý×Åʲô¡£
鸡巴内裤淫水,qvod东京热链接,多少集,暮堂春狼友必上,888jjj http://imgur.com/VPPY7lN
Uliisha sehemu gani kule Tanzania?
*Uliishi
I am a Tanzanian, teaching here in the USA. I stumbled upon your blog while searching for information regarding whether writer Peter Abrahams’s recent death had been noted in the Tanzanian media. I am happy to have found your reflections on what you saw in the Tanzanian bookstores.
That’s why we feel you much and services. It is very easy to finding us as we are at your city or nearest places. Just remember us and we will cash your check very short period with a very low cost.
Wow wow wow!
I have never finished reading a blog but this,this was on another level.
I read word by word till I finished this blog!
This was very good and I’m l would like to get in touch with you! Zunguzungu💓
Nice read and and even better experience for you.
Pooling my inner Neil deGrasse Tyson here: second part of phrase needs correcting
“Ignorance is sort of like dark matter: it doesn’t take up a lot of space and you can’t see it, but it keeps the world turning.” Since Dark Matter makes up around 85% of the universe.
Let’s hope our ignorance level is not as high as dark matter and it doesn’t keep the world going.
Ops *pulling
[…] and blogger Aaron Bady summed it up nicely in his poetically titled piece, “Thanksgiving is […]