On Jun 1, 2022, at 12:22 PM, Oluwatoyin Adepoju <ovdepoju@gmail.com> wrote:
--I reacted like those aggrieved people, until it was pointed out to me that she never said she invented the term "soro soke". She claimed, instead, to have mamed the movement the "soro soke generation".
Yes, she needed to be more precise, explaining that the term "soro soke" is not her invention, informing readers about it's origin and use in the movement.
What may be new is her coupling of the words "sorosoke" and "generation" to create a new term, a term around which her book revolves.
She thus took a piece of information and reframed it, thereby highlighting it's cognitive possibilities.
That is scholarly creativity, the relationship between naming and the generation of knowledge being something at the core of Western scholarship and which African thinkers might need to do more of in mapping the world of knowledge.
The issue has been addressed at the site of the interview where she made her claim, the controversial comment has been removed and the issues clarified, with an explanation that she did not mean to claim she invented the term "soro soke".
Not only might the petition writers not have read the update on the original controversial post, they are playing a role of cultural territorialism that has no place in scholarship.
They claim that she has no right to write about a struggle by Nigerians and that Nigeria has people qualified to do it.
In addition to what I've already written, I'll add this- that people at times don't understand what it takes to do scholarship, not to talk of the kind that gets your book published by Cambridge UP, perhaps the oldest and one of the best and most prestigious scholarly publishers in the world.
It's not the same as writing Facebook updates, vital as those are.
Simply reading the writer's very brief summation of her book, I could see that a consumate scholar was in action, marshalling various zones of knowledge, urbanism, technology and society and political history, among others, in creating a compelling narrative analysis, all evident in a short paragraph.
Scholarship requires skill, knowledge and determination, not simply being qualified to write and being able to write.
It involves the effort to keep going, until you get it right.
We need to ask ourselves why no Nigerian ha published a scholarly book on EndSars, to the best of my knowledge.
What of the many who were there and those who were in the country at the time?
We should ask ourselves about our scholarly culture, about our level of rigour, of discipline, of self denial, of pursuit of learning, all of which are the lot of the scholar, well before significant material reward, if any, starts to show for that work, a situation negating the petitioners' claims that the book writer is profiteering from the blood and sweat of EndSars protesters.
One thing I admire about Falola is his ambition and tenacity. All his works do not demonstrate the same level of accomplishment but the work has been done and can be consulted by anyone, a culture that began at the then University of Ife.
We need to learn from such a culture, each in their own way.
Thanks
Toyin
--Did they say the book should be recalled?
I am not aware.
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Harrow, Kenneth <harrow@msu.edu>
Date: Wednesday, June 1, 2022 at 10:45 AM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - uproar over autoethnography piece in asrhi toyin, i am not sure i can agree that any and all petitions signed by large numbers of people must be right. what if there is another petition that goes the other way, as is the case here in michigan over abortion rights, and just about everything else under the sun.
in this case, if this women made a false claim, she should be called out.
if the issue is, who named the movement, and she falsely claimed to, she should be called upon to apologize, i suppose, or retract the claim.
recalling books, these days, has become the horrible response to information people don't like to hear, like having gay issues in books. libraries are now being called to remove them, and god knows what else.
have you seen the brouhaha over the autoethnography publication in asr? i know one of the authors of that piece, and fear the harm being done to her in the attacks.
ken
kenneth harrow
professor emeritus
dept of english
michigan state university
517 803-8839
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Toyin Falola <toyinfalola@austin.utexas.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, June 1, 2022 8:20 AM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - uproar over autoethnography piece in asr
Ken and Adepoju:
I am on the road, and still on the road, which prevents me from making a statement. I read the manuscript of Soro Soke for Cambridge and offered a blurb. I cannot recollect that I saw in the manuscript that she claimed that she coined the two Yoruba words, Sore Soke, as both preceded my birth. May be it is outside of the book.
However, any time many people signed a petition that attracts over 5,000 people, then something inappropriate must have occurred.
To Adepoju: groups, cultures and people must react if they are maligned and misinterpretedâ€"it is different from saying that they have no right to talk or write. If I were to call a group cannibalistic, they must pour venom on me.
TF
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Harrow, Kenneth <harrow@msu.edu>
Date: Wednesday, June 1, 2022 at 7:11 AM
To: usaafricadialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - uproar over autoethnography piece in asrsimilar issue concerning two "white" women academics who wrote piece in african studies review on autoethnography.
kenneth harrow
professor emeritus
dept of english
michigan state university
517 803-8839
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Oluwatoyin Adepoju <ovdepoju@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 1, 2022 2:15 AM
To: usaafricadialogue <USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Learning and Writing Sucessfully About Other Cultures as Central to Global Unity : Misguided Protest Against Lorenz, German Writer on Nigeria's EndSars Movement
Response to Story from Sahara Reporters Posted at Bottom of this Mail
Anybody from anywhere can write about anything from anywhere.
To claim that only those who are part of a culture, country or movement can write about those phenomena holds no water.
There is no basis for persecuting the German writer who was astute enough to write a book about the Nigerian EndSars movement and for demanding the book be recalled from publication.
The controversial claim she made about having named the movement after a Yoruba term the movement used in defining itself has been addressed and modified at the website where the interview in question took place.
How much writing and publication do Nigerians do anyway?
The EndSars movement can be studied and written about indefinitely.
Get to work and do your own bit and stop telling us about having people qualified to write, yet have not written.
Writing is not simply about being able to write. Everyone can write, to a degree.
It's about the determination and discipline to actually write and after that, publish.
We should not disgrace ourselves as culturally insular people who think only they can tell their own stories, when in fact, empathy, research, scholarship, expressive skill can enable anyone to speak powerfully about situations and contexts they were never involved in or have no direct relationship with.
Over 5000 Nigerians Sign Petition Against UK Author, Lorenz Over Book ‘Soro Soke’
Lorenz in an interview claimed she was the one who named the protesters “Soro Soke generation.â€
The petition demanded that a public apology be written to Nigerians from Lorenz and that the interview be taken down.
The book is also named after a Yoruba-sourced activism phrase meaning “speak outâ€.
The phrase is a popular term used by Nigerians during the #EndSARS protest against police brutality in 2020.
In her book, Lorenz, who is based in Berlin, Germany, examined the bravery of youths who led the movement and featured the views of some Nigerians who took part in the demonstration.
Lorenzo in an interview claimed she was the one who named the protesters “Soro Soke generation.â€
“This cohort exhibits a confident outspokenness and a tendency for creative disruption, leading me to name them the Soro Soke generation,†she said.
The publication which won her the 2021/2022 Nine Dots Prize which lauds creative thinking that tackles contemporary societal issues.
She later came under intense criticism on social media.
Nigerian youths On Tuesday, started to sign the petition seeking the recall of the book from publication.
The petition, has so far amassed over 5,000 signatures, alleged that Lorenz, with her book and the conversation around it, decided “to expropriate and abuse the name of the struggle.â€
“Soro Soke is a Nigerian movement. One that came with our blood, sweat, and tears. We are yet to recover from the aftermath,†the petition read in part.
“The phrase indicated that the Nigerian people would no longer put up with bad governance and they would speak out boldly. Unfortunately, in the course of the protests, the authorities responded with the military and over 50 Nigerians’ lives were lost. Many protesters and activists are still in jail, some in exile. Nigerians have not recovered.
“How can you name and claim what was already existing? She has no connection to the struggle yet she capitalises, benefits and profits off the trauma of Nigerians.
“This is evidenced by her winnings from The Nine Dots Prize which comes with a remuneration of about $100,000. She has also received book deals with Cambridge University press and has her books in global bookstores and universities such as Harvard University library.
“This is a Nigerian story to tell and we have Nigerians who are qualified to tell it. We have already told it without support or visibility. African stories must be told by African people.†The petition reads in part.
Sahara Reporters
.
--
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