The Pitfalls of Psychoanalyzing Peeling Back the..

[Onyango Oloo]

demokrasia-kenya.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-pitfalls-of-psychoanalyzing-peeling.html

[nalinali]

Jul 27, 2012 20:45:18 GMT 3 Onyango Oloo said:

demokrasia-kenya.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-pitfalls-of-psychoanalyzing-peeling.html

OO
Nice read. What happened to your warning that no MM thread will be allowed or did I get it wrong?

Quite an effort and a belabored one at that. And for what? Just to try and sanitize you friends self-destruction in public. Does not convince anyone at all.

Seems to me you are biased in every way by trying to disparage well thought out reviews of the substance of Miguna's book by among others, Sarah Elderkin. You choose not to dwell on the specific rebuttal to specific assertions by Miguna, in his book, all because you are eager to echo the shallowly bandied broad-brush about people attaching the person of the author and not the substance of his book. You are lying. How far can one be from the truth if what I have read about what sane folks have said about MM's book is anything to go by. Read all the rebuttals once again.

OO, MM's saga has swallowed you in properly and you have surely lost that objective perch you had a while back. It is a pity to see you sacrifice all you have stood for in defense of an obviously childish and unreasonable friend. Drop this poise Oloo and let the book find its level for what it is worth in truth or fallacy. That is my advice.(unedited)

[Onyango Oloo]

Nalinali:

Your response is predictable.

Instead of responding to what I actually wrote, what do you do?

The easiest and laziest thing at your disposal:

Another flimsy ad hominem attack.

I expect more of the same from some of you.

Incidentally, if you remember what I actually said, it was that any NEW thread on Miguna had to be one that ADDED VALUE to the discussion. You noticed, did you not that I highlighted Phil's post publicizing the position of the PM on Miguna's book. I also put a sticy to Nereah's Open Letter to Miguna.

I urge you to refrain from derailing this topic at the outset.

Onyango Oloo

[nalinali]

Jul 27, 2012 22:10:53 GMT 3 Onyango Oloo said:

Nalinali:

Your response is predictable.

Instead of responding to what I actually wrote, what do you do?

The easiest and laziest thing at your disposal:

Another flimsy ad hominem attack.

I expect more of the same from some of you.

Incidentally, if you remember what I actually said, it was that any NEW thread on Miguna had to be one that ADDED VALUE to the discussion. You noticed, did you not that I highlighted Phil's post publicizing the position of the PM on Miguna's book. I also put a sticy to Nereah's Open Letter to Miguna.

I urge you to refrain from derailing this topic at the outset.

Onyango Oloo

That is not derailing. That is my opinion about your approach to the MM issue. As far as I am concerned, there is very little value in that post. Too bad if you fail to grasp my view.

[tnk]

Jul 27, 2012 20:45:18 GMT 3 Onyango Oloo said:

demokrasia-kenya.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-pitfalls-of-psychoanalyzing-peeling.html

bw. oloo

from most of the people who have read this book, including yourself and subsequent reviews

many find the opening chapters very engaging and informative

but there is little or ineffective material in the accusations/allegations, nothing jumps at the readers. even the most rabid of raila's detractors are just mouthing the same thing, i.e generics, noone really has anything concrete to use.

in fact i read your review first because i was hoping to get some hints at where to jump to for the real stuff, but noted that your review of the opening chapters was really well done, but not much detail on the other allegations.

the fact of the matter so far, it appears that the book had little content to prove any corruption, so to cover up for this lack of detail and with hindsight, realizing that the public expected far much more, miguna then chose to pronounce even bigger news like PEV and other "secrets" that he has not revealed.

my biggest disappointment here is that, if miguna, a brilliant brain, working at the highest level of government, cannot put together a simple case with concrete evidence linking these impunity pointmen to corrupt dealings, then the fight against corruption in kenya perhaps will not be won. the reality here is that miguna does not have sufficient experience in the workings of the civil service, having been away for 20 years, never entered or interacted with the civil service at some of the middle level positions, entering from the top, he was simply fodder. its this lack of experience in the civil service of kenya and an unwilling spirit to try to understand the "lowly" staff that's his undoing. if he had been willing to interact with them he might have actually picked up much needed information and leaked evidence, he instead chose to go lone ranger.

bottom line, we know there is corruption, in fact we have known theres corruption for decades, miguna blew his chance to expose this and instead took on a political war with his ex-boss/idol. the political battle will continue till kingdom come, the corruption battle at least in this case, is lost.

the sad part is that the peers with whom he had a serious seniority rivalry (reminds me of the VP / PM hierarchy conflict) with as can be seen from his effort to be 2nd in command at the PM's office i.e just a step behind the PM, managed to upstage him and made him look like a notorious tattle tale, always running to "daddy" to report his brothers' mischief every-time he hears another rumor. crying wolf too many times, such that even when the wolf did come, no one took him seriously. he played the politics poorly.

i was ready to partner with miguna on the corruption battle, but on the political battlefront, who is m'guna?

on another note, i cant help but admire your faith in the man and the book, clearly you two have discussed much more detail than either of you will ever reveal.

in your piece above, you do not provide any reason as to whether the psychoanalysis is true and right on point or false.

anyway onto olympics kwa'ja then will come back to hammer more nails to this coffin

[einstein]

OO writes:

In my opinion, when you are critiquing a book, you analyze and comment on its CONTENTS, giving your assessment of the veracity of its claims, the context when it was written and perhaps even the finesse (or lack of it) in putting together the book in literary terms. In a political memoir one cannot shy away from ideological judgments made in the concrete historical, socio-economic, cultural and broader political context in which the book was written.


At the end of day the critic must ask:



What did the author set out to do?

What were the central arguments and claims of the author?

Did the author succeed in making those claims in a factual, credible, consistent and verifiable way?

If the book was read two years, twelve years, twenty years or two hundred years from now, will it stand the test of time?

Has the book added to or subtracted from national discourse, dialogue or debate?

Is the country worse off or better placed as a result of the issues raised in the book?

And of course many other considerations.



Now, there is no one “template” for reviewing a book.



There is no correct way of critiquing a political memoir.



Having said that I can definitely state there are LAZY WAYS of critiquing a book.



One of the laziest ways is ATTACKING THE CHARACTER OF THE AUTHOR instead of dealing with the CONTENTS and ISSUES s/he raises in the book.


And one of the most SUSPECT and increasingly DISCREDITED METHODS of doing that is to resort to the dubious theories of psychoanalysis, employing the most hackneyed clichés from lalaland of vapid psychobabble.

OO,

I'm not an expert in psychology, but I had the privilege to study it twice, as part of the requirements for my major subjects.

Thus I'm wondering:

Where on God's good earth does one draw the line between a person's personality (content of character) and that of the same person's psychology?

The content of a person's character (personality) is a direct function (reflection) of that person's psychology, so i think.

And hence, the CONTENT of MM's book is a direct function (reflection) of MM's personality (content of character) and MM's psychology, so I would think.

Question:

Can personality A (with a content of character peculiar only to person A) write a book or whatever reflecting CONTENTS that should have been written by personality B (with a content of character peculiar only to person B) if we exclude the realm of propaganda? How is that possible?

Conclusion:

Thus if MM (personality A) wrote his book but with CONTENTS that should have been written by personality B, then MM was simply engaged in propaganda, so I would say.

Therefore, unless we are dealing with scientific literature, the CONTENT of all other forms of literature are heavily influenced by the peculiar personalities (content of their character) of the individuals who write them. (Prove me wrong please).

Based on the aforesaid, therefore, the readers of MM's book CANNOT just concentrate only on the CONTENT of the book without trying to visualize the personality/psychology of the person behind the book even if they do not know him personally. This happens automatically to every reader of such literature.

[Onyango Oloo]

TNK and Einstein:

Thank you for taking the time to read my essay and responding critically but thoughtfully. You made my essay worth researching and writing.

Since those were your reasoned reflections and observations I do not think that I should necessarily react or respond to them in the way we used to do when we were primary school kids (for some of us in rural western Kenya) when the teacher in charge of debates would shock you by arbitrarily dividing the class in two halves before blurting out:

"You on this side of the room, next to me, near the black board, will argue that mothers are better than fathers. The rest of you sneaking at the back, trying to hide under your desks, have to oppose that side by proving that fathers are actually better than mothers OK. Understood? OK, you Onyango, so you think that mothers are better than fathers huh? Convince us."

In other words, your interventions stand on their own as legitimate contributions to this ongoing discussion.

Einstein I want to respond to you.

But please indulge me by letting me go round and round and round and round in circles to make my obscure point.

One of the most brilliant American detective writers is Walter Mosley who is of African-American and Jewish heritage. He is famous for books which later become movies like Devil in a Blue Dress (starring the incomparable Denzel Washington). He also created memorable characters like the private eye Easy Rawlins.

To find out more about his background consult these two links:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Mosley

www.momentmag.com/Exclusive/2010/10/Feature-Mosley.html

Fairly intelligent, charismatic guy wont you agree?

Well there is a nugget of information that is NOT contained in either of those links.

Because I am more of a LITERATURE rather than a political buff, I read a lot of magazines and listen to a lot of audio books when I can. Way back in the late 1990s there was a wonderful magazine coming out of the United States that focused on sophisticated, mature, intellectual African-American high brow culture. It went under- and no, it was NOT Ebony, Essence, Black Enterprise or Jet! The name escapes me.

Anyways, once they featured a full length profile and detailed interview with Walter Mosley.

You know what was weird?

Apart from repeating the well known fact that Mosley has been writing on a DAILY basis since age 34, they also revealed that the author RELISHES, LOVES, feel more COMFORTABLE in sitting before his computer to type all day WHEN HE IS STARK, FREAKING NAKED, DRESSED IN NOTHING BUT HIS REWASHABLE BIRTHDAY SUIT!!

Now tell me Einstein, what psychoanalytical projections would you make of that factoid?

Did it affect the quality of his characters? Was there a sort of subliminal Nude Coefficient to his writing?

How about these pieces of trivia I picked up in cyberspace:

Greek orator Demosthenes would force himself to stay focused on composing his orations by shaving off half of his hair, making him look so ridiculous that he wouldn’t be tempted to procrastinate by leaving his home. Victor Hugo would do something similar, forcing himself to meet his daily writing goals by having his valet hide his clothes. Yup, the guy who wrote “Les Miserables” liked to work in the nude.

King Otto, ruler of Bavaria from 1886 to 1913, shot a peasant every morning to start his day. Thankfully, his two advisors were kind-hearted: one gave the king a rifle filled with blanks, and the other dressed as a “peasant”, acting out death throes when he was “shot”.

SOURCE:

www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/the-productivity-tricks-and-daily-habits-of-famous-people.html


By the way, I watched every nanosecond of the breath taking opening ceremony of the London Olympics. My heart skipped a beat when I spied a slower version of my childhood hero Muhammad Ali clutching the Olympics flag. And the grand finale with the lighting of the flame;a greying, grizzled Sir McCartney belting out Hey Jude; Rowan Atkinson with his pranks at the beginning, but accompanying the London Symphony Orchestra on piano??!!

It was just stupendous.
Onyango Oloo
Nairobi

[enigma]

Oloo,

The difference is Les Miserables is not a mask-peeling exercise neither is it a memoir. The authors of the books you mention wrote works of fiction. They did not expressly write about their friends and confidantes in a purely negative light. That is why Miguna's state of mind is under the microscope here.

[Onyango Oloo]

Jul 28, 2012 12:34:38 GMT 3 enigma said:

Oloo,

The difference is Les Miserables is not a mask-peeling exercise neither is it a memoir. The authors of the books you mention wrote works of fiction. They did not expressly write about their friends and confidantes in a purely negative light. That is why Miguna's state of mind is under the microscope here.

Enigma:

You startle me there somewhat.

Were we discussing Victor Hugo in the first place?

My friend, comment on the essay, not the comments ON the essay.

Fair enough?

Onyango Oloo

[enigma]

Jul 28, 2012 12:55:43 GMT 3 Onyango Oloo said:

Jul 28, 2012 12:34:38 GMT 3 enigma said:

Oloo,

The difference is Les Miserables is not a mask-peeling exercise neither is it a memoir. The authors of the books you mention wrote works of fiction. They did not expressly write about their friends and confidantes in a purely negative light. That is why Miguna's state of mind is under the microscope here.

Enigma:

You startle me there somewhat.

Were we discussing Victor Hugo in the first place?

My friend, comment on the essay, not the comments ON the essay.

Fair enough?

Onyango Oloo

OO,

I read the essay twice. Your theme is that we should totally disregard the character of miguna when trying to appreciate his book. Given that this is a book about Miguna, and in light of new revelations about the man's conduct and relationship with other staff, we have to look beyond his literary work to understand what informs Miguna and why he felt he was 'peeling'. We won't just take his word for it. We have to pick the scalpel and dissect his character and drive. Just like Job points out Miguna is economical with the truth 'lying by omission'. So tunajijazia hayo mapengo otherwise this book will join Men's Health Nakumatt Catalogues, and extreme sports section of the bookshelf.

[jakaswanga]

Jul 28, 2012 3:56:11 GMT 3 Onyango Oloo said:

TNK and Einstein:

Thank you for taking the time to read my essay and responding critically but thoughtfully. You made my essay worth researching and writing.

Since those were your reasoned reflections and observations I do not think that I should necessarily react or respond to them in the way we used to do when we were primary school kids (for some of us in rural western Kenya) when the teacher in charge of debates would shock you by arbitrarily dividing the class in two halves before blurting out:

"You on this side of the room, next to me, near the black board, will argue that mothers are better than fathers. The rest of you sneaking at the back, trying to hide under your desks, have to oppose that side by proving that fathers are actually better than mothers OK. Understood? OK, you Onyango, so you think that mothers are better than fathers huh? Convince us."

In other words, your interventions stand on their own as legitimate contributions to this ongoing discussion.

Einstein I want to respond to you.

But please indulge me by letting me go round and round and round and round in circles to make my obscure point.

Yo, Oloo,

Allow me; that above, is the spirit in which I want to contribute here. Legitimate contributions standing on their own, in an ongoing discussion! even if with the stylistic indulgence of a merry-go round after round associated with the ballroom dances of a decadent aristocracy, rotting boisterously away. No school-yard cacophony of invective.

The problem of a biography when one is still young, and probably still has his life ahead of him, Oloo, is what I will term, the risks of candour. Japan, boasting the most regimented bureaucracy on earth, is the place to go for satires on the how to avoid criticizing those whose help or patronage you may need tomorrow: 'the salary man', also a social tool in decoding Japan. journals.worldnomads.com/daniel/story/10776/Japan/Salary-Men

We all know, that our honest opinions of others, even friends, are unstatable if we want to continue enjoying the warm auspices of their acquaintance. That is why it is good etiquette, that good friends never participate in the masengenyo kuhusu marafiki zao za ukweli.

So If Miguna, in my opinion a young man, and not an artist by profession --artists will be judged differently in high-brow critique, was going to write an autobiography, he would be damned if he did become candid, and be damned if he did not. Non candour would be a work of gloss and buddy scratch my back. An exercise in ingratiation. On the other hand candour must be embarrassing, risking alienating friends, former associates and various shades of intimacies, whose portrayal may be unflattering if not downright insulting. An example of the former is Wafula Buke as 'untidy' and lazy-looking, whereas an example of the latter is the other student leader, as an impostor who urinated in his pants due to stage-fright! Even if true, this is really burning ones bridges. A future workable relationship between Miguna and those two would be difficult to envisage!

But I am assuming Miguna is aware of such an implication, and made his choice with that in mind. Yes, tough decisions must be made in life, and their consequences borne. My own experience in life, no walk in the park, has taught me to detect tough decisions, and accord respect when they are made consciously, with the consequences evaluated. Whether they are right or not is another matter. In that respect Miguna can be described as brave. Then the qualification is that this bravery is reckless to the level of foolhardy, because he tackles the rock Raila, a deity in Luoland. Some, shocked witless by this level of 'wang'teko', sacrillege, can only declare him a a nut-case!
.....
But...
this problematic of balancing candour and good-press for self-survival in a world of changing fortunes and alliances, is why most biographies by politicians and public servants are written long after they are through with their careers. Former UK premier John Major, not on memoirs, when his true opinion of his fellow cabinet members leaked, just laughed along: he was taped on the phone as saying they were wretched back-stabbing bastards, sons of gory b!tches, and John Redwood, the right winger who had promised not to challenge him only to do so immediately outside number ten, was a bestial rodent! ;D

The late journalist and broadcaster Antony Howard, ever my best commentator on UU politics, chuckled on the radio when asked if the cabinet could still function given this candour: every (UK) prime minister has to get on with the business of running his government, he said, and if he is unfortunate enough to have picked for cabinet, or have imposed upon him, wretched rodents, conniving bastards, back-stabbing Romans or what have you, he still has to (run the country) or he will loose the next elections. But yes, being honest of ones colleagues in politics is a very dangerous game. Like lawyers refer to even the most corrupt of their lot as learned friend, Prime ministers are well advised to speak of honourable and esteemed members of cabinet! --But, show me a country whose cabinet ia not, let us avoid slander here, are not the kind of animals John Major runs Britain with! (Chuckle)
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/8212858/Anthony-Howard-dies.html

So, Oloo, Miguna having decided not to pander to the game of hypocrisy, and express his honest and heartfelt evaluation of his peers, superiors, juniors and the wider world, there really can be no other course of action than to psychiatrically pathologise him.

The use of psychiatry to discredit the intelligence of an uncomfortable author and, consequently, invalidate his work, has always been the key repressive reflex of establishment-power and those orbiting around it.

Miguna is not an artist in the sense he is no writer of fiction that reflects Kenya like Ngugi, but perhaps it is the lack of a writer to debunk current Kenya, that has created the vacuum which Miguna now fills. There are no novelists coming up with allegorical works of fiction, and, looking at Raila and Kibaki running a seditiously corrupt society, interpretively drive the message home in subtle fashion that we are stuck at the bottom of humanity. ---(Kenya is consistently number 174 of 183 countries on the corruption index, indeed a banana republic with the highest paid politicians and bureaucrats in the world).

That is, we horridly miss our own version of Tolstoy. Or the Victor Hugo you and Enigma are slugging one another about there above. I think a work of autobiography invites to be treated as fact, a narration of facts, historical. It is therefore intellectually legitimate not to separate the contents of the book from the author. The 'I' is a unification of author and content, and not an artistic device, nor technical formula. (This point should invite some good thinkers of Jukwaa to weigh in. I think it very delicate and requires enlightenment from different perspectives. Unfortunately the caveat is they need must be well-thought!)

-------------
Anything abhors a vacuum. And deep fictional accounts of our land being absent, nowonder pugilists with sledge hammers like Mr. Bebi-bi yawa Bebi-bi, Come baby come, will be the only act in town, intellectually reflecting the awesome anger at the grassroots, even if not wholly devoid of comical theatrics.

(I am aware there is a school which says there is no anger against corruption at the grassroots, and that is why the corrupt politicians are repeatedly elected. I beg to differ. The sentiments that fire the MRC (Mombasa republicans) and the sentiments that backed the expulsion of Gikuyus from the Rift in PEV, are expressions of the grassroots rage in Kenya. That it is re-directed and expended, under the guidance of the political class, into inter-ethnic hatred and leaves the elite unscathed, does not mean it is non-existent. It simply means, to paraphrase Marx, the struggle has adopted a subterfuge form, at a glance showing no relation to what should be the priority combat zone.)

The psychiatric pathologization of Miguna is therefore predictable as you, Oloo, amply noted, but also inevitable. But the inevitability is also, in my opinion, a function of the mass media dynamic in this era. There is this word infotainment, the combination of information and entertainment, then there is this concept of mass circulation or viewer-ratings, defining the business ethos. The mass media therefore need a consumable package, easily folklorish even in academic sense, substandard yes if need be, but definitely a public hit and a mesmerizing interpretation. A hype. In this respect, nothing beats psychoanalysis with its Freudian-Jung-Lacan even without the customary sexual overtones in the West! It is scandalous, and effectively a spellbinding racket. Now we wait for the eroticism! Is it you who mentioned Dr. Phil and Oprah?

Miguna is on the proverbial couch! sit baaaack, folks!

Oloo, for your entertainment let me remind you that from the a continental perspective, Anglo-Saxon literary criticism has collapsed and sunk into the abyss of Psychoanalysis. But commercially it is a run-away formula. Because this school is the intellectual basis of american soaps that used to dominate the world, and the Hollywood movies that block busted around the world. Whereas european rigorous depths into Gramscian and Althuserian materialist criticism, and to talk about cinema, their Fellinis and Bertollucis, could not have a hope in hell of matching that populism married to commerce and generating astronomical profits.

It is from this (mass) popular consumption of infotainment that I put the Miguna psycho-stuff in perspective. It panders to a ready-made consitituency! Yap, Freud Jung and Lacan provide a popular intellectual reference point for public infortainement, only comparable to juju tales thick in Naija movies. Note that these somewhat mystic juju tales where mmmes drop off in streets, people double money in markets, others change into crocodiles in the evening to quench their hunger on the mainy uncollected corpses on Lagos environs, then in the morning wake up again as healthy young men ... note that these tales spellbind hundreds of millions as plausible, and have become a canonic industry.

PS: My opinion is the change into a crocodile is a literary device to avoid the otherwise taboo subject of cannibalism due to urban poverty in Africa's leading oil exporter.

Miguna peels off our mask too, right here on Jukwaa.
Agwambo kende at all costs!

[Onyango Oloo]

Jakaswanga:

Thanks for your thoughts above.

There are several people on this forum-women and men- who make it worthwhile to log in to Jukwaa for mental nourishment. You are one of them.

Your erudite, encyclopedic intellectual contributions, together with those of Job, Furaha, TNK, Adongo PODP, Titchaz and half a dozen others, raise the bar for discussions and debates here on Jukwaa.

Please keep it up.

On a sardonic tongue-in-cheek aside, you may wanna tone down what someone told me privately the "reckless, self-hating Luo phobia."

Onyango Oloo

[podp]

OO,

Thanks for the thread. It is more focused than the diversionary one of 'Peeling Miguna's own Mask' I was commenting own started by the doctor in the house, Job.

In my take I wish to address what roughrider tried making me dwell on i.e. the person of MM and not the contents of 'Peeling Back the Mask.

I will borrow heavily from those before MMs namely Ngugi (Detained); Ochuodho (Dawn of a Rainbow); Karume (Charcoal to Gold); Nyachae (Corridors of Power); Maathai (Unbowed) in attempting to deal with some questions you raised at the end of your interesting essay.

I also use the quote from the the lady singer based in USA. She says "We need to focus on what matters. Let's stop peeling, fashioning, criticizing and defending all sorts of ridiculous masks and give the people some irrefutable, vote-deciding facts"

As much as its easier to be ‘lazy’ please if nothing I would rather engage with the above as the guiding light not the person of MM of Peeling Back the Mask fame. Consider what the lady based in USA postulates "If it is true that Sally Kosgei, a whole minister, had to exit a ferry unceremoniously for cars to make it across Rusinga Island, then who can predict what will happen to the ordinary mwananchi? We must move away from the days of dictatorship and hero-worship. We want accountable, servant leaders whose families are not more equal than others."

To me that should generate the question 'Will behavior as vividly describe above enable Kenyans to receive justice in our quest to be more fully human, as teacher taught us in Pedagogy of the Oppressed?'

You ask ' What did the author set out to do?'

Using DAWN OF A RAINBOW, by Shem Ochuodho which gives the untold intrigues of the Kenyans first coalition government one clearly gets the intention of Ochudho. It documents some of the initiatives, intrigues, and events that led to the development of NARC, the party that ousted KANU and former president Moi out of power in the historic 2002 general elections.

When Wangari Maathai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004, questions were raised regarding her choice by the Nobel Committee. Why should an environmentalist receive a prize that was identified with peace and human rights, voiced the critics. Reading Maathai's memoir, ‘Unbowed’, sets the record straight, and justifying her selection for the award.

Why is it so difficult for us to use similar yard sticks when interrogating the contents of MM’s Peeling Back the Mask instead of dwelling on the person, MM?

Some of us know the late WM of Unbowed. We never dwelt more on her personal failings as compared to her national and international acclamations which we rarely refuse to take the credits when confronted with foreigners full of praise of her achievements.

You ask 'What were the central arguments and claims of the author?'

Simon Nyachae in his memoir ‘Walking through the Corridors of Service’ highlights his relationship with presidents Kenyatta, Moi and Kibaki. It gives a glimpse of the tyranny, intrigues, lies, tribalism, and dirty struggles for power which have characterized Kenya’s politics and the Public Service since 1963 flag independence.

You quip 'Did the author succeed in making those claims in a factual, credible, consistent and verifiable way?'

Nyachae’s book captures his lost dreams, especially his unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 2002 which he seems to blame on PM RAO and the media. However, s they ‘felt strongly that they had to go ahead as a matter of principle despite the signs that they were unlikely to win’.

MM in Peeling Back the Mask repeats the same, but it appears we are more keen on MM the person than the contents i.e. claims if they were factual, credible, consistent and verifiable!


You ask 'If the book was read two years, twelve years, twenty years or two hundred years from now, will it stand the test of time?'

Amazon’s website describes’ Beyond Expectations: From Charcoal to Gold’ as an interesting as it is inspiring. It is the story of a freedom fighter and a cultural activist; the story of an astute businessman and a shrewd politician; the story of a generous family man and a philanthropist; the story of an eminent elder and a gifted storyteller. It is the story of Njenga Karume.

Ditto MM’s Peeling Back the Mask. How would you (say roughrider, phil and other RAO lovers, describe it in 200 words? After reading it please not listening to RAO lovers and/or haters!

You ask 'Has the book added to or subtracted from national discourse, dialogue or debate?'

In ‘Unbowed’ Wangari Maathai's memoir comes out as a very personal and written from the heart. We get to know her thinking and feelings as well as a detailed description of the difficult life women and men who opposed President Moi regime faced. Her easygoing and conversational style softens the impact of her description of the arduous and sometimes even brutal experiences that she relays.

Now when MM in Peeling Back the Mask asks us to interrogate ‘quest for justice’ we leave the bigger picture and focus on the individual. Why do we not interrogate the persons of Ngugi, Maathai, Ochuodho, Nyachae, Karume etc. as a sport instead of the contents of their memoirs?

You ask 'Is the country worse off or better placed as a result of the issues raised in the book?And of course many other considerations.'

From ‘Unbowed’ we learn that women in Kenya were not supposed to be independent and strong. WM’s fight for women's equal rights broadened her environmental commitments.

Eventually WM lost her academic position, her husband divorced her and she ended up as poor as she was a child. Not deterred by the adversities she was facing, she continued fighting on several fronts. She started the Greenbelt Movement to plant trees to reclaim the land as a campaign for and with rural women. Over time it gained such prominence that it was perceived as a threat by the GoK. Public show of opposition, such as the demonstrations to save Uhuru Park in Nairobi from President Moi’s-friendly developers, increasingly identified WM and the Greenbelt Movement as a focus for opposition forces. They fought for human rights and dignity, anti-tribalism and democracy. The details of these struggles, the friendships and solidarity that WM experienced, both in Kenya in internationally, supported her morally and probably saved her life more than once. But again we prefer seeing WM’s results of issues she brought forward not her individual self.

Why is that difficult to do for MM’s Peeling Back the Mask? Are the community from which he comes afraid of having a mental flight?

Have purposely used other Kenyans before MM to show that we need to dwell on the bigger picture. If we wish to focus on the narrow narrative we may dwell on if MM's and RAO's tiff is antagonistic or not! That would be more interesting than trying to be psychoanalysts which is not even a pure science.

Just for your info in former Soviet Union they would get an accomplished scholar to declare someone like MM a mental case and use that excuse to put the 'dissident' in a mathare type of facility for decades. Is that what roughrider, phil and Co in an unconscious way advocating?

[einstein]

Jul 28, 2012 3:56:11 GMT 3 Onyango Oloo said:

TNK and Einstein:

Thank you for taking the time to read my essay and responding critically but thoughtfully. You made my essay worth researching and writing.

Since those were your reasoned reflections and observations I do not think that I should necessarily react or respond to them in the way we used to do when we were primary school kids (for some of us in rural western Kenya) when the teacher in charge of debates would shock you by arbitrarily dividing the class in two halves before blurting out:

"You on this side of the room, next to me, near the black board, will argue that mothers are better than fathers. The rest of you sneaking at the back, trying to hide under your desks, have to oppose that side by proving that fathers are actually better than mothers OK. Understood? OK, you Onyango, so you think that mothers are better than fathers huh? Convince us."

In other words, your interventions stand on their own as legitimate contributions to this ongoing discussion.

Einstein I want to respond to you.

But please indulge me by letting me go round and round and round and round in circles to make my obscure point.

One of the most brilliant American detective writers is Walter Mosley who is of African-American and Jewish heritage. He is famous for books which later become movies like Devil in a Blue Dress (starring the incomparable Denzel Washington). He also created memorable characters like the private eye Easy Rawlins.

To find out more about his background consult these two links:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Mosley

www.momentmag.com/Exclusive/2010/10/Feature-Mosley.html

Fairly intelligent, charismatic guy wont you agree?

Well there is a nugget of information that is NOT contained in either of those links.

Because I am more of a LITERATURE rather than a political buff, I read a lot of magazines and listen to a lot of audio books when I can. Way back in the late 1990s there was a wonderful magazine coming out of the United States that focused on sophisticated, mature, intellectual African-American high brow culture. It went under- and no, it was NOT Ebony, Essence, Black Enterprise or Jet! The name escapes me.

Anyways, once they featured a full length profile and detailed interview with Walter Mosley.

You know what was weird?

Apart from repeating the well known fact that Mosley has been writing on a DAILY basis since age 34, they also revealed that the author RELISHES, LOVES, feel more COMFORTABLE in sitting before his computer to type all day WHEN HE IS STARK, FREAKING NAKED, DRESSED IN NOTHING BUT HIS REWASHABLE BIRTHDAY SUIT!!

Now tell me Einstein, what psychoanalytical projections would you make of that factoid?

Did it affect the quality of his characters? Was there a sort of subliminal Nude Coefficient to his writing?

How about these pieces of trivia I picked up in cyberspace:

Greek orator Demosthenes would force himself to stay focused on composing his orations by shaving off half of his hair, making him look so ridiculous that he wouldn’t be tempted to procrastinate by leaving his home. Victor Hugo would do something similar, forcing himself to meet his daily writing goals by having his valet hide his clothes. Yup, the guy who wrote “Les Miserables” liked to work in the nude.

King Otto, ruler of Bavaria from 1886 to 1913, shot a peasant every morning to start his day. Thankfully, his two advisors were kind-hearted: one gave the king a rifle filled with blanks, and the other dressed as a “peasant”, acting out death throes when he was “shot”.

SOURCE:

www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/the-productivity-tricks-and-daily-habits-of-famous-people.html


By the way, I watched every nanosecond of the breath taking opening ceremony of the London Olympics. My heart skipped a beat when I spied a slower version of my childhood hero Muhammad Ali clutching the Olympics flag. And the grand finale with the lighting of the flame;a greying, grizzled Sir McCartney belting out Hey Jude; Rowan Atkinson with his pranks at the beginning, but accompanying the London Symphony Orchestra on piano??!!

It was just stupendous.
Onyango Oloo
Nairobi

OO,

Though I'm not an expert in psychology, I can only attempt a layman's interpretation of the two cases of nudity you've mentioned above.

There can be several interpretations for the behaviour of the two guys. One for example could be that the guys wanted to be as natural as they could possibly be in their works. They wanted no dilution of their minds (PERSONALITY/CONTENT OF CHARACTER/PSYCHOLOGY) which they hoped would lead to no dilution of the CONTENT of their works. Thus the quality of their works was dependent (FUNCTION OF/SUBLIMINAL NUDE COEFFICIENT TO) on their state of mind while at work.

That would explain the quality of their works and success.

But, please note that this is just one of many possible interpretations!

[tnk]

although we are not discussing these guys, but from what i read above, victor hugo and demosthenes as described above took some physical measures in order to ensure they did not get distracted by the pleasures of daily life, thus cause delay or some other lower quality in their work. i do not see where it states that they particularly enjoyed being in that physical state but rather that they devised methods that helped them focus on their goals.

in school i remember guys that would dip their feet in cold water to stay awake and study, the idea being to stay awake rather than enjoying dipping their feet in cold water, but i could be wrong....

[abdulmote]

Ndugu OO,

Much as I am reluctant to, I could not any further contain myself from advising you what I am about to state herein.

I truly admire your loyalty and indeed your resilience towards protecting your good friend. So much has been said and observed about Mx2, but all that came about through Miguna’s own production as influenced by his predetermined and circumstantial ‘Karma’. No one else but he, ‘resourcefully’ and recklessly invited the same. Unfortunately some human beings are created for such a destiny and Ndugu Miguna is pitifully just one of them

Mine is a concern about you; In my good and humble estimate, and indeed with good mathematical probability; I fear that you will eventually become one, of your friend’s own victim. Let me say that I had noticed your own concern during the book launch that you had to move in and try to curb your friend’s runaway rage during his presentation and that told me a lot about your relationship.

But Miguna doesn’t care much; unsurprisingly, not even about his own dear family’s wellbeing and their peace of mind. It is a pity that such a passionate mind cannot be changed and neither tamed for the better even if a million souls desired.

I urge you, as someone I have known, to start thinking on how you can begin to cut yourself free from such a reckless and compulsive mind. Let it be on record that today, merely as someone who cares, I have sincerely and wholeheartedly advised you so.

It can be difficult and I can empathise with you, but it can be done.

Apologies for my diversion from the main topic.

Salaam

[nowayhaha]

OO,
Here is the wiki definition of a Biography

A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. It entails more than basic facts (education, work, relationships, and death), a biography also portrays a subject's experience of these events. Unlike a profile or curriculum vitae (résumé), a biography presents a subject's life story, highlighting various aspects of his or her life, including intimate details of experience, and may include an analysis of a subject's personality.

And as such as highlighted in bold above " and may include an analysis of a subjects personality" brings in the urge to know why the author acted, reacted the way he did since coming to the public limelight (the psychoanalysis). This is bearing in mind that most of the claims,situations ,predicaments etc highlighted in the book be it factual,credible ,consistent or verifiable are already public knowledge and thus if the contents of the book were to influence any political discourse then that should have been done when the scandals and claims initially came to the public sphere .

In as much as the book has been billed as "a whistle-blower book" most of the information has been in the public domain for a minute i.e. Maize scandal , K.K.V. Triton including O.D.M. involvement in them as can be attested in Jukwaa threads thus Migunas book does not provide any new information on that part but rather provides new information of the character /personality of Miguna and how it was influenced by his childhood growing up and life experiences at the U.O.N ,during his escape to exile and his life in exile. We get to know why Miguna acts the way he acts -suffice to say this had been an intrigue since he came to public limelight .

From interviews in Capital FM , Citizen , Nation Miguna himself has emphasized that whatever is written in book has direct or indirect influence to his " political journey" else he would not have included it in the book While reading the book one can clearly see the links therein e.g. confronting authority .

Actually the book "Peeling Back the Mask" comes out more of a Psycho-biography only that one has to join the dots being that the subject individual is the author .

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychobiography


Psychobiography aims to understand historical individuals such as artists or political leaders, through the application of psychological theory and research. It is, in essence, a form of case study.

Sigmund Freud's analysis of Leonardo da Vinci (titled "Leonardo da Vinci and a Memory of His Childhood") is generally considered to be the first "modern" psychobiography. Persons who have been the subject of psychobiographical research include Freud, Adolf Hitler, Sylvia Plath, Carl Jung, Vincent van Gogh, Abraham Lincoln, Elvis Presley, Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche and Richard Nixon. Many psychobiographies are Freudian or psychodynamic in orientation, but other commonly used theories include narrative models of identity such as the life story model, script theory, object relations, and existentialism/phenomenology.

The discipline of psychobiography has developed various methodological guidelines for psychobiographical study. Some of the most prominent are these:

1. The use of prototypical scenes in the life of the subject to serve as a model of their personality pattern

2. The use of a series of indicators of salience, markers such as primacy, frequency, and uniqueness of an event in a life, to identify significant patterns

3. The identification of pregnant metaphors or images that organize autobiographical narratives

4. Logical coherence or consistency as a criterion for adequate psychological interpretations

However, scholars untrained in the discipline who do not follow these guidelines continue to produce psychobiographical studies. Major psychobiographical authors include Erik Erikson, James A. Anderson, Henry Murray, George Atwood, and William Runyan.

[Onyango Oloo]

Jul 29, 2012 15:06:27 GMT 3 nowayhaha said:

OO,
Here is the wiki definition of a Biography

A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. It entails more than basic facts (education, work, relationships, and death), a biography also portrays a subject's experience of these events. Unlike a profile or curriculum vitae (résumé), a biography presents a subject's life story, highlighting various aspects of his or her life, including intimate details of experience, and may include an analysis of a subject's personality.
etc etc etc

Have you ever heard the idiomatic expression, "Close, but no cigar"?

I took the trouble of looking up the meaning for you:

Close, but no cigar. (American & Australian humorous)
something that you say to someone if what they tell you or what they do is nearly correct but not completely
Usage notes: A cigar (= a type of thick cigarette) was sometimes used as a prize in games and competitions people paid to play.

Nice try my neighbour eh, No Way Ha Ha.

You have defined what a biography is.

That is NOT what we are talking about here, jirani mwema.

Peeling Back the Mask is an AUTO biography, meaning it is an account of Miguna's life as described by Miguna himself.

If the author of Peeling Back the Mask would have been, say, Onyangp Oloo, then the same work would have been my biography of Miguna.

Do you grasp that subtle but crucial difference dear neighbour?

In any case, even if it was a biography (which it is not, being a special type of autobiography, belonging to the sub-category of political memoirs) do you think it would have made sense to psychoanalyze the biographer or deal with the contents of the biography?

And since the book is far from a psychobiography, let us not veer down that irrelevant tangent.

Onyango Oloo

[einstein]

OO,

I still insist, no matter the difference between a biography and an autobiography, that one CANNOT separate the CONTENT of a book from the CONTENT OF CHARACTER of the personality writing that book when analysing/reviewing the same unless we are talking about a scientific book!

Freedom of expression also dictates that book reviewers/analysts can either choose to talk about one or the other or both. The ideal situation, of course, is when both are put under the microscope!

Hence, one CANNOT simply order book reviewers/analysts on how one wants them to go about it unless one is motivated by a certain ulterior motive.

Conclusion: You, OO, have failed to convince this board otherwise thus far!!

Where do we now go from here?

[Onyango Oloo]

Jul 30, 2012 3:05:54 GMT 3 einstein said:

OO,

Conclusion: You, OO, have failed to convince this board otherwise thus far!!

Where do we now go from here?

Einstein:

Greetings.

Two things,

1. What yardstick are you using to conclude that I have "failed to convince the board"? Did you carry out a poll? Interview a representative sample of Jukwaa members? How many members have commented on this thread? Do they reflect the thinking of the board?

2. I was not on a mission to evangelize, win hearts and minds. I was making my own intervention in the ongoing critiques of Miguna's book. My opinion reflects a certain ideological, aesthetic and literary standpoint. It may differ from the views you hold.

Onyango Oloo

[funkentelechy]

Jul 30, 2012 7:24:01 GMT 3 Onyango Oloo said:

My opinion reflects a certain ideological, aesthetic and literary standpoint. It may differ from the views you hold.

Onyango Oloo

That statement is tantamount to saying, "I do not believe in what I believe."

[Onyango Oloo]

Jul 30, 2012 11:23:37 GMT 3 funkentelechy said:

That statement is tantamount to saying, "I do not believe in what I believe."

Funkentelechy:

Actually it means the EXACT OPPOSITE of what you are stating.

Onyango Oloo

[podp]

www.nation.co.ke/oped/Letters/Miguna+used+skill+with+great+effect/-/440806/1465656/-/y6bi02z/-/index.html

Miguna used skill with great effect

Posted Saturday, July 28 2012 at 18:56

Miguna Miguna’s book is a thriller that is hard to put down.
Miguna has exposed not only the goings-on in high office but also almost everyone he worked with.


However, it’s not merely the shocking contents that are causing a stir, but also the literary value of the book.


Miguna is a trained writer. He is a poet and was a member of the writers’ organisation in Canada. He has used these skills with great effect.


The first 150 pages of the book are breath catching and hilarious. As a child, Miguna survived against all odds. It is a miracle he lived to be five years old, let alone get to university.


This man has been through hell. It explains his superiority complex, bombastic style and high risk taking.


Wamuyu Gatheru,

[reporter911]

Jul 30, 2012 14:02:43 GMT 3 podp said:

www.nation.co.ke/oped/Letters/Miguna+used+skill+with+great+effect/-/440806/1465656/-/y6bi02z/-/index.html

Miguna used skill with great effect

Posted Saturday, July 28 2012 at 18:56

Miguna Miguna’s book is a thriller that is hard to put down.
Miguna has exposed not only the goings-on in high office but also almost everyone he worked with.


However, it’s not merely the shocking contents that are causing a stir, but also the literary value of the book.


Miguna is a trained writer. He is a poet and was a member of the writers’ organisation in Canada. He has used these skills with great effect.


The first 150 pages of the book are breath catching and hilarious. As a child, Miguna survived against all odds. It is a miracle he lived to be five years old, let alone get to university.


This man has been through hell. It explains his superiority complex, bombastic style and high risk taking.


Wamuyu Gatheru,

Tell it to Miguna groupies , ophans and propagandists.. alah they too can sing is praise on his Mar's thriller.. nothing to write home about.. the book title should change to Allegation clueless Thriller..

[reporter911]

Court should not ignore what author claims to know on post- poll violence

Updated Sunday, July 29 2012 at 00:00 GMT+3

By Lucy Musau


After the hailstorm caused by the serialisation and release of the book by Miguna Miguna ‘Peeling Back the Mask’, it is now time to pass a fine-toothed comb through the allegations.

Suffice to say here that Miguna, though aggressive and abrasive, is a lawyer of repute with an international track record in human rights advocacy and fight for justice.

He would therefore have no cause for writing about and making claims that he cannot substantiate.

Miguna’s claim of having incriminating evidence about active involvement in planning and execution of the post-election violence brings in a new dimension to the cases at the International Criminal Court at The Hague.

These claims ought to be treated with the seriousness they deserve, bearing in mind that so much of the truth around the happenings of the period between 2007 and 2008 are yet to be unearthed without bias or underhand manipulations.

There have been calls already at a personal and official level from many quarters to have Miguna record a statement with the police on what he might know concerning the poll violence and its masterminds. These calls might have been overtaken by events as the author of the book is already abroad.

What remains now is for Miguna to voluntarily give the information to the authorities, as nothing short of this is demanded from a good citizen of the world and a proponent of justice and human rights.

The public utterances (and now private ones thanks to Miguna) must not be swept under the carpet if The Hague is to be taken seriously on its quest to serve justice.

In light of the new developments, the ICC should reconsider the cases before it. The new prosecutor should seek Miguna as a friend of the court and take into account what he has to say concerning every politician’s role in planning, execution, and support of the mayhem.

The credibility of the ICC is at stake here if it fails to take advantage of this opportunity to investigate and go for the perpetrators.

Miguna, on his part, should volunteer to co-operate with the new prosecutor and furnish her with what he knows about the chaos. As he would already know, it is a crime under the Kenyan Constitution to conceal information that might help in the prosecution of a crime.

Using the information he has to buy anyone’s silence and go slow on what they might be plotting against him, does not augur well with his claim of being a pursuant of justice. He has a moral duty as one who is in possession of incriminating evidence on matters touching on war crimes to voluntarily hand it over to the authorities.

The other option would be to seek legal redress that would prevail upon Miguna, from what he has already said in public, to surrender any form of evidence he has to the authorities.

Either way, he owes it to the internally displaced people still in camps and the Kenyan public to come clean and have the real perpetrators of the crimes against humanity take responsibility for their actions of commission and omission. This we ask of him not because he is compelled by the law of the land to do so or by his solemn oath of admission to the bar, but because it is the right thing to do.

Writer is a political analyst
www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000062856&pageNo=2