Messay
Kebede is the author of five books: Meaning and Development
(1994), Survival and Modernization—Ethiopia’s
Enigmatic Present (1999), Africa’s Quest for
a Philosophy of Decolonization (2004), Radicalism and
Cultural Dislocation in Ethiopia, 1960-1974 (2008), and
Ideology
and Elite Conflicts: Autopsy of the Ethiopian Revolution
(2011). He has also published numerous articles in professional
and nonprofessional journals.
If
there is one thing that philosophers agree upon, it is that
the meaning of time is a central philosophical question. If
we take the Western world as an example, there is no famous
philosopher who has not investigated time. The German philosopher
Martin Heidegger, to indicate the centrality of time, writes:
“all ontology is rooted in the phenomenon of time correctly
viewed and correctly explained.” Likewise, according to
the French philosopher Henri Bergson, the main reason that philosophical
questions are difficult is because “we do not think about
real time.”
The
fact that the question of time is very confusing has led some
philosophers to claim that time is an unreal, illusory notion.
For example, the ancient Greek philosopher Parmenides, in order
to explain that we have to think of being as outside of time,
says
that “before and after does not exist, because what is
constantly exists as One.”
Because
time is a decisive question for philosophy, to examine how it
is perceived allows us to understand how Ethiopians see the
world. Particularly, as the conception of time is tied up with
historical thinking, it can show us how Ethiopians have interpreted
their identity and their goals. The goals they espouse indicate
how they have received modernity. In return, how they received
modernity should inform us about why it has been so impossible
to modernize Ethiopia.
Whenever we seek to study life, our inquiry leads us directly
to the question: “What is the meaning of life?”
Life is a phenomenon that has a beginning and end but which
also passes through various changing situations. As everything
that is natural has a beginning, it is natural that it has an
end. Furthermore, since everything that lives experiences growth,
it goes through uninterrupted change. The processes of beginning,
growing, aging and ending, which are the characteristics of
life, are thus expressions of life.
If
we say that when something changes, it loses its essence, our
judgments about this thing will be incorrect. Since it has no
permanent characteristics, our judgments are falsified each
time the thing changes. Continuous change leads, therefore,
to the conclusion that the world cannot be known by the human
mind.
Furthermore,
to say that continuous change is real does not seem to make
sense. When what exists changes, where does its previous existence
go – what can we say happened to it? If we say that it
has become nothing, since nothing is nothing, how can something
change into nothing? Accordingly, being and time do not seem
to go together. On the other hand, if we say that when a thing
changes, its nature does not change, then time is a phenomenon
without reality. For unless the thing itself changes, the fact
that it has passed through time is without consequence. Therefore
the movement and the change that we see is nothing but an illusion.
Going further, when we attempt to think of life correctly and
in its fullness, then it coincides with eternity and immutability.
Does not life become absolute when it has neither beginning
nor end and is free from the characteristics of growth and change?
Since nature is created, does not the power that creates it
have to be outside of time? This is why we say Absolute Life
is God and why we place it outside temporality.
When
we try to reconcile the incongruent characteristics of life,
we think of time as a process and a journey. Living, which has
a beginning and which involves change, has goals and aims and
thus it passes through time. This approach opens a new direction
of thought. If the secret of change is the accomplishment of
goals, then one of the aims could be to accede to a higher level
of life. The accomplishment of this aim could lead to life’s
absolute level. In other words, the secret of time is the state
of eternity.
The
question of time is tied to life because it reveals the meaning
or secret of life. As Heidegger says, to dwell on the question
of time is to unravel the secret of life. This is what makes
people say time has a goal. When time has a goal, it becomes
a process; this process
accomplishes the goal of life. For example, adherents of Christianity
and Islam say the process of time prepares us for the state
of eternity.
THE
ETHIOPIAN SITUATION
We
can grasp Ethiopia’s understanding of time when we accept
that time reveals the meaning of life. We must gain this understanding
by examining how Ethiopians, starting from their situation,
arrived at the meaning of life. If we do not start from their
situation, our elucidation will not be connected with an inquiry
into the meaning of life. It would fail to tie time to the meaning
of life, thereby making the latter into a thought that just
popped up.
We
know that Ethiopia’s situation turned the question of
existence into a major concern. For a country that has existed
as a lone island of Christianity for centuries, life inevitably
holds a precarious attribute. In particular, the fact of being
surrounded by powerful Islamic countries and exposed to attempts
at invasion gave life a precarious meaning. To give life certainty
and to create encouraging hope, it became necessary to create
a special understanding of history. By giving Ethiopia a special
destiny, this history would confirm that Ethiopia will exist
victoriously until the end. While the passage of time accomplishes
this goal, it also provides the meaning of
life. The main source of the understanding of this victory-proclaiming
history is the book known as the Kebra Negast.
As
it is well-known, the meeting of Queen Azeb and King Solomon
brought forth two important things. While one is the birth of
Menelik who eventually became the king of Ethiopia, the second
and most important outcome is the taking of the Ark of the Covenant
to Ethiopia.
When King Solomon discovered the disappearance of the Ark, he
said directly: “The glory of the revered son of Zion has
been removed, while the glory of the son of wretched Ethiopia
has been raised.” Since King Solomon fell into deep disappointment
and sadness, the spirit of prophecy asked him: “This hath
happened by the will of God, and as the Ark has been given to
your first son who sits on your father David’s throne
rather than a stranger, why are you so sad?” This saying
of the Kebra Negast shows precisely that God assigned
Ethiopia a special role. Ethiopia’s understanding of time
is not limited to assigning a special destiny to a country;
it includes individuals’ lives and social status. Since
the life of the individual is constantly changing, since it
passes through many highs and lows and incidents, this changing
situation finds meaning only when it moves toward a goal. The
accomplishment of this goal becomes the
process of time. Above all, the answer that Ethiopians have
given to the question of whether time moves forward and in one
direction points to the essence of their outlook.
CYCLICALITY OF TIME
Lke
any pre-modern view, Ethiopians observed time as a repetitive
occurrence. What enabled them to attain this idea, on the first
level, is the condition of nature. All natural phenomena are
cyclical. Day is substituted for night and night for day. When
winter passes, summer arrives; when summer leaves, winter replaces
it. Life changes into death and death into life.
Like
nature, individual and social life confirms the cyclicality
of time. One who is happy today is saddened tomorrow, and goes
back to being happy. When a father gives birth to a son, the
son becomes a father. When the rich turns poor, the poor becomes
rich. When a king dies, another king comes.
Since
everything is cyclical, there is nothing new. All the changes
that are seen only replace what was previously seen; they do
not bring anything new. The other important thought that is
produced by the cyclicality of time is that everything is vain.
Since nothing stays permanently and even changes into its opposite,
everything is relative. Since there is nothing absolute in this
world, our lives should not be limited to chasing transient
and reversible conditions. Therefore, what the cyclicality of
time exposes is not only that things do not have independent
existence; the fact that things change into their own opposites
also shows that they do not have the capacity to direct themselves.
The
lack of permanence in things and their transformation into their
opposites points to the existence of God and the fact that the
world is ruled only by His will. The other lesson the cyclicality
of things teaches us is not to be trapped by arrogance because
we happen to be wealthy and powerful. By giving a false autonomy
to the self and things, arrogance produces a metaphysical confusion
by shrouding God’s rulership.
TIME AND FATE
Ethiopians,
by applying this thought to the social, have said that the cyclicality
of time is seen in society too. Not only have they claimed that
individuals’ social place is not permanent, but they also
have gone as far as to say it is subject to reversal. In a society
that is divided into fixed classes, it is surprising to claim
that there is no permanent rule and social position. To say
that people’s social status is reversible is to say that
there is no high or low position that is held permanently.
This
view directly reflects Ethiopia’s understanding of society.
While there are permanent classes, there is no position that
individuals inherit by birth. Higher positions, especially,
are taken up by individuals who come from lower positions. Ethiopians
have called this ability to be move from one class to another
“luck.” Luck reveals Ethiopia’s social mobility.
Since
transferring from lower to higher social positions is advancement,
we may ask why, instead of calling it luck, Ethiopians did not
call it talent. The answer is simple. Talent requires being
chosen by God, since it is bestowed by Him. Since we can think
of what we receive from God only as a gift or allotment, and
not as something we deserve, the right view is the one that
speaks of luck.
It
is clear that the concept of fate is interlinked with the Ethiopian
conception of time. The cyclicality of time opens doors for
opportunities. There are varying higher and lower social positions.
However, these positions are held by individuals not permanently,
but in turn. Because the law of rotation demotes those who have
been promoted, permanent positions do not exist. Thus the opportunity
for a person in a lower position to replace someone in a higher
position is made available.
The
impossibility of having permanent lines of gentry and kingship,
as in Europe, is proven by Ethiopia’s long history. If
we start with the king, no Ethiopian king was able to keep power
in his family line. This does not mean that no son of a king
has ever inherited the throne. Rather, ascent to the throne
was not so much a special right as an outcome of victory over
competitors. His victory revealed his destiny, that is, the
fact that he was chosen by God. Because of this, in Ethiopia,
a son of a koso trader, as Tewodros was, could become
king. As many studies show, in Ethiopia, there was not a rigid
separation between peasantry and gentry like in Europe. What
created difference between individuals was their holding a position
as a result of individual fate, rather than because of bloodline.
The farmer or peasant, because of his fate, became a payer of
duties, but that did not make him a lower person. He therefore
unceasingly wished that someday his fate would change and that
he would gain someone’s higher position.
It
is here that we see the beginning of a radical shift from tradition
during Haile Selassie’s reign. Assigning a special status
to his family, the King proclaimed that power would go to his
son as the sole heir to the throne. This declaration abolished
the cyclicality of time and gave power to a particular family
permanently. By equating Solomon’s genealogy with Selassie’s,
it created a special right of transmission of power that was
alien to the country. One of the sources of the pre-Haile Selassie
sentiment of Ethiopian unity was the equal right of different
regions to accede to the throne.
FROM CYCLICAL TIME TO TELEOLOGICAL TIME
To
reduce Ethiopia’s understanding of time to cyclicality
would be a mistake. Like any Christian people, Ethiopians believe
that time moves toward a single goal. Followers of Islam in
Ethiopia accept the goal-oriented nature of time as well. Cyclicality
is a repetition that does not move forward or show change and
improvement. A goal-oriented process not only moves in one direction
but also has a purpose to accomplish.
When
God created the world, He also planned its process. Just as
the world has a beginning, it also has an end. The end will
arrive with the second coming of Christ. Thus not only is the
process of time and history not repetitive, but it also heads
toward an end. The end is
not the end of life but rather its transition to a higher form.
This
is where the Ethiopian outlook is different from other African
outlooks. According to John Mbiti, the African’s conception
of time is different from that of the European. Europeans say
time has three dimensions. These are: past, present, and future.
But for Africans,
“time is a two-dimensional phenomenon, with a long past,
a present and virtually no future. Just as in the case of Europeans,
Christianity has enabled Ethiopians to have a conception of
time that anticipates the coming and the transition to a greatly
superior life. Since they saw the three dimensional nature of
time, time for Ethiopians became a teleological occurrence.
It is undeniable that the cyclical conception does not agree
with the teleological conception. How could the trajectory of
time be cyclical and teleological at the same time? In addition
to being a goalless process that turns on its own, cyclicality
does not require the intervention of God. Indeed, to give a
goal to an oscillating and directionless process appears to
be contradictory. This is why Kebede Mikael expressed the vanity
of the world by saying: “The nature of this world is incomprehensible.”
The
opposition between cyclical and teleological process is, however,
not real for Ethiopians. If we think deeply about it, what results
from the insertion of a goal into a cyclical process is its
sudden interruption. This means that God will suddenly stop,
by His own will, the cyclical process that He started. Time
does not stop because a better situation is created, as the
Europeans say. It will stop because God says enough. The continuation
of cyclicality shows that humans will never reach a better situation
by their own effort. Since humans destroy what they have built,
they can never escape, by their own efforts, from the law of
cyclicality. Thus the end of time reveals God’s absolute
power. Only when God stops the directionless repetition of time
will humans have a fixed or eternal life that is free of cyclicality.
Life becomes unchanging and free from ups and downs only when
humans receive God’s eternal love. Thus the end of time
signifies freedom from cyclical life, that is, it signifies
salvation. We find here the special and important message of
the Kebra Negast. This message is that, while all things
are ruled by the law of repetition, only Ethiopia has a special
fate. This message removes Ethiopia from the norm of ups and
downs by stating that she will vanquish all her enemies and
remain the last one standing. To put it another way, while kings
rise and fall by turn, Ethiopia, because she has been delivered
from cyclical time, will remain victorious and “will live
until the end of time.”
According
to the Kebra Negast, David’s prophecy, “Ethiopia
shall stretch her hands unto God,” indicates that Ethiopia,
staying faithful to the Orthodox religion, will remain victorious
to the end, that is, until the coming of Christ. Nothing can
destroy Ethiopia; asked whether
Ethiopia will not disappear when the false prophet comes, Kebra
Negast’s answer is “absolutely not.”
For “has not David prophesied that Ethiopia shall stretch
forth her hands unto God?” True, there will be times when
Ethiopia falls down. However, Ethiopia shall never
remain fallen. When she falls, it is her own fault; as such,
her fall is God’s punishment. For example, interpreting
the Italian invasion as God’s anger, Kebede Mikael said:
God ordered the punishment of the people for five years Accomplishing
His order, it [Italy] left when God said enough.
Why
would God break with His plan of total destruction by excluding
Ethiopia? Once again, the Kebra Negast provides the
answer. Since the Israelites did not accept Christianity, Ethiopia
replaced Israel and became God’s chosen country. This
election protects Ethiopia from
the laws of cyclical time by giving her a special destiny. It
is appropriate to maintain that God provides special care for
His chosen country. Confirming that God gave Ethiopia a special
place by making her the keeper of the Ark, the Kebra Negast
says: “God confers such honor and grace on the Ethiopian
king. Due to God’s Ark and the heavenly Zion, He raised
him higher than all the kings of the world. May God help us
fulfill His spiritual will.” This statement clearly shows
that Ethiopia’s special place came from God’s will.
What
the Kebra Negast’s statement shows is that Ethiopia had
her own theory of history. By making Ethiopia the center of
the world, the historical scheme is designed in such a way that
all things, including other countries’ histories, march
toward the realization of her victory. That world history concludes
with Ethiopia’s victory proves that she has a special
destiny. This means that, unlike the present situation making
Ethiopia the follower of other countries’ histories, other
countries used to be led by her history. The greatest message
of the Kebra Negast is that it makes Ethiopia history’s
leading force.
ETHIOPIA
AND MODERNITY
It
cannot be denied that Ethiopia’s ownership of history
has ended since the coming of modernity. Ever since her leadership
in history was snatched away by Western countries, Ethiopia
has been seen as a backward country, especially by Ethiopians
who have tasted Western education. Because of this perception,
she has become the follower and copier of Western countries.
She has become a follower not only in the fields of economics
and technology but also in that of culture.
If
it is asked how this happened, the answer lies in the situation
that allowed European education to spread unhindered. The theory
of history which this education was based on privileges the
European viewpoint, values, and social order, thereby defining
non-European
cultures and ways of doing things as backward. In addition,
it declares that other countries can becomes civilized only
when they follow Europeans as their example. Accordingly, Ethiopians
become modern only when, abandoning their history and culture,
they convert to Westernism. As the great German philosopher
Hegel said: “The History of the World travels from East
to West, for Europe is absolutely the end of History.”
Since Ethiopians have accepted this trajectory of history, they
have come to think about the future not in terms of improving
and cultivating Ethiopianism, but in terms of converting to
Westernism. The main result of European education is to be alienated
from one’s history and culture. Because of the heavy influence
of modern education, Ethiopians have put aside the cyclical
nature of time, which had been beneficial to them.
If
we ask what its benefit is, the answer is not difficult. What
cyclical time tells us is that everybody’s time will come;
no country will permanently lead history. All those who were
up will fall and those who were down will rise. Greatness is
always temporary. Thus leadership of history is held by turn;
no one holds it permanently. It seems that is why Ethiopians,
when they first named Western civilization, called it “modern
civilization.” By “modern,” they meant something
that time brings and something that is transient. In so saying,
they implied that they were not backward; rather, they were
temporarily pushed back by a civilization that time brought.
Since Europe’s current prominence will be replaced by
downfall, we should see Europe not as a model to follow but
as an opponent. To be sure, we should learn a lot from an opponent;
however, we learn not to look like our opponent but to adapt
ourselves to a novel situation of change so as to supersede
him.
MODERNITY
AND RENEWAL
We
said before that if Ethiopians had kept the thought of the repetition
of history, they would have escaped from thinking of themselves
as backward and as followers of other countries’ histories.
Since Western history is designed to teach people to follow
and copy Europe, it does not encourage independence and the
cultivation of creativity. The concept of cyclical time, since
it does not travel in a single direction, teaches one not to
be pulled but to wait one’s turn. Since it says that whatever
is up must fall down, it gives everybody a chance to rise. This
is a truth that is proven by history. When Europe was backwards,
the peoples of Asia and Africa displayed high civilizations.
If we take modern history, Europe’s absolute power has
been weakened by America’s might. The trend of modern
Japan and China seems to prepare the restoration of Asia’s
dominance.
A
country does not get its turn if it loses its identity by following
another country. It does so only when it shows improvement by
renewing its characteristics. Evidently, as long as it presents
itself as a copy of another, it will not have a new and better
role to play. The place occupied by the model cannot be appropriated
by its copy. Unless the one being pulled brings difference,
it can never become the one who pulls.
Self-improvement
is not copying another: it is renewing oneself. This happens
by going back, that is, by going to the source of one’s
own civilization. This movement will bring a change of direction
which is known as renaissance. To go back is not to bring back
the old
and the past. To return to one’s source of history not
only provides spiritual awakening but also begets a clear perspective.
Clearly,
in order to see modernity as renewal, it is necessary, as a
first step, to break with Europe’s understanding of history,
which travels in a single line and direction. What we need in
its place is the perspective that teaches the repetition of
time. If, instead of going in one direction, time is cyclical,
a situation conducive to renewal is created. A lost traveler
attempts to return to his point of departure; he does not continue
on the same mistaken path. A lost individual or society finds
its path when it returns to its historical beginnings and grasps
its foundation. To return in this manner not only saves from
it wandering but also produces renewal and rebirth. This reveals
that the secret of repetition is renewal. Does not life renew
itself by going back? The adult is renewed by becoming a child
again. All natural things are renewed because, rather than going
in one irreversible direction, they have a repetitive character.
In this way, that which is damaged is recreated. The weak regain
strength. That which is reaped will grow again. When the known
becomes obsolete, knowledge is renewed.
Since
civilizations fall because of the mistakes and depraved habits
that they accumulate over time, the way to purify one’s
civilization without abandoning its proper historical trajectory
is by returning to its source. This return reinstitutes the
correct foundation; it corrects the mistaken direction that
has previously been pursued. Return results in purification
and preparation for renewed greatness. This suggests that modernity
just is renaissance. A good example of this is Japan. Japan
started her path to modernity not by following
Europe, but by returning to the source of her own history. It
is this movement that allowed for the Meiji Restoration and
the renewal of the Emperor’s position as a divine figure.
Since the return signified that the attempt to modernize had
the Emperor’s sanction, it facilitated the implementation
of necessary social and economic changes in the name of the
Emperor. Because modernization was approved by the traditional
belief in the divine nature of the Emperor, it not only gained
wide acceptance but also created great eagerness among the Japanese
for its realization.
Europeans
also announced the beginning of their modernization by returning
to the source of their civilization. They were able to break
with the long and dark era of feudalism by turning to ancient
Greek and Roman civilization. They called this change of direction
“renaissance.” Likewise, on the religious front,
the Protestant movement started on the ground that it had become
necessary to return to the true faith. Since the existing faith
had become tainted with bad and incorrect habits, Europeans
called the movement to go back to the source so as to renew
it the “Reformation.” But the movement that was
initiated in Ethiopia advocated, not rebirth, but the desertion
of selfhood and history by following other countries. During
Haile Selassie’s time, by accepting European education
without any limits, Ethiopia followed Western countries. The
result of this education, that is, the generation that tasted
modern education, was the Derg regime, which, in turn, claimed
that only the Eastern, i.e., socialist, goal was good, thereby
putting the country in a worse situation. If, instead of inheriting
the Western theory of history, we had followed the Ethiopian
conception of cyclical time, we would have attempted to solve
the problems of modernity by going back to our source. Modernity
would have been renewal rather than denial of self.
More
than anything else, the repetitive concept of time encourages
the feeling of competition. Unlike the Western conception, it
does not move in a single line, and so does not allow for one
to be a leader and the other to be a follower. Rather, since
it says that everything
repeats, repetitive time encourages competition from the beginning.
Since it says that the one who is a leader now will fall, it
invites one to wait one’s turn. It does not say, become
a follower, but be ready to replace someone, prepare your destiny.
While the Europeans preach that, if you follow us, we offer
comprehensive goals and prosperity for all, the cyclical view
says that since there is no situation that can make everybody
happy, we must see the movement of history as a game of get-what-you-can.
The
movement that overthrew Haile Selassie’s rule saw itself
not as renewal but as revolution. What they wanted was uprooting
change rather than renewal. If we ask why uprooting change was
sought, the answer is found in realizing that the goal was not
to develop
Ethiopia but to shape Ethiopia in accord with model countries.
Obviously what shaped this view is the European view of time
and history taken from modern education.
A
country prospers when it becomes the owner of its own history.
A country becomes the owner of its history when it sees itself
through time and gives an autonomous meaning to its existence.
If time is the interpreter of being, a people who live by other
countries’ histories is a people without its own meaning
and goal. Having no goal of its own, such a people cannot promote
modernity. The only thing ossible is for it is to become a dependent
or a vassal of other countries’ modernity. Losing one’s
own conception of time is to be robbed of one’s own goal.
We should not be surprised if a people who has lost its direction
mucks up modernity.
also by Messay Kebede:
The
Politics of Fear in Ethiopia
What's
Wrong with Africa
