Under Whose Name? Plagiarism and African Arts, Part One
Two weeks ago, I discovered that an article I wrote for Pambazuka News, “Hungry For Live Poetry” about Nairobi's First Poetry Slam, was apparently plagiarized in its entirety by a journalist for the Kenya Times. Neither the Kenya Times editors, nor the journalist, Otieno Amisi, have responded to my emails.
The original article is at:
The Kenya Times version is at:
http://www.timesnews.co.ke/03mar06/magazine/magazine3.html
Initially, I wasn't sure whether to be flattered, outraged, amused - or all three. I sent out an email to several African writers and journalists in my circle asking:
“Has anyone else had this experience? Is it worth challenging - either the guy himself, or the editors of the Kenya Times? Is it symptomatic of a larger culture of journalistic plagiarism that's going unchecked and unchallenged in Kenya?”
One response, from Kenyan arts organizer and writer, Dipesh Pabari:
“This sounds very typical. If I ever want to get things in the paper I literally write it myself and they publish it under their name […] that is just the way it works.”
A pragmatic view. If the goal is to disseminate information and get media coverage, then perhaps one should just play the game and accept “the way it works”. But what about those of us who write for a living? What about material that we consider creative output, product for livelihood - whether it takes the form of words, audio, film or image?
Plagiarism has always been a hot topic in the world of books and arts, where the currency is creative ideas and the artistic output they generate. As I write this, legal action is still ongoing over allegations that Dan Brown, author of the 40 million-copies-sold global bestseller, “The Da Vinci Code”, copied his plot from another writer.
This month in Africa, plagiarism has made literary, academic and media waves. South African journalist and author, William Mervin Gumede, is battling accusations that his highly acclaimed book, “Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of the ANC” uses other writers' work without proper attribution. Another South African, Afrikaner poet Antjie Krog, is said to be considering litigation against Stephen Watson, head of Cape Town University's English department. Watson claims she stole phrases and ideas from late British poet laureate Ted Hughes and his own work. He says Krog “lifted the entire concept” of her 2004 collection of Bushmen poems from his own1991 collection of Bushmen prose. Neither seems to see the innate irony; that both of them might justly be accused of plagiarizing, or appropriating, the voices of Bushmen.
Is this all just elitist squabbling, among privileged literati in their ivory towers? Does it have any relevance to social justice and the daily lived culture of the majority of Africans?
Consider the case of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”. Few people are unfamiliar with the song and soundtrack. Fewer still know that it was written by a South African musician, Solomon Linda. It became a chart topper in the West when legendary US folk singer, Pete Seeger (incongruously famous for his own songs of social protest) covered it in the 1950s. In subsequent decades, it has been recorded by over 150 European and American artists, racking up hundreds of thousands of album sales. Most recently, it became a global “brand” as the theme track for Disney's megahit, “The Lion King.”
The song's original writer, Solomon Linda, received 10 shillings for the copyright in 1952, from Gallo studios in South Africa. After the release of “The Lion King”, Linda's family sued Disney for royalties on the use of the song. An undisclosed out-of-court settlement was agreed just this February. Sadly, it came too late for Linda, who died 1962, aged 53, of kidney disease. And for his daughter Adelaide, who died in 2001, of AIDS. Both could have received life-saving medical treatment from less than one-tenth of one percent of the $15 million grossed by the song worldwide. (Source: Emma MacDonald,The Age, Australia, April 22, 2006)
http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/when-plagiarism-robs-the-poor-of-inspiration/2006/04/21/1145344270049.html
Next week: Plagiarism and the colonial mentality; how plagiarism impoverishes Africa politically and culturally.
* Shailja Patel is a Kenyan poet, writer and theater artist. Visit her at www.shailja.com
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka org or comment online at www.pambazuka.org