Two months ago, I received an interesting email from a friend of mine, Johannes Gona. He told me that he had just read a little book about marriage and progress written by a famous Zambian writer who had since passed on.

Johannes stated that the book reminded him of little things that he sometimes forgets to do because he is so tied up with other things. He decided to act on one of them, and found that it had a positive impact on his day. He smiled and thought, “Dead Man Talking.”

Johannes was amazed by the fact that the words of someone who had been long dead could have such a positive impact on him. It is indeed an amazing fact that authors keep on impacting other people even long after they have departed from this world.

Books have traditionally been the most reliable means of preserving the author’s thoughts, opinions, views, experiences and observations. Wikipedia provides the following interesting history of books:

Photo by R.N. Marshman

“When writing systems were invented in ancient civilizations, nearly everything that could be written upon – stone, clay, metal sheets – was used for writing. Alphabetic writing emerged in Egypt about 5,000 years ago. The Ancient Egyptians would often write on papyrus, a plant grown along the Nile River. At first the words were not separated from each other (scriptural continua) and there was no punctuation. Texts were written from right to left, left to right, and even, so that alternate lines could be written in opposite directions. The technical term for this type of writing is ‘boustrophedon,’ which means literally ‘ox-turning’ for the way a farmer drives an ox to plough his fields.”

It is interesting to note that although writing was invented in Africa, most African societies did not use writing as a means of preserving the knowledge and wisdom that they possessed. These societies used word of mouth as their main means of passing on information to later generations.

Any discussion of information sharing in pre-modern African societies would be incomplete without mentioning the concept of insaka. An insaka is a structure which is similar in western thought to a gazebo. In Zambia, these structures had significant roles in village social life. They served both as structures for eating meals and sharing information.

The knowledge and wisdom taught at an insaka ranged from survival techniques in the bush to survival techniques in the bedroom. An insaka was where one learnt about the history of the clan and the tribe’s authority structures. Here also one learnt about important rites that connected the society to its deities
and ancestral spirits.

When the missionaries introduced books to Africa, they effectively destroyed the social authority structures by providing an alternative source of knowledge and wisdom. Now young scholars could have answers to questions that their tribal authorities had no answers to.

Young people no longer regarded the older members of society with the same awe that they once did because they no longer depended on the older people for success in life. They no longer needed the “saliva blessings” of their parents to walk safely through the forest. They now knew that a snake was not a spirit creature that had magical powers over them. They also knew that lightning operated according to fixed physical laws and was not some malevolent creature sent by a vengeful wizard.

The upside of this development is that many Zambians have since acknowledged the need to keep a written record of the wisdom of their society as taught by its old wise men and women. In this way, books on Zambia’s philosophy and way of life are now represented in the world library and on the Internet.

Books contain a great deal of useful information and great insights on various aspects of life but in order for one to benefit from this wealth of knowledge, there in need to actually read the books. In other words, it is necessary for one to cultivate a reading culture.

It is a well accepted fact that the majority of Africans do not have a reading culture. The following statement encapsulates this fact: “If you want to hide a hundred dollar bill from an African, put it in a book.”

I have had a personal life-long relationship with books. My love of reading stretches back to my early primary school days. My life was very ordinary but I was possessed by a strong desire to stand out from the rest on the basis of special knowledge possessed. My father, being a school teacher, helped to
provide me with an appropriate reading environment. There were books in our home and books in the schools where he taught. My father himself was an avid reader.

My love of books was so great that when I entered secondary school I started to steal books from the school library. I even remember stealing a book from Kingston’s, a book shop in town. I had a special interest in books on spirituality, psychology and mysticism.

One day, while reading a book entitled “Imitation of Christ” by Thomas ὰ Kempis I came across a teaching that changed my attitude about stealing books or indeed anything else. The author taught that one must not steal and must indeed take back what he or she had stolen.

I did not have the courage to take back the books that I had stolen so I did the next best thing I could think of. I went to the nearest bush and burnt all the stolen books.

My love for books did not abate in anyway but I did not need to steal books any more.

I owe my special knowledge and skills in life to the books that I have read over the years. My passion in life is to share with the world the little knowledge that I have acquired through my forty five years of reading.

It is true that through their written works, departed authors continue to speak to us. However, there are two important things that a reader must consider if he or she is to benefit from the books read.

First, the reader must exercise his or her sense of judgment to ascertain the value and truthfulness of what is read. Authors are but human. They are subject to the influence of their individual perceptions and biases.

Second, in order to benefit from any precept presented by any book, it is important that the reader acts on the precept. If good ideas or intentions are not put into action, they remain just that – good ideas or intentions. The old adage is as valid today as it was many years ago: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

I have some advice for would-be authors. While it is an honorable thing to write a book, it is important to exercise a high sense of responsibility by observing the highest standard of ethics by ensuring that what you right is factual and truthful. In this respect, the following information criteria adopted by KitweOnLine are a useful guide for what you write:

• Accuracy
• Completeness
• Relevancy
• Usefulness
• Truthfulness
• Reliability
• Objectivity
• Balance
• Fairness

In conclusion, I would like to affirm that what is written down in the form of a book can continue to influence people long after the author has died. So, if you want to join the company of speaking dead men, write a book.

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