Epistemic Entanglements in an Age of Universals: Literacy, Libraries and Children’S Stories in Rural Malawi

Epistemic entanglements in an age of universals: literacy, libraries and children’s stories in rural Malawi Thandeka Julia Siobhan Cochrane Magdalene College · This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy · Department of Social Anthropology University of Cambridge January 2020 DECLARATION This dissertation is the result of my own work and includes nothing which is the outcome of work done in collaboration except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. It is not substantially the same as any that I have submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for a degree or diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. I further state that no substantial part of my dissertation has already been submitted, or, is being concurrently submitted for any such degree, diploma or other qualification at the University of Cambridge or any other University or similar institution except as declared in the Preface and specified in the text. It does not exceed the prescribed 80 000 word limit for the Archaeology, Anthropology and Sociology Degree Committee. ABSTRACT This thesis examines the spread and impact of the universal of literacy in rural Malawi, through the lens of globally circulating Anglophone children’s story books and the emergence of village libraries. While Africa in the twenty-first century is being seen as an emerging global player, many African countries are, however, still struggling to provide the basics of a quality education for their children. One approach to solving this problem taken up by many development organisations and governments is the heavy promotion of literacy programmes in primary schools. Within this framework literacy acts as what Anna Tsing calls a ‘universal’ – historically and socially contingent ideas which are elevated to the category of a universal good. The spread of universals in a world marked by asymmetrical power relations creates both deep aspirations and desires for the promises of the universal of literacy (education, economic and social progress, status) whilst simultaneously producing often violent marginalisations and exclusions (hegemonic school systems, new elites and hierarchies, failures of access and achievement, epistemological erasures). In looking at these processes through rural African libraries and the reading of fiction in rural Africa this thesis explores two areas of study that have received very limited anthropological attention: rural libraries and fiction reading. The work is based on eighteen months ethnographic fieldwork in a village conglomerate on the northern lakeshore of Lake Malawi. In my quest to find Anglophone children’s books in these villages, I encountered six-small scale local village libraries. In the first section of the work (Chapter 1), I ask how these libraries got to these villages, who built them and why? Drawing on extensive time spent in the libraries, chatting with librarians, readers, teachers, villagers, well- wishers, volunteers, and heads of charities, and following the trails of the libraries’ construction, I show that they did not emerge through large-scale macro-coordinated development projects, but rather through many individual and personal relations between local villagers and international well-wishers - offering a different picture to the usual marco-oriented development projects. Using the work of Tim Ingold, I suggest that one can understand how these micro-practices and relations are able to unintentionally contribute to the desired outcomes of the development agenda through the lens of entanglements and meshworks, which are underpinned by the expectations and requirements of universals as globally desired norms. In the second section of the thesis (Chapters 2 & 3), I explore the ways in which the universal of literacy facilitates the production of knowledge hierarchies, new elites and epistemic inequalities and how people contest these through claims about local oral literature (nthanu). From these discussions I posit nthanu as a key didactic tool for the ethical formation of the social-self that acts as a vitally important intellectual and ontological technology. I look at the ways in which schooling fails as a platform for engaging with nthanu and how the exclusions of literacy are exacerbated in Malawi through what I call an ‘English Myth’. I also discuss an old book, Nthanu za Chitonga, in which local oral literature was written during the colonial period, as an example of the intermingling of orality and literacy and an artefact of intellectual history and (post)colonial entanglements. I suggest that people’s ‘nostalgic’ discussions about ‘disappearing’ oral literature can be understood as a way to mark the limits of the universal and make claims for epistemic justice and recognition. In the last section of the thesis, I ask what happens when the universal of literacy brings fantasy-fiction books into communities where witchcraft and magic are part of everyday reality. By speaking to readers of fantasy books such as the Harry Potter and Percy Jackson series, I explore how readers make sense of the worlds they encounter in these books, incorporate them into their own ontological understandings and imagine an increased global affinity based on shared discourses of magic and witchcraft. Through the lens of libraries and literacy, the first dimension of the thesis contributes to understanding the transnational social and political history and contemporary relations in an area of northern Nkhata Bay considered the home-region of an ethno-linguistic group called Tonga. The second dimension of the thesis contributes towards a general analysis of the ways in which literacy acts as a universal which spreads through global connections and produces aspirations and exclusions in rural African spaces. By examining small-scale ‘development’ projects that are locally and globally co-constituted through entanglements, my research contributes to debates on the anthropology of development and the global-local encounter. By showing the contestations that form around literacy and orality, and the ways in which people navigate the aspirations offered and exclusions produced, the thesis adds to debates on literacy in rural Africa, universals and epistemic justice. To Mum, Dad, Bisa and Nops. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS “If you wish to go quickly go alone, if you wish to go far, walk with others” - proverb from the field This thesis was a long journey that was only made possible by those who walked with me. My first thanks goes to my supervisor, Harri Englund, for his guidance and understanding for the challenges faced, and for the sharing of his rich intellectual world. I am grateful to my advisor, Susan Bayly, for her inspiration and enthusiasm, and continued support. My deepest thanks and gratitude goes to all the people in Malawi, and especially the people of Chituka and Kamwala, who took me in, housed me, cared for me, shared with me and made me part of their families. This thesis rests on their lives, and the generosity with which they shared these lives with me can never be done justice. Tawonga ukongwa. No words can do justice to my gratitude for my two host-mothers, Elida Mwase and Fannie Ngwira, who took me in and let me live in their homes as if they were my own. They showed me what kindness and generosity truly mean and gave me a place to belong. My thanks to their families who became my own, Grace, Damson and Thompson, and Rhoda and Ambuya Mwase. I would like to thank my translator, James Mpanda, without whose quick wit, exceptional desire to learn and easy multilingualism none of this work would have been possible. For many months James was my daily companion to whom I turned with all my thoughts. The friendship that was forged walking those village paths will never be forgotten. My heartfelt thanks to James’ parents, Maud and Jobson, who always welcomed me into their home with open arms and taught me so much about village life. To their children, Allicki, Mada, Enoch, Katherine and Junior. My thanks goes to Burton at Mwaya, who welcomed me with open arms, sharing his knowledge, his humour and even his home. The steady presence of Kamoza Banda, his willingness to answer all my questions with his vast depth of knowledge and the way I was always welcome in his home were one of the most important support structures I had in the field. To the old gentlemen, Msinawana and Elias Kamanga, whose magnanimity with which they shared their knowledge and milky tea deeply touched my heat. To the people at Kande, who housed me so briefly, Stanley and his family, Mercy, Ethel and their families, thank you for letting in a total stranger and letting me share so richly in your worlds. To the people at Mayoka, Joy’s, Makuzi Beach and Mushroom Farm; Naomi, Cam, Precious, Justin Krauss, Joy, Brett, Laura, Gary, Katherine, Lyman and Justin Kettler, for giving me a comfy space of indulgence, nonsense, and all the cheese. My thanks to Thomas Ngwira, who so patiently taught me Chitonga. To Nikolas Mwakasula, who was the first to greet me in Malawi, and was a crucial translator of nthanu. To the girls and teachers at Bandawe Girls Secondary School for so warmly sharing with me, and to the teachers at Macalpine for being a comforting part of my daily life. To Rebecca and James at Mwaya for their gracious hearts, and to Vitu and Scorpion for their dry wit. My gratitude goes to Symon and Margaret Matola for being the first to offer me a home, and to Keni Banda, for his enthusiastic support of my work and for incorporating me in all his projects. To Tobias Berg, for being a gracious listener and an unflinching support. To Wezi and Claire Mollat, for keeping me sane, for always being there to listen to my struggles and difficulties and for making me laugh and find my strength.

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