Plausibility in Refugee Boy

Michael Daniel Ambatchew

Abstract
Globalisation is leading to the hegemony of the North over the
South in various spheres of life. In literature, writers from the
North depict the South through their own norms and values
without a thorough knowledge of the complex reality. This
therefore, portrays Northerners’ reality as the only reality in the
world.
Renown poet, novelist and playwright Benjamin Zephaniah
writes about a 14-year-old boy named Alem, who suddenly finds
himself a misfit when Eritrea separates from Ethiopia. Alem’s
mother is Eritrean and his father Ethiopian and in this teenage
novel “Refugee Boy” (Zephaniah, 2001), the author’s depiction of
the Ethiopian characters is continuously out of sync with the
Ethiopian psyche and reality and does not ring true in many
instances.
This paper analyses the Ethiopian characters in the novel and
highlights those deeds, which lack credibility and portrays why the
novel lacks plausibility to an Ethiopian reader. Moreover, it
discusses how the author, consciously or unconsciously, leads to
the further marginalization of Ethiopia and Africa in the global
village by giving a completely distorted picture of Ethiopia and
Ethiopians that furthers typical stereotypes.
It concludes that from an Ethiopian point of view, this novel is
basically written by a British writer for a British or foreign
audience and its characterization of the Ethiopians is implausible.
Therefore, Zephaniah further contributes to the hegemony of the
North by portraying characters that do not reflect Ethiopian
mannerisms, behaviours and norms. His novel depicts a world,
which only reflects life, as the Northerners understand it. Finally,
it recommends that Ethiopia and Africa should actively seek ways
of encouraging and promoting their own literature and culture.

1. General
Globalisation is leading to the hegemony of the North over the
South in various spheres of life. Some of the superpowers have an
active stance on this and advocate for their culture to be imposed
on all, “Americans should not shy away from doing that which is
so clearly in their economic, political, and security interests – and
so clearly in the interests of the rest of the world at large.”
(Rothkop, 1997:7). They do not see multicultural societies based
on integrative models as viable entities, although these have been
established in countries like, South Africa and India. Instead they
argue, “The homogenizing influences of globalisation … are
actually positive.” (Rothkop, 1997:1)
Ethiopians, on the other hand, have a healthy distrust or
scepticism of such “universal benefits”, probably due to our
 bitter historic experiences with the Americans, Arabs, British,
Dutch, French, Italians, Portuguese, Russians and Turks. In
fact, a Uganda journalist sees a suspicious viewing of the
world in search of a hidden agenda as classic Ethiopian
mentality, (Kalyegira, 2002a). However, others on the
continent feel this is a natural reaction arising from, “a
dialectical response by those social forces that are
immediately threatened by this hegemonic juggernaut.”
(Alexander,2003:3).
Nevertheless, whether as an overt policy or general trend, the
languages and cultures of a few economically, politically and
militarily powerful nations are, in deed, being imposed and
diffused into less powerful nations.
Rothkop advises, “Americans should promote their vision for
the world, because failing to do so or taking a ‘live and let live’
stance is ceding the process to the not-always-beneficial actions of
others. Using the tools of the Information Age to do so is perhaps
the most peaceful and powerful means of advancing American
interests.” (1997:8).
Literature is an especially subtle and effective way of bringing
about such cultural imperialism, as it appeals to both the rational
and emotional level and can bring about changes in attitude
insidiously. In literature, writers from the North often depict the
South through their own norms and values without a thorough
knowledge of the complex reality on the ground. Consequently,
instead of holding up a mirror to reality, literature reflects a certain
perspective through a coloured lens of the perceiver or writer. In
the long run, readers exposed to such works accept this biased
view as a natural state of the world and become advocates of such
prejudices themselves. So, the novel is actually a potent tool in the
hands of one-world monoculture proponents who argue for
homogenisation and see their own culture as the one to be spread.
In modern children’s literature, for example, we can easily identify
Spiderman, Batman and Superman as white heroes, but are hard
stretched to find an equivalent African hero.
Therefore, to get a balanced view of the real world through
literature, it is necessary to ensure that we read a range of writers
on a topic or, at least, be aware of the limitations of the writers that
we do read and stay alert to the subconscious messages they might
be propagating.

2. Theoretical Background

2.1 Defining Plausibility

Although several literary critics use this word, Welsh (1953:106)
warns, “Plausibility is one of those words that we all use but
cannot define precisely.” Plausibility tends to reflect the credibility
or believability of a piece of writing. This credibility or
believability can be viewed from two angles, internal consistency
and external credibility.
 Internal consistency refers to how the characters and actions in
a story remain believable throughout the story. For instance, if a
character that is portrayed as quick-tempered at the beginning of a
story is later seen to be extremely self-controlled, the reader may
perceive this behaviour as implausible, unless there is a marked
series of events leading to this change.
External credibility, on the other hand, refers to how true the
characters and actions are to life. Although some genres of fiction,
such as folktales and science fiction, call for the suspension of
credibility on the reader’s part, realistic literature tends to portray
events that though fictional, have the possibility of occurring or
seem true. Harris (1952:8) explains, “plausibility consists in the
subsumption of fictional events under the laws of nature … the
relevant laws of nature are mostly laws of human nature and the
laws of formation of character.” This, in turn, leads us into the
complicated issue of whether all humans share the same views of
human character and human nature and whose views should
prevail. For instance, the Ethiopian king who killed his son on
finding him guilty of accidental murder could be perceived as a
paragon of justice to some, and as cruel and inhumane to others.
Nevertheless, for the purpose of this paper, plausibility refers
to both external and internal credibility, whereby the extent to
which the characters’ actions correspond to what could possibly
happen in real life is seen as a measure of their plausibility or
implausibility.

2.2 Analysing Plausibility

Some literary critics argue that scrutinising the plausibility of a
literary text is futile as the text is fictional and cannot, therefore,
be expected to be absolutely plausible. They argue, “Plausibility is
not the writer’s aim, and the critics who use it as a standard of
literary merit almost always get nothing of their pains but the
doubtful pleasure of knowing that no writer can measure up to it.”
(Welsh 1953:106)
On the other hand, others argue, “all satisfaction in reading
fiction must depend on our feeling that what we are reading is
generally plausible.” (Harris, 1952:7). Thus, unless the reader is
willing to suspend his or her credibility due to the genre of fiction,
a certain degree of correspondence to reality is expected. A guide
for the University of Calgary reads that though plausibility is one
of the hardest features to assess, it is also the most important.
Moreover, it is this feature that renders a piece of literature
excellent, in that it may or may not be believed by everyone, or
bad in that it will convince nobody but its inventor. (UoC, 2006)

3. Statement of the Problem

Refugee Boy, ISBN 0-7475-50867, was written by Benjamin
Zephaniah and published by Bloomsbury in 2001. It is teenage
fiction about a 14-year-old boy named Alem, who suddenly finds
himself a misfit when Eritrea separates from Ethiopia, as his
mother is Eritrean and his father is Ethiopian. His father takes him
and abandons him in England because of the war and the novel is
about his struggle to get political asylum, which he eventually
does. Unfortunately, both his parents are killed before this
happens. The novel is a criticism of the way the British legal
system accepts and treats refugees.
From an Ethiopian point of view, this novel is written by a
British writer for a British or foreign audience and its main
character is only incidentally Ethiopian/Eritrean. Despite being
dedicated to two people with Ethiopian names, and mentioning Dr
Appleyard, the novel is continuously out of sync with the
Ethiopian psyche and reality, and does not ring true in many
instances.
Consequently, as “imaginary events must be intellectually
satisfying in light of the reader’s inductive knowledge,” (Harris,
1952: 9), this novel does not meet the inductive knowledge that an
Ethiopian reader brings to the texts.

4. Objectives and Methodology

Although very little is explicitly known of inductive knowledge,
this paper intends to foreground some of the instances where the
novel runs contrary to daily life as experienced by an Ethiopian
reader by explaining the Ethiopian culture and social behaviour,
and pointing out where characters in the novel behave in
contradiction to these societal norms.
This is done by discussing the implausible actions in
comparison with the author’s inductive knowledge and backing
this up with other secondary references whenever possible.
Following on from this, how the general area in which the
implausibility occurs reinforces the cultural hegemony of the
North over the South is commented upon as, “The impact of
globalisation on culture and the impact of culture on globalisation
merit discussion.” (Rothkop, 1997:1).

5. Discussion
Benjamin Zephaniah’s book Refugee Boy is full of actions and
events that do not ring true to an Ethiopian reader or anyone
familiar with Ethiopia. The discussion that follows has been
structured under six headings, which have emerged from the story
itself. These are: linguistic implausibility, racial physical features,
knowledge of Ethiopians and their perceptions of England,
knowledge of Ethiopian customs, norms and history, exotic
perceptions of Ethiopia, and criticisms about England.

5.1 Linguistic Implausibility

Zephaniah has tried to give the story a touch of authenticity by
using an occasional Amharic phrase, yet forcing the characters to
speak in English as the story takes place in England. Nevertheless,
one finds several passages that lack plausibility.
To begin with, Alem’s father, an obvious linguist, doesn’t
speak Oromiffa, despite having lived in Harar and bearing the
typical Oromo name of Kelo. The same holds true of his mother as
Alem states, “My father can speak six languages –Arabic, Afar,
Tigrinya, Italian, English and Amharic. My mother can also speak
these languages …” (Zephaniah, 2001:38). This is highly unlikely,
as an Oromo would first learn his own language before mastering
others, while a linguist would quickly learn the language of his
surroundings, especially when the local people bring their
problems to him, (Zephaniah, 2001:39).
Next the actual use of language is dubious. Sociolinguists
inform us that our innermost emotions are best expressed in our
mother tongue and we do find Alem struggling to express his
sorrow at his mother’s death in Amharic, “; he tried to shout some
words in Amharic …. talking loudly to himself in Amharic..”
(Zephaniah, 2001:159).
However, we find that his father writes three times to him in
English, even to inform him of his mother’s death. We realize that
the original letters are in English because Alem gives them to
Britishers to read (Zephaniah, 2001:114 & 155). Furthermore,
instead of automatically switching into Amharic on being deserted
in England and meeting an Ethiopian social worker, Alem actually
chooses to speak in English. “‘Now, if you’re having problems
with English you can speak in Amharic if you like.’
‘I will try to speak in English,’ Alem replied.” (Zephaniah,
2001:37).
Even the first time his father meets him after Alem’s mother’s
death, Kelo says, “ ‘English, young man, you must speak
English.’” (Zephaniah, 2001:196).
Perhaps the most amusing fact is that Alem is dumbfounded at
seeing snow for the first time in his life and comes out with the
typical English “Gosh!”.
All this excessive use of English is very uncharacteristic of
Ethiopians, whose natural comfort zone is their own languages.
Kalyegira (2001:np) observes, “Most Ethiopians speak English in
the same way you would use a torch during an electric power
blackout - a necessity that comes in handy during emergencies.
Otherwise, they are glad to return to the only language on earth
that makes sense to them, Amharic.”
Lastly, the little Amharic Zephaniah does transcribe sounds
archaic and odd. For instance, Alem says “teguru” instead of
“tseguru’ (2001:11) and calls his father “abba” (2001:27), which is
more often used for a priest than a father nowadays. The phrase
“Inglizignya tinnaggeralleh?” (Zephaniah, 2001:34) is more of a
translation of English “Do you speak English” than the actual
usage in Amharic where one usually hears “Inglizignya
techelaleh?”
Perry warns, “As ‘Third World’ people give up their
languages, so too do they give up their hopes for true artistic and
intellectual determination,” (2004.16). Moreover, “the use of
several languages and language switching can enable a person to
articulate thoughts and emotions,” Mashile (2006:1). It is probably
Zephaniah’s lack of knowledge of Amharic and lack of experience
in multilingual settings that has made him use a few Amharic
phrases for window dressing and then move into monolingual
discourse. However, Zephaniah’s depiction of language not only
appears implausible, but it also propagates the use of English as
the language par excellence in all situations and by all people. This
in turn, automatically makes him vulnerable to charges of
linguistic imperialism, and a pawn to players who declare, “And it
is in the economic and political interests of the United States to
ensure that if the world is moving toward a common language, it
be English;” (Rothkop, 1997:5).
However, such a monolingual world would probably be a
threat to human existence as “cultural and, therefore, linguistic
diversity is as necessary as biodiversity for the survival and
perpetuation of the human species,” (Alexander, 2003:7).

5.2 Racial Physical Features

As Ethiopia is one of the oldest nations in the world, most of its
ethnic groups are so inter-married that it is no longer possible to
distinguish one’s origins from one’s looks. This is especially so of
the Amharas and Oromos, who have been sharing the highlands
for centuries. People who have preconceived ideas about what
Ethiopians look like are surprised by the diversity in Ethiopia.
Kalyegira (2002a:7) notes, “While I was in Addis Ababa, I saw
several Ethiopians who in terms of appearance look identical to
the very dark-skinned, Black people of southern Sudan. They
speak Amharic and are Ethiopians in every way.”
Yet, Zephaniah boldly asserts, “Alem’s father came from the
Amhara tribe of Ethiopia. His large forehead, light brown skin and
large eyes were typical of his people, as was his short, jet-black,
curly hair. It is said that the Amhara people have Arab as well as
African blood flowing through their veins, and the facial features
of Alem and his father did reinforce that theory.” (Zephaniah,
2001:16).
He then goes on to describe an Oromo, “She [Mariam] was
Ethiopian, she looked like someone from the Oromo tribe, dark,
round-faced and slim.”
Finally, he not only describes Ethiopian physical features but
goes as far as giving generalisations of East Africans and says that
one character, “could identify East Africans easily …”(Zephaniah,
2001:89).
Such bold brushstrokes could only be made by someone
completely unaware of the reality on the ground as the diversity
and resemblance of various ethnic groups leaves even the most
daring of categorizers wary of making such statements. In
addition, it opens up the dangerous door of categorising people
into ethnic groups according to their physical features, which was
one of the cornerstones for apartheid in Africa. In light of recent
controversies regarding the relationship of IQ and poverty in
Ethiopia, started by the publishing of an article by a lecturer at the
London School of Economics, such categorisation can easily label
one as a supporter of the discredited theories of Eugenics that for
centuries were used to justify the colonialism of Africa. We read
in this article, “Since all primate societies are hierarchical and
there are chronically high- and low-status individuals….”
(Kanazawa, 2006: 624), which could lead to the hypothesis that
those from higher primate societies should rule those from lower
ones!

5.3 Knowledge of Ethiopians and their Perceptions of England

Zephaniah has also been quite presumptuous and taken it upon
himself to describe England through the eyes of an Ethiopian,
although he seems to lack insights into the Ethiopian psyche.
Therefore, we tend to find the Ethiopian characters coming out
with very British statements and behaviour.
To begin with, Ethiopians continue to be “forgetful of the
world”, unless the affairs of the world thrust themselves into our
lives. Kalyegira (2001:np) states, “The Ethiopians are one of the
proudest and most self-absorbed people on earth, in the same
league as the English of the United Kingdom and the Jews.” Yet
we find that Kelo, who has never been to London, knows all the
landmarks and streets (Zephaniah, 2001:14), is familiar with
everyday conversation topics, like the weather (Zephaniah,
2001:15) and is even acquainted with using guidebooks, although
Ethiopians hardly ever use maps and guidebooks in Ethiopia.
Although this politically active and educated man just might
have this knowledge of England, the fact that his son knows as
much as him becomes quite implausible. Even before going to
England, Alem has read about Windsor Castle (Zephaniah,
2001:33), knows that Buckingham Palace is not far from West
End (Zephaniah, 2001:29), and can even distinguish Victorian
architecture (Zephaniah, 2001:51). He knows all about Marble
Arch, Piccadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, the
Houses of Parliament and the Tower of London. Moreover, he has
heard about Dickens (Zephaniah, 2001:104) and even the English
tradition of queuing (Zephaniah, 2001:106). Alem also finds
British homes “warm” (Zephaniah, 2001:86).
Thus, things that are completely alien to most Ethiopians,
including even some who have lived in England, appear to be
commonplace to Alem and his father, making them the most
atypical Ethiopians to have left their motherland.
On the other hand, Alem is perplexed by chimneys
(Zephaniah, 2001:17) and Sikhs (Zephaniah, 2001:12), both of
which exist in Ethiopia. Furthermore, both he and his father are
put off by questioning and searching (Zephaniah, 2001:15 & 83),
despite the fact that they have been abused and manhandled by
soldiers in Ethiopia. Alem feels humiliated when he is being
photographed and fingerprinted, when this should actually be easy
to bear after having bullets being shot at his parents’ feet and
having had a rifle pointed to his forehead and being called a
‘mongrel’ by bloodthirsty soldiers. Amusingly, Alem, who has
watched science fiction films and recognizes space stations
(Zephaniah, 2001:12), is flabbergasted when seeing a picture
being enlarged, “He stood, jaw hanging and mouth open, in awe of
the technology.” (Zephaniah, 2001:170-171). However, an
Ethiopian city boy of 14 would probably have seen enlarging on a
photocopier, if not a computer.
To sum up, it is obvious that Zephaniah has been unable to
predict how Ethiopians would perceive England, as he is unable to
get into the Ethiopian mindset. Nevertheless, this aggrandizement
of Britain lays the ground and was used, during the colonial
period, to justify the expansion of the empire to ‘civilise’ the
savages. After all, it is the British education system where students
“have a great opportunity to advance, physically, intellectually and
socially.” (Zephaniah, 2001:120-121). So it follows that if not the
British, then those educated there, should rule African countries,
as they have had the opportunity to advance themselves in all
spheres of life. It is hardly by chance that several post-
independence leaders, such as Kwame Nkrumah, Hastings Banda
and Jomo Kenyatta, were either educated or trained in Britain and
America. So Zephaniah continues the songs of praise to British
education and Britain as a whole, blissfully unaware of the
derogatory meaning Ethiopians have given the word “Ingliz”,
probably due to several unsavoury encounters the two countries
have had.
What he fails to realise is that just as he is infatuated with
England, so Ethiopians are infatuated with Ethiopia. Kalyegira
sardonically says, “They are raised as children to believe that their
country is the greatest on earth. Most Ethiopians genuinely believe
that their land is the most fertile, their country is the greenest, their
food the ideal and best, their women the most beautiful in the
world, their history is richer than that of any other nation, their
climate gives them “13 months of sunshine”, their country is
mentioned countless times in the Bible, their music is the best on
earth, their traditional clothing the finest, and of course, they are
the only Black people on earth who successfully beat off colonial
rule.” (2002a:5)

5.4 Knowledge of Ethiopian Customs, Norms and History

Much of this lack of plausibility and lack of authencity has
probably arisen due to Zephaniah’s inadequate research into
Ethiopian customs, norms and history. Although he makes
reference to talking with Ethiopians and consulting with Professor
Appleyard at the beginning of the book, the work shows huge gaps
in his knowledge of Ethiopia and Ethiopians. This is obviously
due to a lack of background information of the homeland, where
Zephaniah chose to bring his characters from.
To begin with the subject of death, Molvaer explains that in
Ethiopia, “Messages of grief, such as the news of someone’s
death, are brought very gradually,” (1980:50). In contrast, we see
the Ethiopian social worker Mariam simply handing him the letter
informing him of his mother’s death and telling him to go up to his
room and read it. (Zephaniah, 2001:155). To make matters worse,
she even prevents Ms Fitzgerald from going and consoling him.
While Ethiopians as a whole give great weight and seriousness to
mourning, Zephaniah tends to trivialize it consciously. Kelo writes
to his son, “Today, I found the arm of a man lying at the side of a
street …. I found myself asking trivial questions like, ‘Is this an
Ethiopian or Eritrean arm?’” (2001:112).
To continue with the treatment of children, Zephaniah fails to
recognise that Ethiopian children are often kept in the home after
school to avoid corrupting influences. They are seen as assets and
tend to be brought up under the old saying that “children should be
seen and not heard.” Alem, however, is an only child, and is asked
to take the lead and make choices about where to eat (Zephaniah,
2001:23), although Ethiopians are very choosy about what and
where they eat. He is well travelled in Ethiopia, which is unusual
for a boy of 14, and has seen Axum and Lalibela, in addition to
Harar, Asmara and Addis Ababa. Yet, despite these unusual
aspects, he lacks the basics of children’s behaviour in Ethiopia and
is seen to be uncomfortable shaking hands with adults (Zephaniah,
2001:53). On the contrary, it is very common for elders and
children to greet each other in Ethiopia as Molvaer notes, “After
kisses have been exchanged in the proper way … the older person
will normally ask about the health and situation of the younger,
and of his parents and other relations.” (1980:49-50). Moreover,
Alem is uncomfortable with the idea of sleeping with other
children in the same room, whereas most Ethiopian children are so
used to sleeping with others that they are uncomfortable sleeping
alone. Kalyegira observes, “Ethiopian children are close to their
parents, and Ethiopian girls, I notice, are close to their fathers. The
society in general stresses close family ties, where there is
someone always there to care about you, to visit you or ring you
up and ask how you are.” (2002b:3).
Thirdly, Zephaniah is not aware of how the educational
institutions function. He assumes that as in the United Kingdom,
children have meals at school. So he states that Alem has got used
to eating spaghetti at school (Zephaniah, 2001:23). Moreover,
education in Ethiopian government educational institutions has
been free up to and including university education and
postgraduate studies. Yet assuming the contrary Zephaniah writes,
“He found it hard to believe that not only was attendance at the
school free, but he didn’t have to pay for books either.” (2001:96).
Fourthly, Ethiopians are very compassionate and hospitable,
Kalyegira witnesses this by saying, “I know the realness, the
sincerity of Ethiopians, the hospitality that they are capable of.”
(2002b:2) But in the book we see, Kelo’s colleagues urge him to
divorce on ethnic grounds and his mother’s colleagues refuse to
work with her because she is Eritrean. This is far from the reality
on the ground, where the war was seen to be between governments
and the people actually sheltered and helped the Eritreans who
were being persecuted. Kelo writes to his 14 year old son, “.. it
seems that every man that is alive is limping and that there are
bloodstains on the dresses of all our women.” (Zephaniah,
2001:113). Whereas a bona fide Ethiopian parent would try to
shelter his son from such terrible news, even if it was the case.
Regarding hospitality, Mariam warns Alem, “You’ve lost your
mother, and your father is in fear of his life. You have no one to
meet you when you arrive in Ethiopia or Eritrea and now you
don’t even have the address of a single relative there.” (Zephaniah,
2001:167). This is supposedly said by an Ethiopian character, who
would be well aware of the bonds of large extended families as
well as the strong links between not only family but friends as
well. Molvaer explains, “Relatives and friends are expected to, and
usually do, visit each other frequently.” (1980:50).
It would be possible to go on ad infinitum with examples of
incongruence between the reality of Ethiopia and what Zephaniah
has portrayed in his book. For instance, he doesn’t even realize
that Tigrean music is a part of Ethiopian music (Zephaniah,
2001:206). However, the four major categories above are
sufficient to show that Zephaniah has not done sufficient
background research on Ethiopia, when he wrote this book. The
question then arises as to why he was not able to get information
on one of the oldest nations in the world, which leads us to the
question of visibility. Countries in the South are being
marginalized and are only put on the news if they are suffering
some man-made or natural disaster. So the death of the first
African Literature Nobel Prize winner in August 2006 went almost
unnoticed by both the North and the South, while the alleged
female circumcision of a daughter by her Ethiopian father was
splashed across the headlines of international news agencies
(CNN. 2006). Thus the retention and transmission of knowledge is
one of the biggest weapons in the subjugation of the South by the
North. Rothkop unambiguously states, “For the United States, a
central objective of an Information Age foreign policy must be to
win the battle of the world’s information flows, dominating the
airwaves as Great Britain once ruled the seas.” (1997:1)

5.5 Exotic Perceptions of Ethiopia

Like most Europeans, Zephaniah also seems to have very exotic
perceptions of Africa as a place of wild animals and mysterious
practices, including slavery.
We find that the moment Alem arrives in England, he is
surprised by the lack of animal noises (Zephaniah, 2001:26).
Nevertheless, he is so accustomed to living with wild animals
that even in England while spending the night in a shed, he
makes sure his bed, “was high enough off the ground to make
it difficult for any hyenas or snakes to get to.” (Zephaniah,
2001:78).
Alem is so used to unusual initiation rites, that when he finds
his father has deserted him in England, he at first assumes it to
be “some kind of rite-of-passage thing,” (Zephaniah,
2001:33). This does appear to be a likelihood from the book,
as Kelo apparently has no problems getting visas and rapidly
zips across the borders of Ethiopia, Eritrea and England.
Zephaniah is obviously unacquainted to the endless queuing at
 British embassies and having ‘Rejected’ stamped on passports
that so many Ethiopians know only too well.

Finally,  as  soon  as  he  hears  his  mother  has  disappeared  at 
the  border,  he  immediately  assumes  that  the  “soldiers  could 
have  made  her  into  a  slave,”  (Zephaniah,  2001:115),  as 
apparently  national  armies  in  Africa  are  slave­traders  on  the 
side! 
Therefore, the stereotype of a wild and strange continent lives
on in the book. In the wider arena, this view is also reflected and is
not surprisingly found in Kanazawa’s article, “in sub-Saharan
Africa, the site of our ancestral environment, where, even today,
life in tribal societies is less radically different from the ancestral
environment than in the rest of the world.” (2006:626). By
extension again, there is the need to go into this continent and
bring the people in out of the wild. Especially because people
living in such an ancestral environment do not think since, “our
ancestors did not really have to think in order to solve such
recurrent problems. Evolution has already done all the thinking, so
to speak, and equipped the human brain with the appropriate
psychological mechanisms, which engender preferences, desires,
cognitions, and emotions and motivate adaptive behaviour in the
context of the ancestral environment.” (Kanazawa, 2006:625).
5.6 Criticisms about England
Zephaniah is also a social critic and wants to make some points
about the English. Some of these include the lack of democracy,
the worship of material wealth, the lack of happiness and the
treachery of politics. Therefore, we find Zephaniah having his
characters saying things like, “.. the big difference between a
dictatorship and a democracy is that in a democracy the criminals
are voted in.” (2001:83) “… a suit is just pieces of material sewn
together and that you cannot judge a person’s character by the
pieces of material that they wear.” (2001:140.) “They were not
starving, they were not at war but they looked miserable.”
(2001:143) and “… you got all those politicians talking rubbish,
you got all those people believing the rubbish,” (2001:161).
Whether a 14-year-old Ethiopian would be saying some of
these things and whether the others would be said to a 14-year-old
asylum-seeker is debatable. However, in light of all the
implausible actions and statements made through out the book, it
would be easier to classify these statements in the same category.
On the larger scale of hegemony, these criticisms are more
superficial and cosmetic and do not really challenge the status quo.
Therefore, those in power allow for and even accept such
criticisms, as they do not question the very essence of their
existence. However, when one questions more underlying issues,
such as why certain countries should have veto power in a
democratic organization like the UN rather than have a one
country one vote system as in the African Union, they are not
received so well.
6. Conclusion and Recommendations
Benjamin Zephaniah has produced a piece of teenage fiction,
which gives interesting insights into how the British legal system
accepts and treats refugees. To weave his tale, he has used an
Ethiopian character, but has not, unfortunately, done sufficient
research into Ethiopia and the Ethiopian psyche. As a result, his
novel ends up giving a completely distorted picture of Ethiopia
and Ethiopians to the uninformed readers and a story which is
implausible in very many parts to the Ethiopian or the informed
reader. We find various implausible events and statements
regarding; physical and linguistic features of Ethiopians,
information regarding, their character and perceptions, and a
general lack of authenticity.
If Zephaniah’s objective was simply to write a critique of the
British legal system, then he could have used an extra-terrestrial
being as the hero, instead of an Ethiopian boy. However, if he
preferred to use a foreigner, he should have done sufficient
research into the background history, norms and values of the
character’s country to make the story plausible to all readers.
Hopefully such an oversight will be avoided in the future writings
of this and other authors.
In Ethiopia, greater support and effort should be put into
producing, translating and disseminating the work of Ethiopian
writers, despite the numerous barriers to doing this. Unless
Ethiopians speak and write for ourselves, we will find that we are
being spoken for by surrogate authors, who consciously or
unconsciously echo their own consciousness, desires and interests,
rather than ours. This in turn, could lead to our literature being
squashed out of the international arena by the more vocal and
visible, though not necessarily better, literatures. Alexander warns,
“a war of liberation from neo-colonial and imperialist dependence,
awaits the peoples of Africa.” (2003:12).
At the macro level, what we end up with is yet another piece
of literature written in the North by a Northerner, who lacks
sufficient knowledge about the complex reality of Africa and
Ethiopia, and consciously or unconsciously reflects a Western
perspective and perpetuates the hegemony of the North over the
South. Therefore, although the writer might not intend it to be, this
is a subversive book which strikes yet another blow against the
diversity of Africa and imposes a British perspective or perception
on the Ethiopian reality.
African intellectuals have highlighted and need for, “the
weaving together of the kind of counter-hegemonic networks of
scholars and activists that are needed at this historical juncture …
to consider the issue of counter-hegemonic initiatives and the
creation or activation of countervailing forces.” (Alexander, 2003:
16-18).
Consequently, the Ethiopian Government, both at national
level, and at continental level through the African Union, should
ensure that there is an overarching multidimensional strategy and
all-rounded policies that actively promote and ensure fair playing
fields for African cultures, economies and states. Moreover, it
should assure that these strategies and policies are implemented on
the ground and that initiatives in line with them are not quashed by
foreign interests.
On a global level, it should actively seek partnerships with
countries that believe in multicultural societies based on
integrative models to ensure that the rich colourful culture of
Ethiopia is not wiped out into a colourless mush of an
international melting pot, but is ensured its unique place in the
global salad bowl.

7. References
Alexander N. (2003) “The African Renaissance and the Use of
African Languages in Tertiary Education” PRAESA Occasional
Papers No. 13. University of Cape Town. Cape Town.
CNN (2006) “Dad sentenced in first female genital cutting trial in
the U.S.” CNN.com November 2, 2006
Harris R.T (1952) “Plausibility in Fiction” in The Journal of
Philosophy XLIV Jan.

Kalyegira T. (2001) “Travel Notes: Abyssinia Chronicles”

www.geocities.com/mel zeri/proud.html.
Kalyegira T. (2002a) “Why Ethiopia Stayed Behind: Parts I and
II”
www.tigrai.org/News/Articles2002/TimothyUganda.html
Kalyegira T. (2002b) “Why Ethiopia Stayed Behind: Part III”
http://lists.sn.apc.org/pipermail/pol.ethiopia/2002-
October/002610.html
Kanazawa S. (2006) “Mind the gap … in intelligence: Re-
examining the relationship between inequality and
health.” British Journal of Health Psychology.11, 623 –
642.
Mashile L. (2006) “Language for Freedom and Expression”. LEAP
News PRAESA: Cape Town.
Molvaer R.K. (1980) Tradition and Change in Ethiopia. Leiden.
E.J. Brill.
Perry T. (2004) Language rights, ethnic politics: A critique of the
Pan South African Language Board. PRAESA: Cape
Town.
Rothkop D. (1997) “In Praise of Cultural Imperialism? Effects of
Globalization on Culture.” Global Policy Forum:
www.globalpolicy.org/globaliz/globcult.htm
Welsh p. (1953) “Hypotheses, Plausibility, and Fiction” in The
Philosophical Review, Vol. 62, No 1. www.jstor.org 2006
University of Calgary (2006) “Analyzing Literature”
http://www.efwr.ucalgary.ca/content/blogcategory/43/62/
Zephaniah B. (2001) Refugee Boy. London: Bloomsbury
Publishing Plc.