Launch of The Disorder of Things : A Foucauldian Approach to the Work of Nuruddin Farah

We had over 80 people attending and the atmosphere was engaged and attentive. By 6pm there was a buzz in the foyer as people chatted and bought books and had drinks and Achille had to herd people in!

John's book, "The Disorder of Things : A Foucauldian Approach to the Work of Nuruddin Farah" launched by Wits Press this evening drew a diverse crowd.

Tina Steiner (English, Stellenbosch University) opened the evening with a richly appreciative reading of John's book-- attending to the carefully designed front and back covers of the book's design as a way into John's close encounters with Foucault and Farah. Elaborating on her analysis of John's mining of the counterpunctual arguments, themes and stances in Farah's work, she drew out themes, major arguments and quoted from each chapter or cluster of chapters to bring the monograph alive.  The audience was engrossed in her close reading. Her style was often humorous and she concluded with a set of ponderings and challenges to John, about his reading of Farah in relation to a host of powerful African literary conversations as well as issues of style and prose form.  It was so wonderful to have Tina here for this event.

Achille Mbembe from WiSER followed with a his appreciations of the intellectual quality of John's book, applauding his imaginative capacity and how he brought freshness to both his reading of Foucault and Farah. He discussed several anecdotes about meeting Farah and used this to begin a more serious set of reflections on his work as he traced some of the thematic trajectories in John's book. Achille then raised a series of debates and objections and challenges: the ellipticism of Foucault; his incomplete oeuvre; his early and mid career stance on 'the author' and the role of literature (pure madness, contra 'reason'), and how this shifted over time - all as a means to arguing for the limits of Foucault's insights in relation to the life world of many Somali people, and a related series of interrogations. Moving between appreciations of John's clarity and then expositions of, and challenges to, John's deployment of Foucault, Achille ended with 3 specific questions to the author.

John rose to the occasion-- with warm thanks to all behind the event, the large audience, and the intellectual place and dialogue offered at WiSER. To respond to his readers, Tina and Achille, and anticipating several other layers of interest and questioning,  John then drew a series of sketches around his interest in this "twin knots and tangles" approach, elucidating the phases of Farah's life work, (particularly his writing about kin, sex, rape and gender power)and spending time entertwining this with John's way into readings of Foucault 'early' and 'late' works.

He was witty and warm and yet ended on a very sobering set of points about migration, exile and contemporary Somali politics in this time of 'unmanned' dones, rendition, and the dark shadows of post cold war geopolitics.

The formal event ended at 7.45pm -- not a soul had yawned or slumped or left during the presentations.

People mobbed John with individual questions and gathered in knots over further refreshments to talk for a good deal more time.

Thanks to all-- WiSER graduate students for help (Simphiwe for his camera and sound work and to Kalema for back up), to all WiSER staff, and to Wits press.