Parting thoughts for 2022
Can you define 2022 in one word? A word that captures the mood and the mode of a year that's passed? What captured your imagination the most: the Ukraine-Russia War, the Fifa World Cup, the inflation, the UK's loss of a Queen and its gain of three PMs in one calendar year, the Climate talks in Egypt, a failed Red Wave in the US, the hair-cutting protests in Iran, the ban on women's higher education in Afghanistan, the resurgence of Covid in China? How about things close at home: the bridge over the river Padma, life in a Metro with a sky-train, or the underwater tunnel in the Karnaphuli River?
While Oxford Dictionary notes that the trendiest term in 2022 was "goblin mode," Collins Dictionary has identified "splooting." The first word means "a type of behaviour which is unapologetically self-indulgent, lazy, slovenly, or greedy, typically in a way that rejects social norms or expectations." We all have a goblin inside of us which needs a little bit of indulgence.
In 2022, after the Covid-19 inflected hiatus, our inner goblins demanded to be fed, and we obliged.
You can call it a celebration of life, or a spirit of the age (zeitgeist) that has just had a near-death experience. Then again, the pressure of the overwhelming experience is contained in the verb "splooting," meaning "the act of lying flat on the stomach with the legs stretched out." 2022 made us all feel like a 2D cardboard figure that has just given in (or up).
The fascination for a word to express our reality is also evident in the sudden rise of a word game's popularity in 2022. Yes, the most-searched word on Google for 2022 was "Wordle." In February, The New York Times purchased the word-game app created by Welsh software engineer Jonathan Wardle, and the challenge to guess a five-letter word in six attempts became addictive. The feeling of starting a day with a little bit of self-indulgence became popular.
But is it possible for words to capture reality? Philosophers, writers, and artists have always debated this issue.
For some, words limit our expressions. For others, words can be the launching pad for limitless ideas. You can bring home those ideas, or you can use words to set out for new possibilities. 2022 has also been very big for this issue of home and homelessness. The threat of a nuclear Armageddon is more real than ever. We temporarily distracted ourselves by looking for a messiah in Messi. But there remains a sense of uneasiness in all of us. The political, social, and economic crises are creating the push and pull factors that are making people leave their homes.
Quite fittingly, Dhaka is currently hosting the 19th edition of the Asian Art Biennale, where a total of 649 artworks from 113 countries are being displayed. The theme this year is home and homelessness. Artists creatively articulated their desire of coming together in a place of comfort and their fear of being dislodged and displaced from one's comfort zone. Three main concerns have emerged: poverty, fear, and meaninglessness.
The event coincided with the 2022 Fifa World Cup, where the notion of one nation was harped. Morgan Freeman, in his powerful plea at the opening ceremony, called for oneness, inclusion, diversity, and mutual understanding during the greatest show on earth, saying, "We gather here as one big tribe, and Earth is the tent we all live in." The western media, which never liked Qatar being a desert rose, stung back for Freeman's "paid lip service," referring to his earlier comment on his favourite acting role where the veteran actor had quipped, "The most fun are the ones that pay the most."
The round leather orb, with its aura of money, had us all under its thrall for an entire month. The glitz and glamour of the Petrodollar made us forget the inflation that has peaked in many parts of the world. Now that winter is here, the pains return like seasonal gouts. The dollar price has soared, and the supply chain of fuel is snapped due to war-related sanctions. Even a rich country such as the UK now runs food banks for six in ten people whose income cannot get them the bare essentials. Even our prime minister has repeatedly urged us to maintain austerity, fearing that there could be a worldwide recession and food shortage.
Hunger has been the main cause of dislocations. In 2022, we noticed unprecedented mass movements. Any visit to a visa service centre will tell you about the movement of skilled and unskilled workers, professionals and intellectuals. Our media often reports how money is flying out of the country to support those who are looking for a home outside their home.
There is also the movement of less-fortunate refugees and mercenary armed forces, hinting at the troubled territories in different parts of the world. People flee their homes in fear of being persecuted. When they shore up on new shores, they bring new concerns for their hosts. Sometimes they are welcomed, at other times they are not. Politicians and policymakers try their best to bring order through various schemes of control, manoeuvring, and monitoring of the movement. They use big data to control human mobility.
The apps we had downloaded to acquire vaccine information are now used by the governments to track us. Human mobility data, based on our cellular network locations, helps corporations and government entities to discover population patterns at a micro level. Even when we are away from home, or displaced – we are never away from their governmentality.
In 2022, we have become more used to the idea that our private life is no longer private. We all walk wearing the proverbial emperor's new clothes.
Maybe in 2023, we will stop splooting and switch out of our goblin mode to find a word that is positive and energetic. The mobility next year will be smart and meaningful. Happy new year!
Dr Shamsad Mortuza is a professor of English at Dhaka University.