Re: Timor again (sorry Lou)

["João Paulo Monteiro" <jpmonteiro@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

James M. Blaut wrote:


> Joao Monteiro: You've been favoring us with long posts about East Timor and
> I'd be grateful for the information if I knew that it was authoritativre
> and not biased toward one or anothger Left direction. I begin to have
> doubts wehen I read such as the following:
>
> "Kay Rala Xanana Gusmao, who led the armed struggle from
> 1981 to the moment of his capture in 1992  is a romantic and sentimental
> character, writes poetry (not very
> good, but fair for an amateur) and paints... [He is beloved by the people]
> to the point of worship and with a kind of acquired regal status by fact of
> heroic deeds. The east-timorese are very sensitive to this kind of nobility
> and distinguish it with blind loyalty and ritual submission. They are kind
> of monarchic. This was not the lesson of the original FRETILIN but... these
> are cultural traits very difficult to eradicate."
>
> Some years ago an American anthropolgoist tried to psychoanalyze the people
> of an island near Timor (Alor). Are you continuing that research?



I know one or two things about the social and political organization of
traditional east-timorese society. I could expand a bit on that if there
is
interest.

Not a trace of psychoanalysis on my post. I'm staying clean of that
stuff for
about ten years now. I really have problems understanding what are you
after.
If this is your way of saying you hate Freud (or me, for that matter),
you
might as well leave the east-timorese out of it. Just say it. I'm sure
you'll
feel relieved.

I'm afraid I will have nothing more to say to you.



João Paulo Monteiro