Firstly, I carried out an eight-months fieldwork among the local people ob- serving the various traditional, cultural, religious and social performances of 6 Mr. A careful recording of performances and intensive interviews were conducted besides keeping field notes and dia- ries. This enabled me the better to understand the attitudes of the local people and their role in composing and improvising oral literary texts as well as to follow with deeper understanding the process of the every-day life situation in the two research sites.
Moreover, I have benefited considerably from the differ- ent concepts and terminologies used by the local people while classifying oral poems and songs into several themes and subjects. Secondly, by its very nature the field of oral literature has developed close relationships with such disci- plines as linguistics, history, literature, anthropology and, in recent years, with politics, social change and rural development studies.
Therefore, I have at- tempted to apply an interdisciplinary approach9 in classifying and analysing oral poems and songs in the different contexts and from different perspectives.
In both communities, the peasants whom I interviewed are all Amharas and with the exception of a few Muslims, all are members and followers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. See also note 21 below. Their life is based on working in the agricul- tural fields, still using the traditional plough to cultivate crops. During the two phases of my fieldwork in East Gojjam, I attended group performances of Amharic oral poetry on wedding feasts, agricultural work parties, annual religious holidays and funeral ceremonies.
The most colourful and attrac- tive performance-occasions were wedding ceremonies and agricultural work par- ties. Therefore, I have had the chance to interview highly admired and recom- mended singers and poets and those who have attractive voices and remarkable memories. Based on observations of group performances and interviews with 32 selected singers and poets both in Dej Mariam and in Gedeb Giorgis kebele11 ad- ministrations, I have identified the following major genres12 of Amharic oral po- etry.
Some of them are now forgotten or are on the verge of extinction. Looking at the content and style of the genres of Amharic oral poetry, sometimes it is clearly noticeable that one form of poetry or song overlaps with another during performance and improvisation. In this respect, such 11 Kebele Administration KA is the lowest unit of political administration endorsed by the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, since August , after the current political boundaries were newly restructured.
However, I found that the current political situation of the rural society contributed to the composition of similar themes and reflections by the peasants, due to the changes in ideology and administrative structures. AHMAD , I have fa- miliarised myself17 with the thematic classification of Amharic oral poetry based on the topics and issues expressed in the poems collected, supplemented by detailed conversations and interviews held with informants.
However, it is widely used among the ordinary Amhara people regardless of age, sex, place and time. Yet, as my informants explained to me, there are several types of work songs depending on the type of work in which they are involved. Both men and women of different ages perform a variety of these songs. By singing songs, the peasants overcome the hardship of their exhaust- ing tasks, they praise their land, their produce, their oxen, even their work, their ancestors and themselves.
Women, on the other hand, mostly sing and recite work songs in home activities such as grinding and chopping grain, spin- ning, fetching wood and water and the like. In their work songs, the peasants express their feelings of joy, happiness, their dreams, hopes, loneliness, etc. They also comment on matters related to current affairs, on local happenings and on a variety of personal and communal issues. Agricultural work songs, therefore, play an important role in the lives of the peasants, both at home and in the farm fields.
It is approximately equiva- lent to ten kilograms. Its secret meaning implies that the peas- ants do not want to see their region, Gojjam, being destroyed, being poor, losing its greenness and being stricken by drought and famine, etc. God has a special place in the lives of the peasants. In their every-day prayers, activities and conversations they refer to His miracles. They seek for His mercy at times of extreme trouble.
They also consult Him for a better harvest season. They need His intercession for a peaceful coexistence. They complain to Him in times of natural disaster such as epidemics, drought, famine and the like. In the following poem the peasant expresses his indebtedness to God for he received a plot of land, during the redistribution20 of rural land in the Amhara National Regional State During my field research in Gojjam, I have recorded several hundred poems and songs composed and sung either in protest or in support of the regional state policy.
Another poor farmer expresses his happiness as he has got fertile land like oth- er farmers, who were deprived of land for years. Firstly, children can easily be approached and in most cases do not insist on negotiations or bargaining to sing such songs and poems.
Secondly, they can freely express their feelings and make comments on past, present and future affairs and issues of the society. It does not refer to ethnicity. Therefore, their existence was dependent on trade in the towns and on handicraft work in the rural areas. Now the singer is delighted as he has got his own plot of land like the Amharas, meaning Christians.
Sometimes, children sing songs while carrying babies at home and around the village while their mothers are participating in agricultural work, going to the market, fetching wood or visiting relatives. Reciting poetry is, thus, an enjoyable part of their daily games. My informants recalled that the National Military Service was one of the most destructive directives of the Derg regime and consumed the lives of thousands of Ethiopian youths.
These state agents and officials used their pow- er for corruption, nepotism and discrimination in implementing government policies and guidelines.
The following poem composed by children in Gojjam, refers to a mother who lost her son, forcefully taken for military service. As is rightly expressed in the poem, it was, therefore, a distinctive sign of regional mourning24 due to the frequent recruitment of boys and young adults to the war front, most of whom lost their lives and did not come back to their respective villages. On the other hand, these children and cattle herders composed poems and songs about the civil war that took place between the liberation fronts in the northern regions of Eritrea and Tigray and the former Socialist regime of Ethi- opia.
However, after the change of government that took place in Ethiopia in May , it was hoped that there would be no more civil war and military service. Thus, children expressed their happiness as the recruitment of boys and young men came to an end. The following two couplets referring to this devastating policy were sung after the fall of the Derg regime: 24 Traditionally, in Gojjam, people wear black clothes and shave their hair when they are in mourning.
Almost every male peasant, including young boys and small children, wear them until now. My informants explained that they are a sign of mass protest in response to the various state policies and directives of the former Socialist regime and the present one. It does not imply any semantic relationship with the second line of the verse. It is merely employed to supply rhyming words in the second and most significant line of the verse to complete it and make it rhyme.
It is ironically expressed as such a policy was never seen in the lives of the peas- ants. A short summary of this paper. Download Download PDF. Translate PDF. Other poems describe the battles, and praise the heroes and patriots of Goggam. Introduction Praise poetry is one of the most developed and elaborate poetic genres in Africa1. It fo- cuses on the achievements of prominent figures — heroes, military and political leaders, etc. Alliteration, par- allelism, repetition and the use of metaphors and analogy are distinct features in praise poetry.
Indeed, it has been an important culture and tradition to praise the skills, adventures and exploits of emperors, kings, no- bles, warriors and great war-leaders in poetry and songs3. Finnegan further pointed out that the language of praise poetry may be archaic and lofty, and there are often references to historical events or people that may need interpretation; veiled and figurative forms of expression are also common.
Especially frequent are comparisons of the person praised to an animal or series of animals cp. In an attempt to fill this gap, over Amharic praise poems most of them couplets have been collected and classified by the author6.
Out of this collection only 45 sample poems have been selected, translated and briefly analyzed in this paper. Historically, reciting them, peasants aroused male courage during war campaigns and before battles: they were mainly recited by warriors during campaigns and times of war, at battlefields and by hunters upon returning from hunting.
Later, the people also articulated in this poetry their grievances, feelings of sorrow, and encouraged uprisings and revolts against invaders and enemies. The praise poems are recited and improvised at weddings, harvests, funerals, religious feasts and other social gatherings. Traditionally, the two poetic forms are performed together. He primarily praises himself: his personality, charac- ter, the kind of weapon he has, etc.
The recital of each verse is confirmed and approved by his peers, friends and by the crowd at large. He then praises his family, his ancestors and his friends; he additionally praises his oxen, his harvest etc. He also mentions the names of renowned individuals and their adventures. See also ANON. The invasion of Ethiopia by fascist Italy changed the precarious situation in Goggam. They tried to mobilize and recruit the local people, both peacefully and forcefully.
They ambushed the Italians and attacked them in their fortifications, capturing numerous firearms. He was the only one with a professional understanding of military tactics, the only one who could impose regular military discipline on his column: he was the only irregular commander capable of moving his host from place to place in secrecy and silence.
Later it was reported that on the way to Goggam, after he attempted to escape from custody with other prisoners, he was brought to court again and was sentenced to death. These words in the first lines of the verses are chosen to match with the rhyming words in the second lines of the poems, and to convey the most significant message.
George who is sent to chase out Italy and to defend the independence of Ethiopia.
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