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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Contemporary Amharic Oral Poetry from Gojjam: Classification and a Sample Analysis |
Author: | Gelaye, Getie |
Year: | 1999 |
Periodical: | Aethiopica: International Journal of Ethiopian Studies |
Volume: | 2 |
Pages: | 124-143 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Ethiopia |
Subjects: | oral poetry songs Ethiopian-Semitic languages songs (form) Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Education and Oral Traditions Literature, Mass Media and the Press |
External link: | https://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/aethiopica/article/view/537/541 |
Abstract: | This paper provides a classification of Amharic oral poems and songs into several themes. It is based on fieldwork conducted in 1997 and 1998 among the peasants of Dej Mariam and Gedeb Giorgis in East Gojjam Administrative Region, northwest Ethiopia. The paper identifies major genres such as work songs, children's songs, war chants, boasting recitals and lamentations. The themes are illustrated with selected texts in Amharic and their English translations. The paper presents a description and analysis of the selected poems and their role, particularly in local politics and administration. In their poems and songs, the peasants of East Gojjam critically express their views, attitudes and feelings, either in the form of support or protest, towards the various State policies and local directives. Bibliogr., notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract] |