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Oromo Identi1y: Tiieorising Subjectivi1y and Ti-Ie Politics of Representation

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Oromo Identi1y: Tiieorising Subjectivi1y and Ti-Ie Politics of Representation The language of culture and the culture of language Oromo identity in Melbourne, Australia 4'-';•. ,=.:~ '-) -\'.'.\ .1 I . -- • ·. ~ u::--.xw ( j , •. : r--· ' i. ) ' \ J J/ \.<'1 ~· _-' <:__--;- __--* __ _,.,,-·_ Greg Gow Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for Doctor of Philosophy Department of Social Inquiry and Community Studies Faculty of Arts Victoria University of Technology 1999 Yaadannoo Oromoota dhabamaniifii kan maqaan isaani ifaa hin bahiniif warra waregnii issani Oromoota qoranna kanaa keysatii mullatan hadochu. Dedicated to the memory of the missing and unknown Oromo whose lives have touched the Oromo who feature in this thesis. DECLARATION I declare that this thesis is my original work, except where otherwise cited, and has not been submitted, in whole or in part, for any other academic award. Greg Gow January 1999 CONTENTS Acknowledgments v A note on translation and the use of afaan Oromoo VJ Glossary Vil Abstract: by way of notes to the reader JX Mapping of Oromiya XJV PRELUDE A sort of homecoming 2 PART I REPRESENTING HOME: A LANGUAGE OF SUBJECTIVITY 1 Oromo identity: Theorising subjectivity and the politics of representation JO 2 What has home got to do with it? Being ethnographer and becoming-person 39 3 Oromo nationalist sensibilities: Silent enouncements and becoming-other 63 PART II PERFORMING HOME: A LANGUAGE OF MUSIC 4 Mana itti gaddin u hinqabn u-. The mourning of a 'nation' without a 'state' 91 5 Baddaan biyya tiyya: Musical aesthetics and the production of place 116 6 Ali Birraa keenya: The Legend continues 141 INTERLUDE 162 Imag(in)ing home (Plates 1-7) PART III MANAGING HOME: A LANGUAGE OF DISSONANCE 7 Manguddo sablocr. Stories of conflict, sabotage and exdusion 164 8 Yaadannoo Aannolee. Commemorating calamity and the erotics of nationalism 181 PART IV INVOKING HOME: A LANGUAGE OF SACRALITY 9 Ulmaa baha: Free women's day 217 10 Moggaasa: Renegotiating and incorporating affines 240 POSTLUDE Another sort of homecoming 266 References 274 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Although this thesis is my work, the development of it was in many ways a collaborative effort. There are many people whom I want to:thank, who assisted and supported me throughout the process of researching and wr~ting. I Firstly, I wish to thank my supervisor, Ron Adams, for the ongomg enthusiasm he has shown towards the research topic and the writing challenge, for his unswerving support, professional guidance, encouragement and friendship. I am also grateful to fellow PhD student Erik Lloga for his advice and valuable suggestions. A special thanks is due to Hili Hassan who read over much of the material and offered valuable input, Abdisebur Omar and Ferdusa Taha for first introducing me to the Oromo community, my co-traveller Abba Joobir for helping in so many different ways, Endashaw Teseme for his guidance at the outset, Keltume Hassan for special assistance relating to women's issues, and Sura Eteffa (aka Dawit) and my cousin Kevin McNulty for their artwork and help with the graphic layout. From its beginnings in February 1996, the research has been supported by probably all the Oromo people whom I know in Melbourne. I am indebted to a large number of them who made important contributions. To protect their privacy, many appear pseudonymously in the following chapters, but those I wish to thank by name are: Abbaa Ahmed, Abdala Adem, Abdala S. Omar, Afandi Siyo, Amina Hassan, Demma Sheko Kedir, Gebi Genemo, Gibril Obsie, Halakhe Ganyu, Irasie Obsie, Ismail Abdullahi Mohammed, Johara Omar, Kadija Youssuf, Kedir Subi, Likkee Waldee, Makida Abubeker, Mariyam Sheko Kedir, Mohammed Aba-Bulgu, Nouria Rashid, Seada Ahmed Adem, Sayed Osman Aliye, Shantam Shubissa, Tajudin Amme Mume and Ture Lenco. For offering their assistance and hospitality when I travelled overseas I would like to thank Ali Birraa, Bonnie Holcomb, Demmisu Tullu, Gelgelu Felema, Gemetchu Megerssa, Mohammed Hassen, Paul Baxter, Sue Pollock, Trevor Trueman and Zeinab Ahmed Adem. Finally, I offer a personal thanks to my wife Rose and my son Joseph, for their willingness to journey with me and Melbourne's Oromo over the past three years. v A NOTE ON TRANSLATION AND THE USE OF AFAAN OROMO This thesis contends that language constructs rather than simply reflects reality. Over the past three years as I have attempted to write about the Oromo, I have also attempted to learn the language afaan Oromoo. Throughout, translation has been a necessary activity of cultural exchange-what Simon ( 1996, p. 146) refers to as a movement of ideas and aesthetic forms. The following writings embody the movement from one language to another: from afaan Oromoo to English. As a translator of language and culture I have not sought to find or determine a hidden 'cultural meaning'; instead I have located meaning in 'lived' processes of articulation. As I discovered, the means of addressing problems of interpretation was not found in Oromo dictionaries, but in attempting to understand the way language is tied to local realities and to changing identities. As Simon discovered, the process of translation often has less to do with finding the cultural inscription of a term than in reconstructing its value. My attempts at translation (or linguistic and cultural mediation) were always incomplete and experienced as a form of negotiation between myself and those I was studying-not an attempt to reshape Oromo culture into a 'Western' frame. It was not until after 1991 that it was lawful in Ethiopia to teach or publish in the Oromo language using the Latin alphabet-which largely explains why the written standardisation of afaan Oromoo, referred to as qubee, remains underdeveloped. In addition, the diversity of dialects among the Oromo population and lack of resources make standardisation a very difficult and potentially divisive task. Given that there are few people among Melbourne's Oromo who competently write qubee, and given an apparent lack of consensus on 'correct' spelling, the orthography of some words in this thesis may not accord with their spelling elsewhere. vi GLOSSARY Words and acronyms with single references and whose meanings are described clearly in the text are not listed here, while those which frequently occur are listed. abbaa father, title of respect a'anan cow's milk, an important ritual item AOCA Australian Oromo Community Association ayyaana the means by which God creates and sustains everything bilisummaa liberation, freedom, self-determination biyya land, country, countryside bokkuu club or sceptre considered central to the gadaa system buna coffee, an important ritual item bunaqala sacred coffee and butter ritual (Or Jalla qala) dareemoo porridge that features in women's birth rituals Derg Provisional Military Council, common name for military regime which controlled the Ethiopian state from I 974 till 1991 elilebaa high pitched trill that women issue forth as an applause EPRDF Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front faranjii a white European person gadaa self-governing ceremonial age-set system gaddaa condolence ceremony (or taazFa) geerasa call-and-response song about one's heroic exploits goban a colloquial term for an Oromo who betrays his/her people to the Abyssinians, derives from Gobana Dacchie who assisted Menelik gudisaa naming ritual for a child aged under eight years guduunfa tying together, engagement negotiations hayyu a senior councillor or elder IfLO The Islamic Front for the Liberation of Oromiya Vll kismedal ritual slicing of bread prepared by the mother of the house to keep evil away, the first slice being eaten by the youngest girl present mana house, home manguddo an elder and mediator moggaasa adoption of an individual or a group, name giving nagaa peace with God, people and the land, key Oromo motif nikah Islamic engagement/ marriage negotiations OCAV Oromo Community Association in Victoria odaa large sycamore tree, primary national symbol, meeting place for the gadaa council OLF Oromo Liberation Front (or ABO, Adda Bilisummaa Oromootl) ollaa neighbourhood, neighbours OPDO Oromo People's Democratic Organisation OPLF Oromo People's Liberation Front Oromumma Oromoness, being Oromo qaallu high priest, ritual expert saddeeta representative and spokesperson during engagement negotiations siiqqee stick symbolising women's socially sanctioned set of rights soda affine TPLF Tigray People's Liberation Front ulmaabaha women's post-birth ritual waaqa Oromo divinity, God viii ABSTRACT: BY WAY OF NOTES TO 1HE READER Until recently, the Oromo were largely unknown among scholars of Africa. Since the Abyssinian conquest of the vast Oromo land-known today as Oromiya­ in the late-nineteenth century, Oromo within the Ethiopian empire state (where they number more than half the population) have remained politically, linguistically, economically and historically marginalised. Since the late 1970s, almost a century after their conquest, when the Derg military junta's campaign of terror was at its peak, and continuing with the present regime, large numbers of Oromo have fled Ethiopia to neighbouring countries. By 1997 a small number (approximately 500) had resettled in Melbourne, Australia. Over these past two decades Oromo nationalism has grown into a mass movement in east Africa and among the worldwide exilic communities. Central to the growth of nationalism has been the assertion of a pan-Oromo national identity (Oromumma, 'Oromoness'). Like all identity politics, Oromo nationalism remains academically deadlocked between essentialism and social constructionism: Oromo anti-colonial nationalists posit an atavistic account of Oromo identity, while 'Western' scholars generally conceive of it in politically disabling constructionist terms. Engaging with current debates in postcolonial, cultural and women's studies, this study suggests an alternative approach towards the subjectivity of the Oromo nation, which-under the umbrella of 'articulation'-draws heavily from the eclectic but overlapping works of Deleuze and Guattari and Stuart Hall. Such an approach affirms Oromo identity-Oromo cultural formation-without retreating to anti-colonial Manichean binary oppositions.
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