German Ethiopian Association
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ter DEUTSCH-ÄTHIOPISCHER VEREIN E.V. t GERMAN ETHIOPIAN ASSOCIATION www.deutsch-aethiopischer-verein.de Ausgabe November 2002 Informationsblä This has been the foundation of Oromo nationalist politics in the Ethiopian Cultures diaspora. Otherwise, differences may be emphasised – for exam- and the Illusion of Ethiopian Culture ple between Ethiopia and Eritrea, the border regions have long shared a common language, cal traditions, ways of dressing, ways of farming, food customs, and styles of architecture and and so forth. But as Geertz em- By Tasew Dejene craft-work. An interesting excep- phasised that cultural difference is tion is the ‘Ethiopian’ coffee not a simple matter of customs: ceremony, which originates from ‘even vitally opposed groups may When I was in high school in the coffee growing areas of the differ rather little in their general Jimma, and in University in Addis south but is now celebrated as style of life’ (Geertz 1963). The Ababa, this is how we learned our part of Ethiopian heritage. strength of the Eritrean history: secessionist movement depended Ethiopia is four thousand years There is no unity of ‘culture’ in on emphasising differences in old, and has been Christian for Ethiopia – it is an illusion. Unless culture that had arisen out of those four thousand years. The we talk about the culture of differ- Italian occupation. The complexity current borders of Ethiopia (at that ent groups of people living there, of the reality is shown by the time, before Eritrea’s secession) we cannot talk of ‘Ethiopian cul- diversity beneath the gilding of were presented as something ture’. Nor can we solve the prob- Eritrean nationalism, where as in having existed also for hundreds lem simply by dividing the nation Ethiopia, many different peoples of years. Due to the dominance of among its many ‘ethnicities’ – with different ways of life coexist historians attached to Mengistu’s Somali, Tigre, Hadare, Oromo, (Afar, Kunama, and so forth). regime, and before that, to the Wolaita, Afar, Amhara, Nuer, Emperors, history became the Anwak, Gurage… We can talk glorification of those regimes. For also of culture as diverse even Inhaltsverzeichnis example, the unsuccessful strug- within these groups, and indeed Ethiopian Culture and the 1 gle of Oromos to occupy the each has its ‘famous’ bits of cul- Illusion of Ethiopian Cul- northern part of the country ture: the Hadare are known for ture (unlike the successful Amhara their baskets, the Oromo for their Impressum 2 occupation of southern, eastern spiritual rituals, the Nuer for their Semena Werq 2 and western parts) is seen as relationship with their cattle. And Die Hadiyya 4 Oromo ‘migration’ rather than again the categories can be bro- Art that heals 6 ‘invasion’. ken down: Christian Gurages are Reiseeindrücke aus Äthi- 6 known for their Meskal celebration opien In 1963, Geertz referred to Ethio- (the New Year ceremony which Jacaranda Tours 8 pia as an ‘‘old’ new state’, in commemorates the finding of the Verschiedenes 9 which one ethnic group, the Am- cross), whereas Muslim Gurages Veranstaltungen und 10 hara, ‘sees itself as the bearer of are known for their strong family Links a ‘civilisation’ amid a largely bar- ties and their trading culture… Äthiopische Verwaltungs- 11 barian population that would be experten zu Besuch bei well advised to model itself upon But it has often been important for ver.di it’. So, there has been a tendency rulers to make it seem as though Forschung 11 to see national ‘culture’ from a a homogeneous culture does Museen in A.A. 12 viewpoint which favours the ruling exist. This issue has been a sour- Buchbeschreibungen 13 elite. Thus, the outside world has ce of conflict throughout Ethiopian Nachrichten 14 come to recognise certain fea- history. Secessionist clashes in tures of northern Ethiopian cul- recent years show this to be the tures as emblems of the nation as case: the Ethio-Eritrean thirty a whole. Military victories particu- years’ war (which began as an In recent years, the ruling party larly over Italy in the battle of internal conflict) is an example, has propagated a vision of Ethio- Adwa, have become symbols of and Oromo and Somali national- pia as a nation unifying the ethnic the nation. The Ethiopian Ortho- ists’ struggles for secession too. diversity of its people. We see a dox church is also well recognised Culture has been a resource in triumph of peaceful governance overseas, and along with it asso- these conflicts. For example peo- over disparate groups speaking ciated musi ple in times of need, may form a over 80 languages. Within this group out of smaller groups by newly federalised ‘unification’, emphasising their shared culture. ethnic diversity is publicly cele- Seite 1 brated, and publicly emphasised – groups have mostly neither con- References by the tourist board, by the gov- tributed to, nor had access to. Geertz, Clifford (1963) ‘The inte- ernment, by ETV (the govern- Meanwhile, Ethiopia’s many other grative revolution’, pp108-113 in ment-run television station). Silent languages have been given little Clifford Geertz (ed.) Old Societies footage of cultural festivities, or space to develop. This has also and New States. New York: Free simply of daily life in diverse parts been the result of an educational Press. of the country, are shown be- system based on the British one, Hancock, Graham (1992) Lords of tween programmes. At Christmas which has made English, rather Poverty. etc. regional traditions – the mu- than Ethiopian languages, the sic, dances and clothes of people primary language of education, Tasew Dejene can be contacted from different parts of the country with Amharic in the earlier school at [email protected] – are celebrated. A tourist map of years. In recent years, the current the Ethiopia reads ‘The peoples of government has introduced teach- Ethiopia bid you welcome to their ing in several other languages – country. Welcome to the land of Oromifa, Somali, Tigrinya, and to thirteen months of sunshine!’, a lesser extent, in Wolaita, Afar while it rains through out a year in and Sidama. The possibility of western part of the country. using your own language has (Though I am not intending to been extended to local admini- discourage tourists: I can assure strations in some federal states. you, you will feel seven years Whilst this is nothing compared to younger, at least in calendar!). the number of languages found This government is not the first to across Ethiopia, it is a good start. present images of unity: Graham Since the establishment of the Hancock has said he regrets his federal regions, Oromifa has Impressum: involvement in the production of a begun to be written in the Roman Herausgeber: Deutsch-Äthiopischer ‘coffee table book’ commissioned script – which is phonetically more Verein e.V. by the Dergue to ‘proclaim the suited to the language according c/o Rudolf Schoppmann, Am Bild- underlying unity in the country’s to some Oromo scholars. This stock 31, 48317 Drensteinfurt cultural diversity, and to empha- has initiated the production of Redaktion: B. Schulte-Kemna, Helga sise the ancient historical integrity many more Oromifa publications Tewes Redaktionsanschrift: of [its contested] political bounda- – newspapers and magazines as E-mail: [email protected] ries’ (Hancock 1992). well as literature, and notably Homepage: collections of oral literature, prov- www.deutsch-aethiopischer-verein.de While successive goverments erbs and songs. Similarly, Sidama apparently take pride in the na- and Tigrinya publications are Die „Blätter“ des Deutsch- tional ‘cultures’, most of the differ- flourishing. Äthiopischen Vereins erscheinen ca. ent ethnic groups or nationalities 3 bis 4 mal im Jahr. within the country have been The establishment of the ministry Die Unkostenbeteiligung pro Ausgabe beträgt 5,50 Euro incl. Porto., das given little opportunity to take of culture by the current govern- Abonnement 16,50 Euro. Mitglieder pride in their own cultures. Some ment as also helped in encourag- bekommen die „Blätter“ kostenlos. twenty years ago, if you asked an ing cultural diversity rather than Namentlich gekennzeichnete Artikel Oromo from the South, he might containing it. Museums, which geben nicht unbedingt die Meinung have been proud to tell you that used to exist only to show the des Vereins wieder. he was an Amhara. It was com- histories of Imperial classes, have Spendenkonto: Postgiroamt Hamburg mon to see Oromos, or other been established in different parts BLZ 200 100 20, Kto. 771680-201 people from the South, saying of the country, and have adopted that they are Amharas, especially a less elite approach towards in the cities. This can be attributed material culture. The protection of to an education system domi- cultural heritage has been ex- nated by Amhara and the Amharic tended to everyday culture and language. Starting from the top customs. with government cadres or offi- „Semena Werq“ Wachs und Gold cials, and with the educated clas- Although many of these changes ses, the culture of Ethiopians have been initiated by the current became visibly homogeneous, at government out of necessity – as zusammengestellt von least from the outside. In a way a way to cling to political power – B. Schulte – Kemna this has followed logically from the the changes themselves can be fact that the Amharic language seen as the beginning of a proc- Äthiopien – Kenner werden den has its own script, which is un- ess of recognition. There is now Einfluß, den diese uralte amhari- usual for an African language, recognistion of cultural differ- sche Tradition bis in die heutigen, and has been a source of Ethio- ences, and on the basis of that modernen Zeiten hat, sicher bes- pian national pride. (Tigrinya also recognition, Ethiopia is allowing tätigen. Gewachsen in den Jahr- has its own script, and both these diversity to flourish.