Towards A Political Sociology of Oromo Literater Jaarsoo Waaqoo’s Poetry
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Date
2003-07
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The major aim of the present study is to sociologically analyse Jaarsoo's poetry
Finna San Gama (Beyond Adversities) set in the social, cultural and economic
immediate milieu of the Oromo and in the current sociopolitical matrix of the
country. The study is mainly concerned with the poetic content analysis of
Jaarsoo's poetry using appropriate methods. In this regard, in Chapter II, the
study attempts to consider available theoretical concepts which are thought to be
helpful in a sociological analysis of poetic contents and in answering questions
of literary and sociological nature raised in Chapter I. Similarly, those related
studies that describe the need for a sociological study of Oromo literature are
included. Thus, primarily, the study attempts to make the descriptive assessment
of the ethnographic and literary background that informed the poet and his
works. Data were collected using structured and unstructured queries, notetaking
and tape-recordings. The task of transcription and translation of the data
was accomplished under a close supervision of informed Jaarsoo's audience both
inside and outside Boorana.
In Chapter III, the study tries to show impacts of the geerarsa genre. The
intention was to establish some generic characteristics of Jaarsoo's poetry Finna
San Gama (FSG) set within the geerarsa genre, particularly the Boorana
dhaaduu recitative war poetry. Based on its subject-matter, geerarsa can be
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categorized as traditional (time-free) and contemporary (time-bound). The
traditional time-free geerarsa includes historical songs in praise of Oromo tribal
warlords. Historical songs tend to be contemporary songs of their own time
since they compose local political and social events of their own time. Other
traditional geerarsa songs are: hunting songs (e.g. gooba), songs of war of
economic interests like the Boorana dhaaduu or the Arsi suunsuma, and songs
of success or failure in finna/life. Contemporary geerarsa are those personal
narratives or praise songs historically transformed into prison/protest songs
following the dynamic sociological situations of the Oromo. This transformation
may mark the transitional period of Oromo literature, transition from what had
hitherto been mere praise song to a political song of some kind. Both the
traditional and the transitional Oromo oral genre, doubtlessly the geerarsa,
must have paved the way towards modern Oromo literature which is expected to
have a great didactic role in directing current Oromo sociopolitical life situation
in some way. The geerarsa genre and the dhaaduu recitative war poetry have
influenced the content and performance of Jaarsoo's Finna San Gama I-IV in
which the poet recites issues of resource-based conflicts, nationalism, and social
and development topics, as analyzed in Chapter IV. Based on the generic
interpretation of those
popular genres, geerarsa and dhaaduu, FSG can be classified as the Boorana
dhaaduu recitative poetry. In data analysis the poetic contents of FSG are
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delineated based on their subject-matter, function, and context. Thus, the result
of the study indicates, like contemporary geerarsa, FSG focuses on different
subject-matters (sociopolitical, cultural and economic), not just on war events
unlike the traditional dhaaduu recitative war poetry. The significant role of the
universal Oromo geerarsa and the Borana dhaaduu in the content analysis of
Jaarsoo's poetry set in the Oromo current sociopolitical context is therefore the
aspect that a sociological analysis can reveal.
Key Words/Phrases: generic transformations, resource-based conflicts,
social and development issues, issues of nationalism
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Keywords
Words/Phrases, generic transformations, resource-based conflicts, social and development issues, issues of nationalism