Ethiopian Theatre in the Eyes of Expatriates
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Date
2022-05-01
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Since the opening of Higher Education in Ethiopia, various foreign scholars have studied
Ethiopian theater. For the past sixty-seven years, these foreign scholars have studied
Ethiopian theater with the help of translators. Although the contribution of these foreign
scholars to the development of Ethiopian theater is undeniable, their research findings on
Ethiopian theater are often misleading. This study argues that Ethiopian theater should also
be studied from an Ethiopian perspective. The aim of the study was to answer the question of
how Western scholars understand Ethiopian theater and which field of theater they prefer to
study. The study also revisits expatriates’ conclusions and findings about Ethiopian theater.
The study had the following research questions. First, which aspect of Ethiopian theater do
western writers deal with? Second, what is their generic preference in Ethiopian Theatre
scholarship? Third, what are the expatriates’ conclusions and findings in study of Ethiopian
theater? This study employed a comparative approach to Ethiopian theater by comparing
and contrasting various local and international research findings on Ethiopian theater. The
study found that most expatriates studied the historiography of Ethiopian theater. They
ignored other practical and theoretical aspects of Ethiopian theatre scholarship. Most
expatriates also studied the theater staged in Ethiopian theaters. Popular theater and other
genres were left out of their studies. Moreover, the expatriates’ findings and conclusions
about Ethiopian theater were misleading, inaccurate and biased. Still, some of the
expatriates had a distorted and colonial thinking about Ethiopian theater. They often
interpret their research findings from the western perspective. The study concluded that the
previous studies on Ethiopian theater conducted by expatriates need further appraisal and
critical evaluation. Most of the studies have been one-sided and have dealt with the theater
only superficially. The study recommends that any previous study on Ethiopian theater by
expatriates needs to be re-evaluated in terms of its research methods, findings, conclusions
and implications.
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Ethiopian Theatre