An Analysis of Literary Techniques in Some of the Prose Works of Ethiopian Women Authoresses
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Date
1995-05
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to introduce and analyse the
literary techniques of some of the prose works o f Ethiopian women
authoresses. As discussed in the introduction, literary studies
and comments both by Ethiopian and foreign scholars about the
fictional works of Ethiopian women authoresses that appeared thus
far to the public are very scanty and fragmentary.
Hence, the need for introducing and examining some of the
prose works of women authoresses arises from this reality. The
present study has, therefore, considered the fictional wri tings of
twelve authoresses for critical discussion. The works of these
authoresses have been selected based on three different reasons .
The first is the availability of the texts in the three major
libraries. These are : the libraries of the AAU, the library of
Ministry of Culture and Sports Affairs, and the library of the Addis
Ababa administrative region . The second reason is the common and
unique cha racteristics of the authoresses in using different kinds
o f literary devices ; and tidy the literary genres of the works.
Other than the introduction and conclusion sections , the
study is di vided i nto three chapters. Included in the introduction
were: literary survey and comments which, directly o r indirectly,
deal wi th the main concern of the present study. The first chapter
focuses on two things. First , it tries to convey the theoretical
definitions and explanat i ons of the literary terms : narration and
different types of points of view . Secondly , it discusses the
outline of seven pre-revolution prose works and analyses some of
the narrat i ve methods (including the various points of view) which
the authoresses use to unfold the materials of their stories . The
texts are examined in the order of their date of publications .Chapter two dwells on the various narrative techniques employed by
the post-revolution women authoresses. Although the focus of thi s
chapter is to analyse the methods of narration, it has a
considerable di fference from the previous one . Apart from dealing
with such technical elements as point o f view epistolary and
flashback methods , chapter two will also attempt to introduce and
e xamine those new narrative techniques (the employment o f
telephone conversation, foreshadowing , dream, and a story wi thin
story method) which are used only in the works of four post revolution
women authoresses.
The aim of chapter three, on the other hands, is to cri tically
e xamine whether or not the characterization, plot constructions
and language of some of the prose works of women authoresses are
a ppropriate, consistent, coherent , concise , significant and
credible . The summary and conclusion part of the study will provide
the summary of the work and also try to point out s ome weaknesses and
st r engths of the authores se s under consideration . The
contribution of women authoresses to the overall development of
modern Amharic literature is also discussed in the last chapter .
Lastly , the appendixes present the full texts of the interviews
conducted with two "literary techniques" and the social
educational, material, family and literary backgrounds of
Ethiopian women authoresses
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Keywords
Prose Works of Etillopian Womem Alithors