Function of Funeral Dirges And Interpretation of Death in Kaficho Lamentaton Poetry
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Date
2012-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Almost no study has been undertaken so far regarding Kaficho folklore; hence not much is known regarding the society’s tradition. , Therefore, this study is conducted in order to alleviate the problem by giving textual analysis of some selected funeral dirges which are collected from different sources. Therefore, the objective of this study is investigating the function of funeral dirges and interpretation of death in Kaficho lamentation poetry. It also describes the composition and performance aspects of the poems.
The major aim of the study is understanding the functions of Kaficho funeral dirges and the interpretation of death in the context of their use. To achieve this goal, an attempt has been made to collect funeral dirges from different Kaficho people who are well known in constructing the dirges. The funeral dirges are divided into three genres. They are shoosho, hicho and gommo. The three funeral dirges have their own functions with performance in their context. Through each funeral dirge, Kaficho people express their feelings, thought and interpretation towards death and other social issues.
Thus, the Kaficho funeral dirges play a great role in expressing personal grief about the deceased, in particular when shoosho is sung. Kaficho people use funeral dirges in order to make consolations for the family of the deceased and it is used to express other socio-cultural issues by reminding them to give more emphasis on the day-to-day life challenges
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Death in Kaficho Lamentaton Poetry