The Amharic • Dime Novelits Emeregence, Major Features & Significance (H49 - H66 E.C.)
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Date
1994-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Writing small Amharic fiction became a dominant
practice by the beginning of the second-half of the present
century. These works, derogatorily known as Amharic "dime
novels", constitute a large portion of the prose fiction in
the language. If not identical many of them have
conspicuous similarity in their format. They also share
some attributes with regard to their techniques and subject
matter.
Amharic "dime novels" are often criticized for their
poor literary standards and there are tendencies to ignore
their significance in Amharic literature. Except for a few
brief remarks no serious attempt has been made so far to
study them. The purpose of this thesis is, therefore, to
have a closer observation of the major features of these
works , and to pin-point some of their contributions to
Amharic literature. Descripftive and explanatory as it is ,
the thesis illustrates the creative aptitude and technical
performance demonstrated in these works.A:v' l a ~ic L d~~i',e novels", themselves being the product of
a literdture in a process of c hange, have in turn been the
cause for the tra nsition. They have pl ayed a rol e in
p r omoting Amharic prose fiction into a different s t age -
helping it to break away from traditional practice and
movetoward modernity. Even though they continued to be
highly infulenced by the old authors, they nevertheless
introduced new elements of modern narrative techniques.
Apart from their significance in depicting the socioeconomic
and cultural color of their time, these works have
undoubtedly enriched Amharic literature with more
experience in fiction writing.
I n brief , the study enunciates the nature of the firs t
large scale literary production which reflects the creative
temperament t o f a new gene r a ti on of writers t ha t cropped up
i n t he 1950s and 1960s E.C.
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Keywords
Amharic, Dime Novelits, Emeregence, Major Features