Geerarsa Folksong As the Oromo National Literature: A Study of Ethnography, Folklore, and Folklife in the Context of the Ethiopian Colonization of Oromia

by Addisu Tolesa

This study of the geerarsa folksong of Ethiopia's Oromo people is organized into seven chapters that follow major historical periods of Oromo society in Ethiopia and the successive Ethiopian government policies that affect them. Topics include Oromo folklore as a historical source; an Oromo ethnographic background; distribution of geerarsa in the Horn of Africa and examples from printed and oral recorded sources; how geerarsa performance illustrates the Oromo heroic worldview; the colonial period of confrontation between the Oromo and Amhara/Tigrean/Ethiopians; staged geerarsa in Oromia, Ethiopia, and the diaspora; and how geerarsa serves as a repository of history and a medium of self-expression and national identity. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

208 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1999