Journal of Ethiopian Studies

Some Popular and Quotable Ethiopian Emblems in Their Communicative Situations

Augustine Agwuele — 2025-01-22

This ethnographic paper explores the role of emblematic gestures in urban Ethiopian communication, offering an in-depth analysis of hand, head, and facial actions within socially defined contexts. Drawing on Bourdieu’s concept of *habitus*, the paper examines how these non-verbal signs are culturally situated, reflecting shared social practices and adaptive responses to changing social dynamics. By identifying and annotating popular gestures, the study highlights the interpretive frameworks that underpin their meanings, emphasizing their cultural rootedness and situational variability. The analysis also cross-references Ethiopian emblems with analogous gestures from Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa, identifying areas of pragmatic overlap and cultural divergence. This comparative approach underscores the polysemous nature of non-verbal signs, illustrating how meaning is co-constructed in communicative events and shaped by context. The paper proposes that these gestures, as part of the people’s habitude, are context-dependent forms of communication that reflect deeper cultural values and social practices, offering insights into how meaning is produced, interpreted, and adapted in everyday life. In doing so, it offers a more nuanced understanding of how embodied practices contribute to interactional dynamics within urban Ethiopian settings.

The State of Archaeobotanical Research in Ethiopia

Alemseged Beldados — 2025-01-22

This article evaluates current knowledge on the beginning of early agriculture, the study of past environment, and past human-plant interactions. In the study, the regions of Ethiopia are geographically classified into four; North, North Central, South, and East, based on previous literature on past environment and early agriculture, and the availability of sites that bear botanical remains from archaeological sites, which were investigated employing proper archaeobotanical methods. A total of 13 sites were included in this review. The highest number of sites that provide plant remains from archaeological sites and insight into the types of cultivated crops belong to the northern part, with six sites, followed by the south (4 sites), and the least representation is the eastern part of the country with only one site. What is common in the review of the results of the archaeobotanical research in almost all the sites of the four regions is the availability of introduced Middle Eastern crops like wheat and barley starting from the Late-Holocene (ca. 1600 years BCE) to the medieval and post-medieval times (14th- 18th centuries A.D). The archaeobotanical record, until very recently, was devoid of sufficient data on indigenous C-4 crops like tef (Eragrostis tef), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and finger millet (Eleusine coracana). The uses of phytoliths and starch granules as an approach to recover microscopic plant remains from sediments and artefacts proved to be instrumental in recovering small seeded native cereals. This study observed that the agricultural economy of the southern half of the country was mainly on enset, fruits and vegetables, and geophytes (root crops), and, thus, for their identification from archaeological sites shall integrate the study of phytoliths and starch granules. It was also possible to see that there is still a lack of data to clearly outline the beginning and evolution of early agriculture and portray human-environment interactions in almost all the regions. Furthermore, phytolith, anthracological and palynological studies are far from being topics of specialized research in the country.

A History of Addis Ababa University’s Faculty of Education from Inception to 1974

Teferi Mekonnen Bekele — 2025-01-22

This paper attempts at reconstructing the history of the Faculty of Education of Addis Ababa University until 1974. It records the development of the faculty since its inception in careful detail, with due attention to major events, organizational adjustments, and educational reforms that marked its path. The analysis explores how the Faculty of Education adapted to Ethiopia’s changing social and political landscape, illustrating its crucial role in influencing the nation’s educational system. Key contributions of the faculty to teacher training, curriculum development, and educational policy form a core component of this study. It also reviews the various phases of development, challenges faced in the initial years, strategies adopted to overcome them, and how these moves impacted the greater schema of education. It develops a comprehensive account of how internal and external challenges were responded to by the faculty through the examination of archival documents and primary sources, and how such reactions shaped its evolving role. The narrative also highlights the interplay between the Faculty’s development and broader historical trends, such as political shifts, educational reforms, and societal changes. This contextualization underscores how the Faculty’s efforts were intertwined with national developments and global educational movements. The study not only offers a detailed historical account but also provides valuable insights into the institution’s successes and struggles, offering a foundation for understanding its subsequent evolution. This comprehensive exploration aims to contribute to a deeper appreciation of the Faculty of Education’s formative years and its lasting impact on Ethiopia’s educational landscape.

The Myth of the Culturally and Ethnically Neutral State: How Should the Ethiopian State Respond to the Ethnic and Cultural Differences of its Citizens?

Getahun Dana — 2025-01-22

This paper addresses the challenge of organizing the public sphere in the multi-national society of Ethiopia. The author argues that since human beings are encumbered selves, the governing structure of the public sphere should be responsive to these encumbrances and should be informed by people's identities and notions of truth. In Ethiopia, there is a general agreement among academics that the state should not disregard cultural and linguistic identities. However, there is no consensus on how to respond to ethnic concerns. Some argue that federalism based on geographic convenience can sustain the various identities of citizens without compromising other concerns and demands. Others contend that institutionalizing ethnicity is necessary to address the inherent right to self-government of various nations and ethnic groups. In this paper, it is intended to show that there are compelling reasons to maintain the federation that institutionalizes ethnicity. This is because ethnic identities and cultures are important components of citizens' encumbered selves, and as such, such identities should inform the governing structure of the public sphere. The paper uses both secondary and primary sources of data, including unstructured interviews and discussions with key informants. It highlights the importance of acknowledging and accommodating the cultural and ethnic identities of citizens while also considering other concerns and demands. The study recommends further investigations into the merits and demerits of the territorial design of federation, as this is a complex issue that requires careful consideration. Overall, this paper contributes to the ongoing debate on how multinational societies should organize their public sphere. It emphasizes the importance of recognizing and accommodating the cultural and identity attachments of citizens, which are integral components of their personhood. The study recommends that policymakers consider these factors when designing the governing structure of the public sphere in order to ensure that it is responsive to the needs and concerns of all citizens.

Matters of Muslim Menus, Meals and Manners: Foreign Foods and Formation and Alteration of Argobba Alimentation

Abbebe Kifleyesus — 2025-01-22

Muslim Argobba alimentation and culinary customs are anchored by the social aspects of menus, meals and manners, and by the composition of ingredients and preparation and processing methods, and commensality and boundary relationships. They also reflect variation in food preferences and their formation and alteration due to contact with foreign foods coming both from within and outside Argobba escarpment habitats. Muslim Argobba cooking and cuisine thus requires no temporal guidance because grain and legume foods, for example, result from complicated and fragile fermentations, involve delicate preparations and must be made at specific times of the year if they are to succeed. However, the Muslim Argobba do not limit themselves to a formal calendar because they combine climatic and seasonal conditions, and all indigenous knowledge into an annual plan of agricultural tasks. Thus, food products that will keep for longer and shorter periods of time figure significantly and local meal patterns make time for indigenous culinary contexts and also respond to hegemonic pressures pilling from Argobba involvement in trade and wage labour in towns. This article examines the cultural assumptions and social practices through which these food identities are constructed and how in turn they inform the production, distribution, preparation and consumption of foods. It looks at household practices by comparing towns and rural settings because the structure of Argobba household time related to food habits depends above all on the length and combination of the undertakings. It explores how the scale and scope of the current condition of Argobba alimentation is in the process of erosion and alteration due to contact with neighbouring Amhara, Oroomo and Afar foodways, caused by the introduction of foreign foods and seemingly by the reorientation of trade trails and modern markets and marts related to changing commercial currents, and entrepreneurial and wage labour engagements in north-eastern Šäwa and south-eastern Wällo.

Converb in Dizin

Bizualem Amlak — 2025-01-22

This paper describes converbs in Dizin, one of the least linguistically studied Omotic languages in the southwest part of Ethiopia. Its objective is describing and documenting converbs that appear in the language. The study follows a qualitative research approach. The data were collected using elicitation from key informants and from natural texts recorded in Maji district in 2022. The findings show that Dizin has three types of converb: general converb marked by covert suffix-∅, same-subject anterior converb –tej and different-subject anterior converb-n. The study also shows that converb clauses occur preceding the matrix clause, which accords with s-o-v languages. The study further shows that general converbs in Dizin express adverbial modification for manner, or as causal reading, and as narrative for clause-chaining, while the different-subject anterior converb and same-subject anterior converbs express events which take place one after the other. Furthermore, the study shows that some converbs become lexicalized into agent nouns and adverbs.

Usage and Purpose of Footnotes in Adam Reta’s Prose Fictions: “Etemete Lomishita” and Afe

Anteneh Aweke Ewnewtu — 2025-01-22

This study examines the usage and purpose of footnotes in two Amharic fictional works by Adam Reta, entitled “Etemete Lomishita” and Afe., a novella and a novel, respectively. The texts have been selected based on purposive sampling. They were thoroughly read and analyzed using various conceptual frameworks: Genette’s ‘paratext’ (2001), Maloney’s ‘fictional footnotes’ (2005), Modir and others’ ‘hypertext’ (2014), and Allan’s ‘intertextuality’ (2000). The findings show that Adam deviated from conventional narratology practices in using fictional footnotes. The conventional thinking is that the editor is outside the fictional world; however, in Adam’s fiction, the editor employs various techniques, such as footnotes, to communicate with the readers. The character-narrator is also involved in writing footnotes. These have resulted in twisting the storyline and making the reading non-linear. The fictional footnotes draw the attention of the reader to focus on minor issues. The use of the footnotes has created an unusual reading order of fiction. In general, it has been found that the footnotes were used not as descriptions external to the story but rather as basic parts of the story having thematic, structural, and aesthetic contributions. Differences have been observed in the employment of fictional footnotes in the two texts. In “Etemete Lomishita” there are clear indications that the editor has written some of the footnotes, whereas in Afe, the application of the fictional footnotes is complex. It could be concluded that in both novels, Adam has integrated traditional and postmodern fictional narrative techniques and created a ‘traditional-new style’ in writing the stories.

An Analysis of the Birth Rite of the Argobba Ethnic Group

Mohammad Ali — 2025-01-22

This study has the main objective of analyzing the performance of the birth rite of the Argobba ethnic group. Secondary and primary data were collected to achieve the objective of the study. Secondary data was obtained by reading earlier written sources, and fieldwork was conducted to obtain primary data. The methods of field data collection are observation, interview, and focus group discussion, and informants were selected by purposive and snowball sampling methods. The collected data were analyzed using an ethnographic research model from a qualitative data analysis method. According to the findings of the study, the performance of the Argobba birth rite can be divided into three stages. In the performance, oral traditions (prayers, Zəkiroč, supplications, expressions of good wishes), material culture (traditional food and drink, clothing, birthing materials, placenta burial material), and social custom (beliefs, Ziyarawoč, traditional medicine, naming, hairstyles, getting smocked Azəgaro and Wäyəba smokes) folklores have been found. Verbal (words of prayer), material (porridge), and action (putting fingers around a plate, raising a plate, washing a calabash and putting it on a bed, holding coffee and keeping it on a pan) symbols and their interpretations are presented. The rite has social, psychological, and justification benefits. It would be good if modern medical institutions could adjust their delivery rooms according to the tradition if the district health office conducts a study to determine whether or not pregnant food habits are depriving the pregnant of the nutrients they should be getting and if there are any health risks caused by certain performances (e.g., shaking, belly rubs) in terms of health.

Analysis of the Gudo Kesoo Folk Belief Performance in the Sheko Ethnic Group

Girum Areda — 2025-01-22

The purpose of this study was to analyze the performance of Gudo Kesoo Folk Belief in the Sheko ethnic group. To achieve this purpose, the following research questions were posited and answered in the process of this study. What is the process in performing Gudo Kesoo folk belief? Why do the people perform it? What kind of symbols do the texts, materials, and actions presented on Gudo Kesoo's performance have? What are the benefits of performing Gudo Kesoo, and what are the adverse influences of not performing Gudo Kesoo? These research questions were raised and answered in the study. The study employed a qualitative research approach. To collect data, three data-gathering tools, namely observation, interview, and focus group discussion, were utilized. Performance and symbolism theories were used to interpret the data collected from the field. The study followed a descriptive data analysis method to analyze the performance of the folk belief and the processes of the events in the performance. The folk belief of Gudo Kesoo is a ritual ceremony offered to the Creator (Yerochi) on a high mountain. It has been found out that the Shekacho nation celebrates the Gudo Keso ritual ceremony with the belief that it keeps the local peace, health, and safety, and it has a good relationship with the Creator. They also perform the ritual so that the social and cultural lifestyle will not be ruined, the grain and the money will be blessed, the sky and the earth will be reconciled, the animals will grow, the milk and new products will become abundant, and the ecosystem will be protected.