Abstract
This paper formulates some changes in Somali poetry composition through the transition of the Somali literature from oral to a written culture since the introduction of a writing system for the Somali language in 1972. These changes are first observed through the comparison of themes and styles of poetry used by the classic nomadic and pastoralist poets (1800-1970ies) versus the themes and styles used by the educated university graduate poets in the cities (post-1972). A second comparison is done between the first generation of educated poets (1970ies - 1990) and the current generation of young poets in the era of social media, and how these changes are observed in the literature both in terms of imaginative themes on social issues, and the introduction of new styles and structures of poetry by the contemporary poets. To understand better the comparison, the peculiarities of Somali poetry, including the alliteration and meter system, are briefly explained. In the second part, the paper explores new insights and developments in Somali lyrics writing where contemporary lyricists are experimenting with new styles of poetry writing, including the introduction of multiple alliterations and the expansion of the Somali lyrics to a rhymed style. A corpus of 21 selected songs is identified within the Somali Corpus (see www.somalicorpus.com) and analyzed focusing on the introduction of the multiple alliterations and the use of the poem's rhyme style. The songwriters have been interviewed on their views of these new developments and to fact-check with them the contents of the peoms (order of the verses in the lysics and their meaning), and some of the lyrics have been translated into English to reflect on the themes they deal with. The term <i>Tidcan</i> as a poem with more than one alliterative sound for the entire poem is coined here by using an existing Somali word with another meaning. In fact, the word <i>“tidcan”</i> means literally <i>braiding</i>: like <i>tima tidcan=braided hair</i>. The paper finally questions the impacts of these developments on music composition for the Somali song.
Highlights
Somali creative and literary production until recently remained an entirely oral art
For the purpose of this paper, we identified 21 songs written by 7 different contemporary poets, and in each song, we observed either the multiple alliterations or rhymed style properties, or in some cases the song has both properties, and we created a sub-corpus of ‘tidcan’ songs within the system
We consolidated the idea that urbanization and advancement of knowledge in science and philosophy are taking drastic changes to the place and social role of poetry in Somali society, and that new social themes are being dealt with orality
Summary
Somali creative and literary production until recently remained an entirely oral art. Traditional poetry, specially the Gabay meter, belonged exclusively to nomadic wise men, respected and looked up in the society. This time young, educated elites jumped into the field of traditional Gabay, and transformed it in a very powerful medium to shape the society’s vision. In this paper we coin the word “tidcan” as a poem (mainly song) with multiple alliteratation or with rhymed ending or structural parallelism respected for the entire poem. The core of the paper mainly examines how contemporary poets are exploring to expand the concept of alliteration, by introducing multiple alliterations in Somali poetry, and even introducing rhyme at the end of lines, a system similar to classic Arabic poetry, as well as Amharic and Oromo poetry [12]. The paper questions if this new expansion and adding rhyme have effects on the musical composition of Somali songs, and two contempory music composed are interviewed on the impact of these development on the music composition
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