Peasant Poetics and State Discourse in Ethiopia: Amharic Oral Poetry as a Response to the 1996-97 Land Redistribution Policy

Abstract

This article deals with the role and meaning of Amharic oral poetry of the peasants of East Gojjam in response to the 1996-97 rural land redistribution policy and its implementation in the Amhara National Regional State (ANRS). By focusing on how the relations between peasants, local officials, and the state were expressed in light of their social, political, and administrative context, I trace peasant responses to, and views and attitudes about, the land policy, which was carried out exclusively in the ANRS. I also outline the role of oral poetry in contemporary rural politics, in an area where the majority of the population is illiterate and where writing is not a significant medium of expression. By employing various genres of Amharic oral poetry, the peasants of Gojjam voice their impressions, grievances, protest, or support towards the state's agrarian policies, the local officials, the categorization of peasants (see below), and local conflicts. In his authoritative book, Wax and Gold , Donald Levine (1965:269) wrote that the genius of Ethiopian peasants is visible in the stories, songs, verses, proverbs, etc., that make up their rich oral literature. Within the oral tradition, a good deal of original expression and personalized commentary are found, especially in verse. In my study about contemporary politics and local administration in East Gojjam, the peasants' poems and songs comprise a wide variety of forms that differ according to subject, occasion, and context. Whenever local conflicts between peasants and officials arise, the peasants compose their