Religious, political and cultural influences on the first Ethiopian playwright, Teklehawariat Teklemariam and his play Fabula: Yawreoch Commedia

Abstract

This article analyses the first African literary play written in the Amharic language (1920/21 EC) Fabulla: Yawreoch Commedia (Fable: The Comedy of Animals) and the biography of the playwright Teklehawariat Teklemariam. Since Teklehawariat Teklemariam was born in Ethiopia, but at the age of 11 left for Russia to spend 15 years of his youth being educated among the Russian aristocrats, this article sets out to reveal the socio-cultural identity of the playwright as well as what European and Ethiopian cultural elements the playwright merged to craft his new hybrid theatre form. By doing so the article examines the evolution of Ethiopian theatre and the essential elements of which it is made up. To this end we will comprehensively follow the course of the playwright's life, the dominant religious, political, and cultural views that shaped his personality, and his views and beliefs about Ethiopian and European cultures. This article contributes to a better understanding of the formation and characteristics of Ethiopian theatre as well as the Ethiopian understanding of European cultures.