Somali Oral Poetry and the Failed She-Camel Nation State: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Deelley Poetry Debate (1979–1980)

Description

Somali Oral Poetry and the Failed She-Camel Nation State: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Deelley Poetry Debate (1979–1980) examines the most expressive medium in Somali culture and politics, that is, oral poetry, in its ideological and discursive dimension. Oral poetry has a formidable impact on Somali society and its internal dynamics. Somali Oral Poetry is the first critical discourse analysis of the connection between oral poetry and politics in Somalia. The book brings out contradictions and conflicts between the ways of thinking of a society structured in clans and a rightful claim for nationhood and the state of law. In addition, it highlights the difficulty the society finds in renouncing clan mentality that requires loyalty to the clan rather than to the State. The present volume illuminates, through the critical analysis of the Deelley poetry debate, the circumstances and issues that preceded the civil war in Somalia. Therefore, the book is of particular interest for its original explanation and understanding of the extraordinary subsequent failure of the State in Somalia. Cover Table of Contents Preface Introduction Part One Chapter One: The Historical, Political and Social Context of Somali Oral Poetry Clan and political dynamics in a historical perspective The foundation of Somali pastoralist oral poetry The language of poetry: ideology and politics in language Hegemonic nomadic pastoralist poetry and the consequences of the politics of the language The contradiction between clan system culture and the discourse of national identity Tribalization and re-tribalization of the Somali politics. A colonial imprint? Clan ideology and its concept of state Military takeover of power and the subsequent policies of economic and social transformation The land question and the further marginalization of the agriculturalists Concomitant crises which have distraught the regime in Somalia Chapter Two: Poetry and Politics: The Immediate Content of The Deelley Poetry Debate Re-emergence of clan rivalries in Somali politics The call and the organization for the poetry debate The leading figures of the Deelley Poetry debate Chapter Three: The Choice of The Method Descriptive overview of the analysis of the Deelley Polytext Analytical strategies Part Two Chapter Four: Analyses of Individual Poems Gaarriye, “No Refuge is offered by Tribalism” Hadraawi, “Unfulfilled” Idaajaa, “The Veils of Ignorance” Chapter Five: Metaphors Damal (The Damal-Tree Metaphor) AWR (The Male Camel Metaphor) Digo hoos ka nool (The Smouldering Dung Metaphor) Part Three Chapter Six: Maandeeq: The She-Camel Nation-State Chapter Seven: Tribalism and The Tribal System The debate about tribalism and the tribal system Conclusive remarks on the debate on tribalism Chapter Eight: Summing Up The use of poetry as a medium of representation of the society Hegemony works from the start. The conceived society and the opacity of ideology The silence over agriculture and the absence of poets from the agriculturalist southern population The discourse of the Deelley The confirmation of ‘internal colonialism’ and the patrimonial concept of State in Somali culture Injustice as a fundamental question Freedom of expression and ideological censorship Language as the locus of ideology Ideologies in the discourse of Deelley The poets’ critique against the regime Bibliography