In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Northeast African Studies 6.3 (1999) 59-73



[Access article in PDF]

Afewerq Yohannis and Debbebe Seyfu:
Notes on Ethiopian Writers of the Late Twentieth Century

Reidulf K. Molvaer
Frogner, Oslo

[Figures]

Introduction

The twentieth century saw the beginning of fictional writing in Ethiopia. After a hesitant beginning, the market became, in a modest way considering the demand of Ethiopia's reading public, almost flooded by the second half of the century. Many of the authors who then appeared will remain important as long as Ethiopian literature continues to be read; others have made more ephemeral contributions. For my part, I have no notion who Ethiopia's greatest author is, although I believe Be'alu Girma is among the greatest, as are Haddïs Alemayyehu, Seggayé Gebre-Medhin, and perhaps also Birhanu Zerïhun. On the whole, the hunt for the greatest Ethiopian author is both futile and misleading. I shall not attempt to judge the two authors I write about below; still, they are worthy of notice, and both have their adherents and are loved by many readers. I knew Debbebe Seyfu fairly well when I wrote my book about Ethiopian writers, Black Lions, 1 and I knew Afewerq Yohannis's work very well from my earliest days in Ethiopia. I have collected some biographical notes on them after their deaths. I owe most of what I know about their lives to sources and interviews with others, as I did not interview them during their lifetimes.

When I was collecting materials for Black Lions, I had of course to make many choices on whom to include. Most choices were obvious, but in some cases I also consulted others, not least Ato Amare Mammo. He had first suggested I write such a book, a suggestion later supported by several other Ethiopians who knew the Ethiopian literary scene best of all. I decided not to include the authors I list below in Black Lions, but the two most noteworthy are featured in this article. [End Page 59] The others have a rather scanty production, but nevertheless it is worthwhile noting their contributions en passant: 1) Laqech Hiruy, who anonymously wrote a tiny booklet of advice for young people, is the first woman in Ethiopia to publish any book at all and certainly a noteworthy figure. She was ill and bedridden when Dr. Amanuél Gebre-Sillasé offered to introduce me to her. I was afraid to be intrusive, and in any case the brilliant Alem-Segged Hiruy, with both Blatténgéta Hiruy Welde-Sillasé and Ras Imru Hayle-Sillasé as grandparents, both of whom are included in Black Lions, 2 could write the story of her aunt so much better than I ever could. 2) The poet Seyfu Mettafferïya I omitted not least because he was known as a recluse. 3 3) Solomon Deréssa had left for the United States when I was interviewing members of the Ethiopian literati and was therefore out of reach at the time. While his book of poetry, Lijjinnet (Childhood), is highly regarded, he has not published much else. 4 4) Afewerq Yohannis is featured in this article because I now have sufficient materials for a biographical sketch; and 5) Debbebe Seyfu, the second author featured here, published most of his work after I had completed my research for Black Lions.

I wanted to include the most important woman writer in Ethiopia, Siniddu Gebru, in Black Lions, but she had her own ideas about how her biography should be written. I later wrote about her in an article in Northeast African Studies. 5 I also debated whether to include Afewerq Gebre-Ïyesus, but to my mind he posed a problem of where to place him in Ethiopian literature, as his only novel, Tobbïya, was written on commission and published abroad. It became well known in Ethiopia only a few years before the end of imperial days, when it was used as a textbook in Amharic classes in secondary schools. After the revolution of 1974, it was nearly forgotten in...

pdf