The historical transformation of a folklore genre: The 'Geerarsa' as a national literature of the Oromo in the context of Amhara colonization in Ethiopia

This research examines geerarsa 'folksong' in an historical perspective. Geerarsa has undergone a historical transformation and yet remained the medium of artistic verbal expression firmly based in Oromo social life. It consists of life experience stories sung and recited in a call-and-response manner.;Colonization in Ethiopia has had a major influence on Oromo cultural, political and economic life. The most undesirable influence of the colonization on the Oromo is the imposition of Amhara language and culture carried out by the nafxanya 'armed settlers.'.;The original and primary purpose of the dissertation is to analyze the relationship between geerarsa and Oromo cultural identity both before and after colonization. The essay provides the ethnographic and performance contexts for the geerarsa. Fieldwork in Ethiopia and among the Oromo in the diaspora coupled with extensive library and archival research has enabled me to argue for geerarsa as the national literature of the Oromo people.;The dissertation also addresses other issues related to geerarsa as verbal art. The geerarsa poetics in performance describes the structure of Oromo verbal and musical communication. The performance goals of the geerarsa singer exhibits the Oromo as a people aspiring for freedom while resisting colonial and cultural domination. The Oromo political system, Gada and related traditional values are described in geerarsa. These values are deeply engraved in the ritual and festival Gada celebrations known as Butta. Oromo national identity is revived and maintained through geerarsa's adaptation to change during and after colonization.;The approach used in the project is performance-centered. This approach focusses on the singing of geerarsa as performance wherein the Oromo and their lore are integrated. The social base of geerarsa is manifest in its relationship and its use by the singer and audience in their communicative interaction. The approach also serves to better identify the Oromo the way they see themselves as a culturally distinct nation than the way others see them. Geerarsa describes the Oromo nation and its history before, during and after the Amhara/Ethiopian colonization in the late nineteenth century.