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JOURNAL of

Historical and European Studies

Could Poetry Define Nationhood? The Case of Somali Oral Poetry and the Nation
Ali M. Ahad In this paper I will try to explore relationships of causality and determination between the discursive practices of Somali oral poetry and the national identity formation process within a clan- structured Somali society. Somalia as imagined community Somali society has an important characteristic, which is its common language, and this allows it to be configured as an imagined community in Benedict Andersons terms, that is a community whose members share attributes and common cultural habits and traditions. Dialect variations exist1 between different parts of Somalia but these do not diminish the validity of that image of a community unified by language and belief. This image of unity in Somalia could appear paradoxical if we consider the present day clan-dominated situation where Somali society goes back to its fragmented reality prior to the beginning of the 20th century colonial experience. In earlier times, harsh environment and social fragmentation, which are characteristics related to the economic and social life of the nomadic Somali pastoralists, impeded the development of any form of unifying stable political organization. In the absence of such an institution none of the orthographies invented by Somalis were adopted for the writing of the Somali language because each clan feared the cultural predominance of the other to which the inventor of the orthography belonged. The Somali language in fact did not exist in written form until recently (1972). Although the Somali has been a written language since 1972, orality continues to prevail in Somali culture, particularly in poetry. During the almost two decades between 1972 and 1991, written language and oral literature continued to develop in parallel. Political instability, including civil war, then impeded the wide circulation of both literacy and written literature. Somali culture thus remains fundamentally oral and poetry still represents the medium for artistic representation of Somali culture. Somali oral poetry and its characteristics Oral poetry is the most prestigious Somali literary form.2 The supremacy of oral poetry over any other artistic form or expressive medium in Somali culture is probably due to practical considerations. Oral compositions in alliterative verse lend themselves best to memorization and to further transmission and cultural diffusion. Oral poetry recitation is performed by the author himself or by another performer who has memorized the poem by heart. The particular tune of voice and rhythm with which the poem is recited also helps its memorization and successive recitation by heart. The same persons who have memorized it spread the poem by mouth over Somali territories. There are poems and songs known in every part of Somalia, which were transmitted by mouth and are familiar to many people. Somali oral poetry is also a historical discourse that transmits utterances from one generation to another.

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JOURNAL of
Historical and European Studies

In Somali oral poetry there are features which the poet is bound to observe. These are alliteration and rhythmic pattern, which distinguishes poetry from prose. Another shaping characteristic is the genre, of which there are several. The different genres of Somali oral poetry are distinguished by criteria of quantitative patterns, which only recently have been studied and defined by Somali scholars. Whichever the genre of a Somali oral poem, alliteration is compulsory. That is the initial letter and its sound determines the alliteration of the entire poem. That means that every line must contain at least one word beginning with the first alliterative sound. The poet is talented both in creativity and in the use of Somali language. He is a living dictionary and master crafts person of new terms that become part of the language once employed in a poem which is also a treasury and repository of the Somali language.The power to create poems and the capacity to give existence to something previously non-existent, and to name things, makes the poet an object of popular admiration. Characteristics of Somali oral poetry are that it is: thematic, contextual, message bearing, allusive, metaphoric, figurative, and double-meaning. These characteristics are related to the role of poetry itself within the Somali society in general and to the particular position of the poet who gives voice and represents his group as well as expressing his own feelings.The frequent use of figures of speech and words with shades of meaning, which demand to be interpreted, gives the Somali poet a specialist role. Many different devices and plots are implied in the creation of a Somali oral poem such as the use of expressive images drawn from the nomadic pastoralists daily life, as well as metaphorical expressions related to nomadic life and the camel. As the culture is mainly based on oral communication, the use of these devices and plots in poetry is part of a vocabulary-conservation strategy that maintains unchanged a certain way of life. Rules and codes of behaviour, for example, related to gender and values are transmitted through oral poetry. Somali oral poetry, therefore, is thus profoundly conservative. Discursive formation Somali oral poetry is not only a form of artistic expression concerned with lyricism and beauty but is also an instrument that conveys political issues and influences opinion within Somali society. Somali oral poetry as a particular medium of communication that influences opinions and comments on the current situation in order to modify or restore it, is a discourse3 with its particular criteria of discursive formation. The discursive formation, or the set of rules that specify the poetic discourse, works in such a way that contributes enormously to the formulation of a Somali national identity which is exclusively based on camel culture. The most important pattern in Somali oral poetry is the one-sided creativity or hal-abuur which means sowing-she-camel. That is, perpetuating the traditional pastoral way of life. The versatile nomadic pastoralist mind projects through this pattern the imaginary and the object of its poetic creativity that is the camel into the mainstream of Somali oral poetry. So deep is this process that a she-camel symbolizes the concepts of Somali nation and sovereignty. The set of conventions associated with the social institution of the clan in nomadic pastoralist Somalia constitutes the orders of discourse for oral poetry. Orders of discourse are ideologically shaped by power relations within the society according to Fairclough.4 The hal-abuur pattern of Somali oral poetry regards as its main object the camel; with a camel oriented discourse oral poetry establishes a particular discursive formation; relations between individuals and identity run through the ideological meaning of oral poetry. The content of Somali oral poetry, which is the camel, produces beliefs and myths that are partly ideological and which are important in the power relationship within the wider society. Sometimes mythical and sometimes other social constructs, genealogies are the most visible aspect of the ideological framework within which Somali individuals acquire their identity and placement in Somali society and through which every person defines his/her relationship with each other.

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Historical and European Studies

The particular discursive formation of Somali oral poetry defines the social relationships between the nomadic pastoralists, who are camel breeders and herders, and those who are not. The content of Somali oral poetry (the camel) and the social relationships (in terms of power) established through the particular discursive formation of Somali oral poetry, construct a human subjectivity and define its identity. This social situation where identity is linked and produced by the particular orders of discourse of oral poetry becomes so evident at a moment of celebration of the newly independent Somalias sovereignty. Abdullahi Suldaan Timacadde is the poet who composed the poem, which was called Maandeeq that is the she-camel which satisfies the mind through her milk. This powerful imaginary of a she-camel which through her milk nourishes and satisfies the mind of everyone is without doubt the highest and conclusive point in the process of Somali identity formulation. This coincides with the emergence of a nationalistic tradition, which amalgamates two previous well distinct identities, defined by different occupations. In other words, the domain of a discourse emanating from the predominant pastoralist clan institution and system sees the maturing of the Somali identity, which is a product of Somali oral poetry. Discourse as practices that systematically form the object of which they speak.5 The poem Maandeeq, the she-camel, is part of these practices. The poem being broadcast by the national Radio strongly contributed to an extensive diffusion of what could be termed the camel concept of state, because the camels name Maandeeq does not symbolize only the nation, but also the state. The Somali nation-state in these verses is a she-camel: Gumaysigu hashuu naga dhaceen /gurayey raadkeeda guyaal iyo guyaal badan hashii /gamaa noo diiddey goobtay istaagtaba hashaan /joognay garabkeeda guuraa habeennimo hashaan /gebi walboow jiidhnay gaashaandhiggeedii hashuu /galowgu eedaamay hashii geeddankeedii rag badan /goodku ku casheeyey hashii labada gaal ee is-barkani /geydh u diriraysey gacmaa lagu muquunshaye xornimo /noogumay garane garre iyo guntane maalintay /gees isugu booddey Allaa noo gargaaraye markuu /shicibku guuleystey geeraarradeedii hashaan /annigu googooyey galool iyo maraa iyo hashaan /kidiga geylaanshey gaajiyo harraad badan hashaan /ugu garaacaynay goortuu sidkeedii goeey /galabtii foolqaaday iyada oo candhada giijisoo /godol ku sii deysay garaad midan lahayn bay la tahay /waad ka gaagixine annagoo gantaalaha dhaciyo /haysan qori gaaban hashaan gaadda-weynow libaax /uga gabboon waayney

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Historical and European Studies

Inaan goroyacawl uga tagaa /waa hal soo gudhaye.

The poem of the she-camel Maandeeq could be translated in this way: The she-camel carried off from us by colonialism whose tracks Ive kept following The she-camel on account of which, for so many, springtime sleep has escaped The she-camel we clung to wherever she was The she-camel for whom we sleepwalked over every obstacle The she-camel whose protection is the night owls wailing call The she-camel whose rearguard poison-snake struck death The she-camel whose possession the two foreign accomplices contended Clasped was freedom by force, it wasnt bestowed on us Grown men and youths on the day they leagued together When God helped us and victory was the peoples The she-camel whose victory chant I composed and sang The she-camel for whom I spread out thorny fronds of acacia and maraa-tree The she-camel for whose sake we bore hunger and such thirst When her time came at the noonday of the birth pangs Her udders full ready to suckle Only the man of un-wisdom holds her lactation can be stopped When we had no missiles, nor automatics The she-camel to defend whom from the lion we dared not back away Leaving her to the ostrich is something that will not happen!

Continuity of the discursive formation In recent times (1980s), more than one leading oral poet has stressed the fact that Somali oral literature (oral poetry, in particular) exists by reason of the camel.Verses describing this condition sound like: Suugaanta waa deeq Dalka waxay ku joogtaa Maandeeq dusheedoo

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Dareen bay ku tirisaa6 *** Poetry is a gift And is in the fatherland By reason of Maandeeq Whose feelings it expresses7 *** In other words, the Somali state is conceived as a milking she-camel. In the tradition of Somali pastoralists, camels are common property for which theft and raids are not considered illegal. From the beginning of its independence as a sovereign state, in most Somali oral poems the core concept links the state to this symbolic she-camel of which everyone could claim possession by force. The implication of such a vision is politically disastrous and, when it is added to the fragmented Somali social structure derived from the pastoralists clan system, it produces a form of anarchic behaviour both for individuals and groups. The use in Somali oral poetry of figurative language, which implies camel and camel related objects, has in the long run produced social reality that is symbolized by the camel. In other words this means that Somali oral poetry is the poetry of the camel. This is a sufficiently clear discursive formation which establishes the space of Somali oral poetry. In the setting of this discourse formation a determinant role was played by those who are considered today the most important among non-Somali scholars of Somali oral poetry, who accepted and reproduced this imposition of the space of Somali oral poetry.That happened because their informants ideologically supported the discursive formation which they themselves had established. Deelleey poetry debate (1979-1980) and its context of situation After the Ogaden war of 1977 between Somalia and Ethiopia, and after a military coup dtat in 1978, the Somali internal situation deteriorated politically and opposition groups emerged. One of the earlier militant groups also used oral propaganda via radio in its fight against the weakened military regime of Barre in Somalia. As in the best tradition of Somali political conflict, an important part of propaganda against the regime was played by oral poetry.The Hurgumo poetry-chain, which has tribal and clan characteristics, quickly spread across the country. The re-emergence of clan loyalty inside the institutional apparatus, and an openly clan-based politics outside, shook the nationalistic character of the regime, which was indicated by the opposition groups as a totally dominated by clan oligarchy. In the quagmire of political and social dissatisfaction determined by the poetry propaganda of the opposition, the regime looked for support among the poets. One interesting Somali oral poetry debate, the Deelleey, took place from December 1979 to April 1980, and involved the participation of some fifty leading poets.The Deelleey oral poetry debate was sponsored by the government and commissioned by the Somali Academy of Arts and Science.The governmental sponsorship of the debate granted free expression for the poets and potentially everyone had the opportunity to participate in safety, despite the censorship regime in force at the time. The aim of that debate as conceived by its proponents was to rekindle nationalism and national values versus clan ideology and kinship. The Deelleey poetic debate was coordinated by one of the modern Somali poets, the scholar who discovered the metrics of Somali poetry. Although most of the poets who participated in

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the debate knew how to read and write, their poems were in oral form and were tape-recorded. The fixed rules were that every poet must alliterate his/her poem in D and must produce the poem in jiifto or maanso genre. The opening poem produced by the moderator himself is a strong attack on the clan system which the poet associates with every evil disposition and disagreeable savagery that produces murder and determines the under-development of Somalia. He also indicates the clan system as a legacy of colonialism exploited by Somali political leaders and uneducated people holding high positions in government.A Somali poem always rouses the interest of the listeners and attracts criticism as well as praise, both expressed often in poetry form. Leading poets who were famous because of their current membership of the state departments of broadcasting and theatre and many other less known but equally skilful oral poets participated in the Deelleey poetry debate with their own poems, responding to the call. Although the participants were numerous, only forty nine were included in the time-frame conceded by the Somali authority and the regime of censorship in force. And within this number only one woman was included, all the other being men. The poetry debate proceeded for about four months and touched upon a large spectrum of themes within which clan and nation occupy the first place. Within the Deelleey poetry debate, the two contradicting concepts of clan and nation were discussed in verse by each participant in such a way that the development of the poetic debate became itself an unprecedented political criticism of government. The Deelleey is a highly structured poetry debate through which poets tacitly operate within a set of basic conventions. In a sense the poetry debate is like a game and often participants mention the rules of Somali chess when they introduce arguments and make their moves as the dialogue proceeds. Although most of the poets are urbanized and, in some cases, highly educated figures holding important positions within institutions, the mannerisms and figurative expressions they use in their poems are inscribed within the space of the above-mentioned discursive formation of Somali oral poetry. Most often the settings of the poems are represented by the nomadic and pastoral reality of Somalia. The field, the tenor and the mode of discourse are all related to the social context of nomadic pastoralist Somalia. What is important to understand in this poetic discourse is the nature of the message. According to Marshall McLuhan, it is the case to say that the medium is the message8. Beyond arguments and criticism, the poem is a highly satisfying linguistic competition and for the poets a demonstration of their rare ability in the use of Somali language.The particular dialect variations of the Somali language which poets adopt as medium, together with the life style of those nomadic populations who speak it, are the message. Considering all that has been said, the following questions arise: Does the social practice of Somali oral poetry produce subjectivity or define identity? Could the social practice of Somali oral poetry constitute a useful element in the explanation of power relationships within the Somali social and political system? Do the orders of discourse or the set of rules established by pastoralist Somali oral poetry exclude any other discourse but that related to camel? For example, the sedentary agriculturalist population in southern Somalia seems not to hold an adequate position in the system of representation of national identity. Do the verbal performances of Somali agriculturalists oral poetry present an aesthetic discursive formation which is antagonistic to the established hal-abuur or sowing of the she-camel? Which methodology could be adequate to assess and give answers to those questions?

Endnotes

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1 Cfr. David Laitin, Politics, Language, and Thought (Chicago and London, University of Chicago Press, 1977): 23-24. 2 B. W. Andrzejewsky and I. M. Lewis, Somali Poetry, An Introduction (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1964). 3 Discourse is defined as: every utterance [with] the intention of influencing the other in some way. Antony Easthope, Poetry as Discourse, (London, Methuen, 1983): 41. 4 Norman Fairclough, Language and Power (London, Longman, 1989): 28-31. 5 M. Foucault, The Archaeology of Knowledge, (London, Routledge, 2005): 54. 6 Yusuf Adan Hussein, Dood Qaran, 14/01/1980, in Deelleey. Another variant of translation is: Poetry is given Fatherland-born By Maandeeq Whose feelings it expresses. 7 Translations are mine. 8 Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media (London, Sphere Books, 1967): 15-30.

Bibliography Andrzejewski, I M Lewis and B W. Somali Poetry. An Introduction. Edited by Oxford Library of African Literature: Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1964. Easthope, Antony. Poetry as Discourse. Edited by Terence Hawkes, New Accents. London: Methuen, 1983. Fariclough, Norman. Language and Power. Edited by Candlin Christopher N., Language in Social Life. London: Longman, 1989. Foucault, Michel. The Archelogy of Knowlidge.Translated by A. M. Sheridan Smith. Routledge Classics, 2002 ed. London: Routledge, 2002. Laitin, David D. Politics, Language, and Thought. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1977. McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media. London: Sphere Books Ltd, 1969 (1967, 1968).

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