what is Djiboutian literature?
The literary history of this small country is closely connected with the general Somali context, with its typical genres of poetry, such as the epic form of gabay, transmitted by specialized reciters (hafidayaal). It should also be connected to specific ethnic groups that inhabit the country, such as the Afars and their battle songs and the traditional prestige of the warrior-poets. The same could be said about all kinds of Islamic writings; they belong to a larger cultural context.
The specificity of the local, Djiboutian legacy is connected to the consistent history of this territory as an independent state and its trading activities. The Macrobians from the Horn of Africa are mentioned by Herodotus. Also, the relations with Arabia developed early, and the trading centre of Zeila was among the first to embrace Islam. From the beginning of the 10th century to 1285, the Kingdom of Adal continued the tradition of wealthy independence on the coast of the Indian Ocean, between the Afars and the Somalis. In 1285, the local Walashma dynasty took the power to create Ifat Sultanate; in 1415, its successor state was Adal Sultanate. It left behind a body of chronicles, such as Futuh Al-Habash by Shihāb al-Dīn, related to the period of expansion and conquest of Christian Ethiopia (1529-1543) under the leadership of Imam Ahmad, nicknamed "Gurey" or "Gran" ("the Left-hander").
From 1577 to 1867, the territory made part of the Ottoman Empire; the times toward the end of that epoch were marked by the expedition of Muhammad Ali Pasha, who wished to control Yemen, the Gulf of Tadjoura, and the cities of Harar and Zeila. But the times were already those of European colonialism; the British were well established in Aden, and the Djiboutian territory was occupied by the French as soon as the Egyptians departed.
A curious element in this early colonial history is the Russian origin of the fort of Sagallo; it is an isolated trace of an attempt at colonization that never came true, organized by a private adventurer rather than state.
Be that as it may, the French rule consolidated in 1883 to end as late as 1977, even if Djibouti was initially important only as a coaling station for the ships navigating through the Suez Canal, an alternative to the British Aden right across the strait. The importance of the port of Djibouti grew with the creation of the Imperial Ethiopian Railway to replace the traditional caravan trail leading to Zeila. And this is also how Djibouti got its Francophone literature, with just one internationally visible writer, Abdourahman A. Waberi, the author of Balbala (1998), a novel criticizing the chaos and oppression of the postcolonial Djiboutian life.
The specificity of the local, Djiboutian legacy is connected to the consistent history of this territory as an independent state and its trading activities. The Macrobians from the Horn of Africa are mentioned by Herodotus. Also, the relations with Arabia developed early, and the trading centre of Zeila was among the first to embrace Islam. From the beginning of the 10th century to 1285, the Kingdom of Adal continued the tradition of wealthy independence on the coast of the Indian Ocean, between the Afars and the Somalis. In 1285, the local Walashma dynasty took the power to create Ifat Sultanate; in 1415, its successor state was Adal Sultanate. It left behind a body of chronicles, such as Futuh Al-Habash by Shihāb al-Dīn, related to the period of expansion and conquest of Christian Ethiopia (1529-1543) under the leadership of Imam Ahmad, nicknamed "Gurey" or "Gran" ("the Left-hander").
From 1577 to 1867, the territory made part of the Ottoman Empire; the times toward the end of that epoch were marked by the expedition of Muhammad Ali Pasha, who wished to control Yemen, the Gulf of Tadjoura, and the cities of Harar and Zeila. But the times were already those of European colonialism; the British were well established in Aden, and the Djiboutian territory was occupied by the French as soon as the Egyptians departed.
A curious element in this early colonial history is the Russian origin of the fort of Sagallo; it is an isolated trace of an attempt at colonization that never came true, organized by a private adventurer rather than state.
Be that as it may, the French rule consolidated in 1883 to end as late as 1977, even if Djibouti was initially important only as a coaling station for the ships navigating through the Suez Canal, an alternative to the British Aden right across the strait. The importance of the port of Djibouti grew with the creation of the Imperial Ethiopian Railway to replace the traditional caravan trail leading to Zeila. And this is also how Djibouti got its Francophone literature, with just one internationally visible writer, Abdourahman A. Waberi, the author of Balbala (1998), a novel criticizing the chaos and oppression of the postcolonial Djiboutian life.
I have readAbdourahman A. Waberi, Balbala (1998)
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I have written... nothing ...
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