This book explores the influence of oral poetry on Somali politics. By reconstructing the history of the Somali nationalist resistance movement, mainly through the use of political oratory in verse form by its leader, Sayyid Mahammad 'Abdille Hasan',...
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This book explores the influence of oral poetry on Somali politics. By reconstructing the history of the Somali nationalist resistance movement, mainly through the use of political oratory in verse form by its leader, Sayyid Mahammad 'Abdille Hasan', the 'Mad Mullah' of British history, Said Samater shows how an indigenous resource can be harnessed in a non-literate society, not only as a medium of mass communication but also as a tool for acquiring political power. He traces the intimate correlation between language, politics and oral poetry and seeks to suggest to students of African societies ways of examining indigenous forms of communication used by traditional African creators of large-scale organisations in the absence of writing, to influence public opinion. The book is an important contribution to the history of the Horn of Africa and its new material on the role of oral literature in a non-literate society will interest linguists, sociologists and anthropologists, as well as students of folklore and comparative literature
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Part 1. Elements of Somali pastoral oratory: Prose -- 1. The cultural milieu -- 2. The camel: Mother of men -- 3. The role of the pony in camel raiding -- 4. Formal speeches and the godob institution of cumulative grievances -- 5. Oratory and formal assemblies -- 6. Oratory and conflict resolution: The Daaqato-Beerato feud of 1962-3 -- 7. Analysis -- Part 2. Elements of Somali pastoral oratory: Poetry -- 1. Message -- 2. Alliteration -- 3. Poetic eloquence -- 4. Meter -- 5. Composition, transmission and dissemination -- 6. Diatribe, provocation and curse in Somali classical verse -- 7. Techniques of persuasion in Somali traditional verse -- Part 3. Occupation and resistance: The rise of the Somali Dervishes -- 1. The emergence of militant brotherhood -- 2. The making of an African resister: Sayyid Maḥammad ʻAbdille Ḥasan -- 3. The flight to the Ogaadeen -- 4. The inconclusive expeditions (1901-4) -- 5. The Tree-of-Bad-Counsel revolt -- 6. Taleeḥ and after (1910-20) -- Part 4. Poetic oratory and the Dervish movement -- 1. Maḥammad ʻAbdille Ḥasan: The political orator -- 2. Characteristics of the Sayyid's oral verse -- 3. The composer of oral epistles -- 4. The singer of polemics: Diatribe, curse and exhortation -- 5. Poetry as a tool in the long struggle -- Part 5. Myth and the Mullah -- 1. The changing images of the Mullah -- 2. The master polemicist -- 3. The mystic warrior -- 4. Sayyid Maḥammad's legacy: An appraisal
