tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47386756856562153692024-03-05T21:03:33.564-08:00Negere EthiopiaNegere Ethiopiareflectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253535359241897110noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4738675685656215369.post-18726211776714976892016-03-09T21:59:00.001-08:002018-11-07T04:55:44.957-08:00Youth inspiring author in the making<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
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<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
Zewge Abate</span></span></span></span></span></span></h4>
<h4 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">
(Written back in 2006 at AAU as a graduate school project)</span></span></span></span></span></span></h4>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Ever since he was
exposed to children’s books which his father, an English teacher, encouraged
him to read, Bewketu Seyoum, 26, has been hooked on literature.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">He is short,
wide faced and often casually dressed with a messy beard. He often looks
unbalanced perhaps because of the big bag he always carries. At face value,
Bewketu does not look at all like an intellectual. His full name means something
close to “achieving a height of authority for his knowledge.”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ETbeJgwwX9WvQpYFAs1J8RnHpISXe2_uDengNdK3995bj9n8AdJmsQ8HGn1l1NEVK9enOehVq5SRDWlnol-UgTRc4xojwjIzlWARx5l-PWZR98BQQjBGbomPnQmmqqNQNcfJ_aPg39I/s1600/Bewketu.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ETbeJgwwX9WvQpYFAs1J8RnHpISXe2_uDengNdK3995bj9n8AdJmsQ8HGn1l1NEVK9enOehVq5SRDWlnol-UgTRc4xojwjIzlWARx5l-PWZR98BQQjBGbomPnQmmqqNQNcfJ_aPg39I/s1600/Bewketu.jpg" /></a></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">He was born in
Mankusa, a small village <span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">in </span>West Gojam zone <span style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">of </span>the Amhara region and went to high
school in Debre Markos.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">During his high
school years, Bewketu occasionally began to write poems. As an 11<sup>th</sup>
grader, he staged his first play entitled “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Faws</i>”
(Heal) in which he played the protagonist himself. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Faws</i> competed at a regional level to stand first and Bewketu won
the best actor’s award. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">He enjoyed the depth
of literature right from his second year schooling at Addis Ababa University
where he read psychology for his undergraduate studies. The cultural centre at
the university was a grand avenue for him to present his literary pieces for a
university audience.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">He ushered
himself more into literature through the door audience applaud opened up for
him. “Applaud helps at the preliminary phase of your engagement in literature,”
he said. “But it is immaterial when the author stands on his own feet.” </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">“All but one of
the poems I read out at the centre were written before I joined AAU”. But in
terms of learning about the tradition of Ethiopian literature, “my
participation in campus youth fellowships of orthodox Christians made a great
contribution.”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">In the meantime,
he intensified his reading on various subject matters apart from psychology
which he sees as “one narrow system by which one may explain life.” For the
writer, Bewketu believes, a claim of expertise in as many disciplines as
possible is a matter of necessity. For him, literature is beyond the limits of disciplinary
frameworks; it resides more in life and in itself.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">He has
published his two books, namely, Nuari<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">
Alba Gojowoch </i>(Uninhabited Huts)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, </i>a
collection of 57 poems, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shirfrafi
Tarikoch </i>(Bits of Stories)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, </i>another
collection of 15 short stories. He reprinted the former thrice and the latter
twice in 2000 copies at a time. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Bewketu’s short
stories and poems are characterised by clarity and brevity. Particularly with
his perfectly rhyming verses, he achieves unexpected endings with amazing twists
to the stories. As Gezahegn Getachew, a literature instructor at AAU once said:
“Bewketu’s biblical allusion in a number of his verses has given his work depth
and beauty.”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Bewketu has
noticed that he is recurrently criticised for his pessimist view of the world.
“Critiques should forward a better insight giving more focus to exploring literary
beauty than questioning the writer’s position in life,” he contends. “One’s
analysis of pessimism or optimism may show the writer’s view point; nature,
however, is neutral.”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Devoid of its
original poetic elevation, one of Bewketu’s poems may be translated as follows
to see how nature is dubbed neutral regardless of how one views it:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Never complain in the dark</span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Nor be comforted with the dawn</span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Nor look upward to beg light from the sun</span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Our sun begets no light but scorch.</span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Never say, “It has gotten
late”</span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Into the womb as the sun
sets</span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">As it loses life to the stars</span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Whereas thou cause the
eclipse</span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Of your own light within</span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">That is when it gets dark.</span></i></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">In a way,
Bewketu agrees he inspired young writers to live their potential. “I don’t
believe I have set a new style though,” he said.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">He is excited
that young writers are passionately discussing literature. Nevertheless, many
appear to conform to similar literary styles and themes. “While it is ok to
reinforce existing world views, it is still important to try novel approaches
of examining life.”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Some of his
writings make Bewketu a controversial figure because they look atheist by
content. He remembers how he received a huge condemnation particularly for one
article he wrote on a newspaper bluntly denying the existence of God.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">In a youth club
presentation, one of his friends dealt a blow for beckoning that people have a
point in becoming atheists. That initiated Bewketu to write his article “mainly
to side a free run of ideas atheists desire to try.” </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">Fikir Yilkal,
an ETV sports journalist, first met Bewketu back in1992/3 when they contested
for the regional Question and Answer Competition, which Bewketu won.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He befriended the poet at AAU and they even lived
together afterwards.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">From his
observation back in high school, Fikir believes “Bewketu would also make a good
playwright.” </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">“Ever since I
first knew him, Bewketu has been in tides of change.” Fikir knows his friend’s
religious position has changed a lot but he does not know whether he has become
an atheist.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "arial" , "sans-serif";">“Bewketu gives
due respect to friendship except that he often forgets appointments.” The
little chats he enjoys with his friends “easily trigger his inspiration to
come up with an amazing creation out of his imaginative observation,” Fikir
said.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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reflectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253535359241897110noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4738675685656215369.post-78895521500334912242011-04-21T15:43:00.000-07:002018-11-07T04:59:46.205-08:00የአበራ ለማ 'ጥሎ ማለፍ' ታሪካዊ ልቦለድ አጭር ቅኝት<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 4;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>-በዘውገ አባተ (ኦ.ዩ.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">እንደመግቢያ<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">በ411 ገጾች (አባሪ ሳይጨምር) የቀረበው “ጥሎ ማለፍ“ ታሪካዊ ልቦለድ ከደርግ የ17 ዓመታት የአገዛዝ ዘመናት የመጀመሪያዎቹን ወሳኝ 14 ዓመታትና በአመዛኙ አዲስ አበባን መቼቱ በማድረግ መጠላለፍ የበዛበትን የዘመኑን የፖለቲካ ሕይወት የሚተርክ ነው። ደራሲው በመግቢያው እንደገለጸው ታሪካዊ ልቦለዱ “ካንድ የደርግ ቋሚ ኮሚቴ አባል ከነበረ ግለሰብ ሕይወት ዙሪያ የተጠነጠነ ነው።“ (ገጽ 6) ከዚህ አልፎ ግን የታሪካዊ ልቦለዱ ማዕከል የሆነው ዳኛቸው ወረደ የዘመኑን ፖለቲካዊ ገጽታና ድባብ፥ የባለሥልጣናቱን<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ሥነ ልቡናዊ፥ አእምሯዊና ፖለቲካዊ ማንነት ይናገርበት ዘንድ ደራሲው ከምናቡ አንቅቶ የተጠቀመው ገጸ ባሕሪ ይሁን አለያም አንድ በሕይወት የነበረን የደርግ አባል ሰብእና በመውሰድ ታሪኩን የጥበብ ሥጋ አልብሶ፥ የጥበብ እስትንፋስ ይዝራበት (እውነቱ ይኸኛው ይመስላል) ተብራርቶ የተነገረን ነገር የለም። ነገር ግን ከላይ በጠቀስኳቸው በሁለቱም መንገድ ይሁን በተወሰነ ደረጃም ቢሆን ሙሉ በሙሉ የፈጠራ ውጤት በሆነ ገጸ ባህሪ በኩል ታሪካዊ ልቦለድን ማቀበል ይቻላል። ቁምነገሩ በሚነገረን ታሪክና ታሪኩ በሚወክለው ጊዜና ቦታ (መቼት) መካከል ባለው እውነተኛ ተዛምዶ ላይ ይመስለኛል።<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">መጽሃፉን እንዲያው በወፍ በረር ከሦስት የልቦለድ ዓላባውያን አኳያ ለመመልከት እሞክራለሁ። ‘‘ጥሎ ማለፍ‘‘ በቅርጽም ዳጎስ በይዘትም ሰፋ ብሎ የቀረበ ስራ እንደመሆኑ፣ መጽሃፉን በምልዓት<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ወይም በጥልቀት ለመቃኘት ጊዜውም አልነበረኝም። ድፍረቱንም አልሞክረውም። የመረጥኳቸው የመመልከቻ መነጽሮች የገጸ ባህሪ አሳሳል (ከዋናው ገጸ ባሕሪ አንጻር)፣ ታሪኩና ቋንቋው ናቸው። ከላይ በጠቀስኩት ቅደም ተከተል መሠረት እንደሚከተለው አቀርበዋለሁ።</span><br />
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 20.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ሀ. ዋናው ገጸ-ባህሪ<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">የታሪካዊ ልቦለዱ ማዕከል እንደመሆኑ መጠን ዋናውን ገጸ-ባህሪ ዳኛቸው ወረደን የምንተዋወቀው ወዲያውኑ ታሪኩ ሲጀምር ነው። በገጸ ባህሪው ገለጻ በሚጀምረው ታሪክ የዳኛቸው ዕድሜ፥ ፖለቲካዊ አቋምና ፍላጎት፥ ወታደራዊ ማእረግና ቤተሰባዊ ዳራ ጥርት ባለና ባልተንዛዛ አቀራረብ ተነግሮናል። በመጀመሪያዎቹ ጥቂት ገጾች ንባባችን ሰውዬው የዋዛ ባለሥልጣን እንዳልነበር፥ በአብዮቱ የለውጥ ሂደት ጉልህ ሚና እንደተጫወተ፥ በኋላም በደርግ አስተዳደር ኮሚቴ አባልነቱ ላይ ያፈ ደርግነት ሥልጣንም የተመረቀለት ሰው መሆኑን ስለምናውቅ መጽሃፉ ካንድ ቁልፍ የደርግ<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ሰው ታሪክነት ባሻገር በዚህ ሰው በኩል ዘመኑንና የዘመኑን የከባድ ሻምፒዮና ተጠላላፊዎች (Heavy weights) ማህበረ ፖለቲካዊ ጣጣ ፈንጣጣ እንዲያም ሲል የጊዜውን ወሳኝ ታሪካዊ ክስተቶች የምናይበት ድርሳን እንደሚሆን እንገነዘባለን። <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ዳኛቸው ወረደ ዘመኑን ራሱን ሆኖ የሚቀርብባቸው አብነቶች ጥቂት አይደሉም። እንደማስታወቂያ ሹምነቱ የሳንሱር መቀስ ነው። ባንድ ቀን ከቀረቡለት አሥራ ሁለት አገር አቀፍ ዜናዎች ውስጥ ሰባቱን ሲሰርዝም ሆነ ሌሎቹን ሲያሳልፍ ምክንያቱ ሙያዊ ሳይሆን፣ ጭፍን የደርግ ወገናዊነት ነው። ርምጃው የቀረበበት ዝርዝርና የስረዛው ሂደት የደርግን ጨካኝ ሳንሱር በመወከል የቆመ ይመስላል። በመጽሃፉ እንደተጠቀሰውም እንደ ያብዮት ዜና ማእከል ኃላፊነትቱ “በዳኛቸው ጠረጴዛ ስር የማያልፉ ጉዳዮችና ምስጢሮች አልነበሩም። (ገጽ 16) የስልጣኑ ወሳኝነትም “ዋነኛ የደርግ መረጃዎች ማእከል ሆኖ ነበር - ዳኛቸው እራሱ“ (ገጽ 17) በሚል ተቋም አከል ውክልና የተገለጸ ነው።<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">በደርጉ ላይ ያለው እምነት እንደተልባ ሥፍር ይንሸራተት በነበረው የሕዝቡ እምነት (ሕዝቡ በደርግ ላይ የነበረው እምነት ለማለት ነው) መሃል ቀጥ ብሎ የቆመ መሆኑ በአንድ በኩል ለቆመለት ዓላማ ያለውን ቁርጠኝነት፥ በሌላ በኩል እምነቱና ድርጊቶቹ ከሕዝቡ እምነትና ፍላጎት የተፋቱ መሆኑን ያመለክታል። እርግጥ ነው የሕዝቡ በሥርዓቱ ላይ እምነት ማጣት ያሳስበዋል። ሆኖም ሥርዓቱ “ነህ“ የተባለውን አለመሆኑን በተግባር በማረጋገጥ የሕዝብን ጥርጣሬ መሻር እንደሚገባው አይታየውም። ለምሳሌ “የደርግ ወታደራዊ መንግሥት የቆመለት መደብ የንኡስ ከበርቴው<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ነው። የገበሬው መደብ ትግል በተዳከመ ቁጥር ደርግ የብዙሃኑ ጠላት ይሆናል“ የሚለው የዘመኑ ትችት ቢያሳስበውም ለዚህ መፍትሄ ነው ብሎ የሚያስበው “ይህን ቅስቀሳ የሚያካሄዱ ወገኖችን ላንዴና ለመጨረሻ ጊዜ“ ማጥፋትን ነው። አለበለዚያ “ይህ ሕዝብ ከነቃብን አይመለስልንም“ ብሎ ያስባል እንጂ የሕዝቡን ገደዶች (concerns) እና ጥያቄዎች ማስተናገዱን እንደዋነኛ መፍትሄ አይወስደውም (ገጽ 136) ።<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">በዚህ ረገድ ዳኛቸው ለደርግ ያለው ታማኝነት የሚገለጸው በአብዛኛው ሥርዓቱን በየትኛውም መንገድ ሥልጣኑን እንዲቆናጠጥ ከማድረግ አንጻር እንጂ፣ ሕዝባዊ መሠረት ይኖረው ዘንድ ከመትጋት አይደለም። በመሆኑም የመለዮ ለባሹንም ሆነ የተማሪውን፥ እንዲሁም በጠቅላላው የህዝቡን ጥያቄዎች በማስታወሻው ይከትባቸዋል፣ ነገር ግን በየትኛውም መድረክ አቅርቦ ሲያወያይባቸው አይታይም። ለመንግሥት ቅርብ የመሆኑን ያህል ለሕዝቡ ባይታወር ይመስላል።<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ደርግ የቆመለት ዓላማ ሥልጣን ብቻ ነበር እስከምንል ድረስ ዳኛቸው የሚሳተፍባቸው አሰልቺ ስብሰባዎችና ሁነቶች ሁሉም ማለት ይቻላል ሥልጣንን ከአደጋ የመጠበቅ ትግልን መሠረት ያደረጉ ናቸው። በመሃል ሕዝብ በሥርዓቱ የአትኩሮት ክበብ (focal area) ውስጥ የት ጥግ እንዳለ<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ለማየት ግራ እስኪገባን ማኅበራዊ፥ ኢኮኖሚያዊና ባሕላዊ ጭብጦች በወጉ አይነሱም። <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>በደርጉ ውስጥ የተፈጠሩ የተለያዩ ቡድኖች ሴራ (conspiracy) እና የኋላ ኋላ ዳኛቸው ራሱ ሰለባ የሚሆንበት አንዱ ሌላውን ጥሎ የማለፍ ትግል የፈጠራቸው የሥጋት፥ የክፋት፥ የጭካኔና የተንኮል እንቅስቃሴዎች አስኳል ነው - ዳኛቸው። ለዚህም ይመስላል ተራኪው “ደርግ<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ማለት ዳኛቸው፥ ዳኛቸው ማለት ደርግ ነውና ለቆመለት ዓላማ ይሞታል፥ ይዋደቃል“ በማለት የገጸ ባህሪውን የዘመን ተምሳሌትነት የፈነተወው (ገጽ 36) ።<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ያም ሆኖ ዳኛቸው ወረደ ለለውጥ ፍጹም ባይታወር የሆነ ገጸ ባህሪ አይደለም። ለማወቅ ጉጉ ከመሆኑ አንጻር በሂደት እየተማረና እየተራመደ የመሄድ አዝማሚያ የሚያሳይ ሰው ነው። ሲጀምር አንዳንዴ የማመዛዘን ችሎታው ለነበረበት ደረጃና ለሚጠበቅበት ኃላፊነት የሚመጥን አይመስልም ነበር። ለምሳሌ በደርጉ ላይ ከተነሱ “አድሃሪዎች“ እጅ የወጣ በምስጢር የተሞላ ደብዳቤ ካነበበ በኋላ በኮድ ስም የተጠቀሱ የደርግ አባላትን ከእውነተኛው የደርግ አባላት ስም ዝርዝር ውስጥ ለማግኘት ሲሞክር እንታዘበዋለን። መፈለግ ብቻ አይደለም የተጠቀሱትን ስሞች ከዝርዝሩ ሲያጣ፣ “ምናባታቸው ነው የሚቃዡት! እንዲህ እንዲህ የሚባሉ የደርግ አባላት የሉም“ (ገጽ 56) ብሎ ይደመድማል እንጂ ስሞቹ የምስጢር ስሞች ሊሆኑ እንደሚችሉ ላፍታም አይታሰበውም። ይህ አሳሳል (characterization) “በእውኑ በዚያ የሕቡዕ ትግል በተስፋፋበት ዘመን አንድ ጎምቱ የደርግ ባለሥልጣን ይኸን ያህል ለትግሉ ባሕሪ እንግዳ ይሆናልን?“ የሚል የተአማኒነት ጥያቄን ሊያጭር ይችላል የሚል እምነት አለኝ። ያም ሆኖ ደራሲው የገጸ ባህሪው ግልብ ሰብእና መነሻ አድርጎ በመጠቀም አግባብነቱን ሲያጸድቀው ይታያል።<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">እዚህ ጋ ይህን ክፍል ስደመድም ለምገልጸው አንድ ጉዳይ ዋቢ እንዲሆነኝ የዳኛቸውን ሌላ ጉልህ ጠባይ ልጠቁም። ዳኛቸው የሴት ነገር አይሆንለትም። ለወሲብ ያለው ፍቅር ሌላውን ሁሉ ጉዳይ እስከማስረሳት የሚያደርስ ኃይል አለው። በዚያው ልክ ለሴቶች ያለው አክብሮት አበጀህ የሚባልለት አይደለም። ለምሳሌ አብልጦ እንደሚወዳት ከተገለጸልን ከስንዱ<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ጋር ትውውቅ ሲጀምር የነበረውን አጋጣሚ መጥቀስ እንችላለን። ስንዱ ያገር አስተዳደር ሚኒስትሩ ጸሃፊ ስትሆን ዳኛቸው የቅርብ ወዳጁ ወደሆነው ወደዚህ ሚኒስትር ቢሮ የሄደ ጊዜ ያያታል። ኮሎኔሉ ሚኒስትር ከዳኛቸው ጋር ሲያስተዋውቃት፣ ዳኛቸው፣ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“እንተዋወቅ... ስምሽ ማነው?“ አለና ከእግር እስከራሷ እያስተዋላት ባይኖቹ ሰለቀጣት። <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“ስንዱ...“ አለች።<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“አለቃ ካመሰገነ ሠራተኛውን ይሰስታል እንድሚባለው ካልሆነ ጥሩ ነው“ አለ።<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“በፍጹም በፍጹም!... ልትሾማት አሰብክ ወይስ...“ አለና ሊናገር የፈለገውን ገታ አድርጎ፣ አብሮት ሳቀ (ገጽ 34) ።<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ይህን የሚባባሉት ስንዱ አጠገባቸው እያለች ነው። በመሃላቸው በመሆኗ እንኳ የሚገባትን ክብር አልሰጧትም። <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ዳኛቸው “ላንተ ካልፈለካት እኔ ልወዳጃት“ ሲልና ኮሎኔሉም “ከፈለካት እነሆ...“ ብሎ ቀድሞውኑ እንዳቀደው ሲመርቅለት በመሃል ሴቷን ልጅ እንደፍትወት ጥማት ማርኪያ (sexual object) እንጂ በራሷ እጣ ላይ የመወሰን መብት ሊኖራት እንደሚገባ እኩል ሰብዓዊ ፍጡር አያይዋትም። (ለነገሩ ስንዱም ብትሆን ለራሷ ዓላማ የዳኛቸውን ወዳጅነት ትፈልገው ስለነበር ሴትነቷን ከጥቅም መሳሪያ<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ቀፎነት አሳልፋ የምታይ አልነበረችም። በራሷ መንገድ ቤተሰባዊ የሴራ ድሯን በማድራት የመጠላለፉን ሌላኛ ገጽታ የምትመራ ገጸ ባሕሪ ናት።) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ከስንዱም ሆነ ከሌሎቹ ሴቶች ጋር ዓላማው “እንደውኃ ጥም“ ሊረካቸው ከመፈለግ የዘለለ ሆኖ አንዳች የአፍቃሪ ቁምነገር ሲሠራ አይታም። ሴትን ልጅ እንደሸቀጥ የማየት ባህሪም ይታይበታል። ለምሳሌ የምድር ባቡር አገልግሎት እንደገና መጀመሩን የሚያበስር ዜና በቴሌቪዥን ሲመለከት፣ በምናቡ የሚጓጓዘው ሸቀጥና ኮተት በዓይነ ሕሊናው ሲታየው፣ “ጫቱ፥ ፍራፍሬው፥ ቡናው፥ እህሉ፥ በጉ፥ ፍየሉ፥ ሰንጋው፥ ሴቱና ሌላ ሌላውም“ እየታሰበው ነው (ገጽ 43) ። የሚገርመው ደግሞ ሐረርና ጅቡቲ ድረስ በምናቡ ዘልቆ ነገረ-ሴት የሚከሰትለት ስንዱ ለአዳሯ ወደእሱው ቤት እየመጣች በነበረችበትና እሱም በጉጉት እየጠበቃት በነበረበት ምሽት ነው። <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“ጥሎ ማለፍ“ን ከታሪካዊ ይዘቱ በተጨማሪ እስከወዲያኛው በስሜት እንድናነበው ከሚያደርጉን ጉዳዮች አንዱ የዳኛቸው ሰብእና የለውጥ ሂደትና የሕይወት ገጠመኙ ይመስለኛል። ሲጀመር ከየትኛውም የደርግ አባል ለይተን የምናይበት ባህሪ አልነበረውም። ወዲያው ግን መልአከ ሞትን ከመጥራት ውጭ ሌላ መልክ ከማያሳዩ ጽንፈኛ የደርግ አባላት አንጻር ዳኛቸው የሚያሳየውን የተለሳለሰና ያስታራቂነት አቋሙን ስንመለከት ሙሉ በሙሉ አስተዋይነት የራቀው አለመሆኑን እንገነዘባለን። በአንዳንድ ጉዳዮች ላይ የሚያሳያቸው የተሻሉ ግንዛቤዎቹና አቋሞቹ<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>በመጠላለፍ ታሪኩ የሚወጠርን ሕሊና ፋታ የመስጠትና ስሜትን የማለዘብ ሚና <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ያላቸው በመሆኑ፣ የኋላ ሕይወቱን ድቀት (tragedy) ከጭፍን ደርጋዊ ሰብእናው አንጻር ብቻ ሳይሆን፣ በሂደት ከተማራቸውና ከተገነዘባቸው ሕዝባዊና ፖለቲካዊ እውነታዎች አኳያም እንመለከተዋለን። <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">በተጨማሪም ዘመንና የሕይወት</span><span lang="IS" style="font-family: "ethiopia jiret"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ተመክሮ ከማይለውጣቸው ድድር ወደረኞቹ አኳያ እየመዘንን እንድናዝንለት እንጂ „የዋጋውን አገኘ“ በሚል የበቀል አረዳድ (vindication) ፍርዳችንን እንድንሰጥ የደራሲው “መሐሪ“ ብዕር የፈቀደ አይመስልም። አልፎ አልፎ ያልጠበቅነውን ሰብዓዊነት በዳኛቸው ውስጥ እናያለን። ለምሳሌ ከጓድ መንግሥቱ ጋር ሆነው በአንድ የኢሕአፓ አመራር አባል ላይ ምርመራ ሲያካሄዱ ምርመራው ለሚካሂድበት “የጠላት ወገን“ ሀዘኔታ ያሳያል። የተመርማሪውንም የአቋም ጽናት በልቡ ያደንቃል። ይህ አድናቆቱ ራሱ ዳኛቸው ባረገዘችው ጓደኛውና በሱ የወደፊት ሕይወት ላይ እንኳ አቋም ለመውሰድ ከተቸገረበት ሁኔታ ጋር አብሮ መቅረቡም አንዳች ምጸታዊ ፋይዳ ያለው ሆኖ አግኝቼዋለሁ።<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ዳኛቸው ወረደ የሚያልፍበት የለውጥ ሂደት የደርግን መስመር የሚያስከዳ ዓይነት አይደለም። ሆኖም በተለይ ከውጭ አገር ትምህርቱ በኋላ ሥርዓቱ የጥርጣሬ ዐይኑን ያሳርፍበታል። የትምህርቱን ፍሬ አይደለም<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>የመጠሪያ ማዕረጉንም የሚቀበል ደንብ አይኖርም። በተወሰነ ደረጃ በግርማቸው ተክለ ሃዋርያት “አርአያ“ ታሪካዊ ልቦለድ ውስጥ ዋናው ገጸ</span><span lang="IS" style="font-family: "ethiopia jiret"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ባህሪ አርአያ የገጠመውን ዓይነት የማያላውስ የሥራ አካባቢ (ግን ደሞ የባሰ) ሲገጥመው እናያለን። ነገር ግን ዳኛቸውም ቢሆን ባንዳች ተዓምር መሳይ ውሳኔ በሁለት ዓመት ጥናት የተመረቀለትን ዱክትርናና ከዚያውም ጋር ተያይዞ ሊያገኝ ይናፍቅ የነበረውን ሥልጣን አልፎ የእውቀቱንና የገጠመኙን ትሩፋት ለወሳኝ ማኅበረ-ፖለቲካዊ ለውጥ የማዋል ቀናኢነት አይታይበትም።<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">እንዲህ እንዲህ እያለ የሚዘልቀውና በውጣ ውረድ የተሞላው የዳኛቸው ወረደ ሕይወት ሰውዬው አጥብቆ ይወዳቸው የነበሩትን ሁለት ነገሮች በመጥላት ምጸት (irony) ይደመደማል - ደርግንና ሴትን ልጅ አምርሮ ይጠላል። <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ደርግን እንዳምላኩ ያይ ያልነበረውን ያህል ለውዴታው እውቀታዊና እውናዊ መሠረት ያጣለታል። እንደዚያው የፍትወትን ጥማት ከማርካት ውጭ ፍቅር፥ ክብርና መናበብ (understanding) ያልነበረው የሴት ልጅ እይታው ከፖለቲካ ህይወቱ ትይዩ ሌላ ጥሎ የማለፍ ቤተሰባዊ ትብትብ ውስጥ አስገብቶት ያርፈዋል። በመከያው መውጫ መግቢያ ያጣች ነፍሱን እያነበብን የተሻልን ከሆንን የምናዝንለት፣ የሱ ብጤ ከሆንም የምንማርበት (ልቡ ካለን) ብኩን ገጸ-ሰብ ሆኖ ያልፋል - ዳኛቸው ወረደ። <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ለ. ታሪክ (STORY)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">በገጸ ባሕሪ ዳሰሳዬ ላይ በተወሰነ መልኩ ስላቀረብኩት<span style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif";"> ታ</span>ሪኩ</span> ላይ ብዙ ጊዜ አልወስድም። በርዕሱ ላይ እንደተመለከተው ሁሉ፣ ታሪኩ ጥሎ የማለፍ ታሪክ ነው። ሰርክ መጠላለፍ፥ መፈራራት፥ መገዳደል ወዘተ... የሞላበት፥ አንዱ የደርግ አባል ወይም ቡድን ለሌላው የማይተኛበት፥ ኃላፊ የበታች ሠራተኞቹን የማያምንበት (በተለይ በመንግሥት ሚዲያ አካባቢ ያለውን ሁኔታ<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>በሚዘግበው ታሪክ በኩል እንደምንመለከተው) ወዘተ... አንዱ አንጃ ወይም የፖለቲካ ፓርቲ ሌላውን በልቶ ለመደንደን የሚታትርበት፥ የሚመሳጠርበትና የሚያሴርበት ታሪክ ነው። እንደኔ እይታ የልቦለዱ ታሪካዊ ይዘት በግሩም መንገድ ከመሰነዱ ባለፈ፣ በጊዜው ኖረን ላየነውም ሆነ በንባብ ለምናውቀው ለዚያን ዘመን መልክ ቅርብ ነው። የተለየ ይዘት የለውም፣ እንዲኖረውም አይጠበቅበትም - ታሪክ ነውና።<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">የታሪኩ ይዘት በወቅቱ በተጻራሪነት የቆሙ የፖለቲካ ኃይሎችን አቋም ያስተዋውቃል። እነዚህን ቡድኖች በጥቅሉ በሦስት ቡድኖች ከፍሎ ዓላማቸውን ይገልጻል። በዚሁ መሠረት አንደኛው ወገን “ሕዝቡ የሥልጣን ባለቤት መሆን አለበት... ደርግ የሠራተኛውን መደብ ከሥልጣን ባለቤትነት ፈንቅሏል“ ብሎ ያምን ነበር። ሁለተኛው ወገን በበኩሉ ሠራተኛው ስላልነቃ፣ ስላልበቃና ስላልተደራጀ ሥልጣኑን ለመያዝ አይችልም ብሎ የሚያምን ስለነበር ከደርግ ጋር የታክቲክ ግንኙነት ማድረግ ያስፈልጋል የሚል ነው። ሦስተኛው ደርግን እንደሠራተኛው መደብ የሚቀበልና ከሥርዓቱ<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ጋር የመርህ ትብብር ያደረገ ያም ሆኖ የማይተማመንና አንዱ ሌላውን ጥሎ ለመውጣት የሚሠራ ነው (ገጽ 36/37) ።<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ከዚህ የትግል መስመር ልዩነትና የሥልጣን ፍቅር የሚመነጨው የመጠላለፍ ታሪክ ያንባቢን ሕሊና ሰቅዞ የመያዝ ጉልበት አለው። በተለይም በራሱ በደርጉ ውስጥ ባሉ የተለያዩ ቡድኖች መካከል ያለው ፍትጊያ ፋታ በሚነሳ ሁኔታ የቀረበ በመሆኑ አእምሮን አስጨንቆ የትዝብት እይታን የሚያሰላ ነው።<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">እንደታሪክነቱ በእውን የሆኑና የተከሰቱ ጉዳዮችን ይዘግባል። የወዛደር ሊግ በአብዮታዊ ሰደድ ውስጥ ሰርጎ ገብቶ ኢማሌድህን ለብቻው ለመቆጣጠር</span><span lang="IS" style="font-family: "ethiopia jiret"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ሲሠራ ደርሰንበታል፣ ዶ/ር ሠናይ ልኬ አብዮታዊ ሰደድን የወዛደር ሊግ ወታደራዊ ክንፍ ለማድረግ ሠርቷል፣ ተከታዮቹም የሱኑ ዓላማ ሲያራምዱ ተገኝተዋል፥ ወዘተ... የሚሉት እነጓድ ሊቀመንበር የቅጣት ሠይፋቸውን ይመዛሉ። የወዝ ሊግ አባላት በየስብሰባው ይብጠለጠላሉ፥ይዋከባሉ፥ ይታሠራሉ፥ ይገደላሉ። ከነሱም አልፎ ለደርጉ ያላቸው ታማኝነት ጥያቄ ውስጥ የማይገባው የዳኛቸው ወረደ ዓይነቶቹ ጭምር በልጠው እንዳይታዩ ይኮረኮማሉ፥ መቀጣጫም ይሆናሉ። ሾኬ መመታታቱ፥ እስሩና ግድያው የዘመኑ የየእለት ገጠመኝ እንደመሆኑ ፖለቲካው ፍርሃት፥ ሥጋት፥ ጥርጣሬና ክህደት የበዛበት ነው። አቀራረቡም ይህ ጽልመታዊ ድባብ አንባቢን እንዲጫነው የሚያደርግ ነው።<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">እንደልቦለድነቱ (ታሪካዊ መሆኑ ሳይረሳ) ደግሞ ደራሲው በግሩም የምናብ አድማሱ የታላላቆቹን ተዋንያን የርስበርስ ግንኙነት፥ የስሜት ተራክቦና ልውውጥ በሚጥም ቋንቋና ድራማዊ አቀራረብ ከስቷቸዋል። እንደታሪኩ ባለቤቶች ደግሞ በርትቶ ለማመሳከር ጥረት ላደርገ ልቦለዳዊ ስሞቹን ከእውናዊ ማንነታቸው ጋር አገናኝቶ ያውቃቸዋል። በጥሬው የታሪክ ይዘት ዘገባው ብቻ እንዳንሰላች (የልቦለድ ባህሪም ነውና) በፈጠራቸው እውነት አከል አውዶችና ትእይንቶች አማካይነት የዘመኑን መንፈስ በልቦለዱ ሁለንተናና በታሪኩ ወርድና ቁመት (framework) ልክ አሳምሮ ቀምብቦታል ወይም ሰፍቶታል ማለት የሚቻል ይመስለኛል። የዚያኑ ያህል ባለንበት ዘመን ያለው ያገራችን ፖለቲካ ከዚህ የጥሎ ማለፍ አባዜ የተላቀቀ እንዳልሆነ የምንገነዘብባቸው አጋጣሚዎች ጥቂት አይደሉም። ከዚያ በተረፈ በግሌ ከዚህ በፊት “ነበር“ በሚል ርእስ የደርጉን የውስጥ ጣጣ በዘገበ መጽሃፍ ውስጥ ጓድ መንግሥቱ የቀረቡበት መንገድ ቀደም ሲል ስለሰውዬው የነበረኝን የርቀት ግንዛቤ ጥያቄ ውስጥ አስገብቶት ነበር። “ጥሎ ማለፍ“ ታሪካዊ ልቦለድም እንዲሁ ከብሄራዊ ስሜታቸውና<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ጭካኔያቸው ባሻገር የሰውዬውን ፖለቲካዊ ብልጣብልጥነት በድጋሚ እንድረዳው ያደረገ መጽሃፍ ነው። በተለይም በዙሪያቸው የከበቧቸውን ሰዎች የርስ በርስ ግንኙነት ጥርጣሬ የተሞላበት በማድረግ ወደራሳቸው የተቃጣን የትኩረት አቅጣጫ አስቀይረው ራሳቸውን ነጻ የማውጣትና ሥልጣናቸውን የመጠበቁን ብልሃት የተካኑ እንደነበሩ ለመታዘብ አስችሎኛል።<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ዳኛቸው ወረደ ዘብጥያ ከወረደበት ከደርጉ ጽ/ቤት ትንሽ ክፍል ውስጥ ሆኖ የንባብ አድማሱን እያሰፋ በሄደበትና ከራሱ ጋር መነጋገር በጀመረበት ሂደት ውስጥ የደርግ የፖለቲካ አካሄድን መለስ ብሎ በተረጋጋ መንፈስ ለማየት ይሞክራል። ሁኔታው ለዳኛቸው የደርጉን ዓለም በእውቀት ላይ ተመስርቶ የሚያይበት እንደመሆኑ የአፍላጦንን (Plato) የዋሻ ትምህርት (parable of the cave) ተምሳሌት ያስታውሰኛል። በዚሁ ሁኔታው ውስጥ ሆኖ በሚያደርገው ሕሊናዊ ጉዞ ራሱንና ሥርአቱን<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>መለስ ብሎ የማየት እድል ያገኛል። በሱ ያስተሳሰብ ለውጥ በኩል የደርግ መሠረታዊ ችግሮችና ሕጸጾችም የታሪኩን ይዘት ያጎለምሳሉ። ከዚህ ዋሻ በሚነጠቅልን ትምህርትም ደርግ ስልጣንን ለማጽናት<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>በራሱ ላይ ሳይቀር ተደጋጋሚ ኩዴታ እያካሄደ የሌተናል ኮሎኔል መንግሥቱ ጎራ የወሰዳቸው ግብታዊ ርምጃዎች፥ ድብቅ አካሄዶችና ያስከተሏቸው ጥፋቶች ይተነተናሉ። ዘመኑን ተመልሶ ለማየትና ለመማር የፈለጉ ሁሉ ብዙ ቁምነገሮችን ያገኙበታል - ከታሪካዊ ልቦለዱ።<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ሐ. ቋንቋ<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ስለቋንቋው ብዙ ማለት የሚቻለው ጥልቅ ምርምር ማድረግ ሲቻል በመሆኑና በዚህ ረገድ በቂ ጊዜ አግኝቼ ለማጥናት ስላልቻልኩ ጠቅለል ያለ እይታዬን ነው የማቀርበው። “ጥሎ ማለፍ“ የቀረበበት ቋንቋ ቀላልና ታሪኩን በፍጥነት ይዞ የመ</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="IS" style="color: black; font-family: "nyala"; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">ጓ</span></span><span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ዝ ብቃትን የተላበሰ ነው። ለዚህ ፈጣን የታሪክ ጉዞ ጉልህ አስተዋጽኦ ካደረጉት ነገሮች ውስጥ ደራሲው ታሪኩን ለማቅረብ የመረጣቸው አጫጭር አረፍተ ነገሮች ዋነኞቹ ይመስሉኛል። በአንድ ቃል ሳይቀር የተሠሩ ተደጋጋሚ<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>አረፍተ ነገሮችን እናገኛለን። ለአብነት ያህል አንድ ሁለት አንቀጾችን እንመልከት....<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="color: #8db3e2; font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="IS" style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ኢትዮጵያ ተወጥራለች። በውስጥ በውጭ እንደላስቲክ እየተሳበች ትለቀቃለች። በየከተማው በየገጠሩ ተስቦ የተለቀቀው ውጥረት ያገኘውን ይጠብሳል። ያገኘውን ያሳርራል። ከደጅ ደጅ፥ ከቤት ቤት፥ ከቢሮ ቢሮ፥ ከከተማ ከተማ... እያንዳንዱን ሰው ያነፈንፋል። ሽብር፥ ፍርሃት፥ሞት የሁሉም የቅርብ አስታዋሽ ሆኗል። በዚህ ሁሉ ትርምስ ውስጥ ሥልጣኑን የያዘው የጊዜያዊው ወታደራዊ መንግስት ይንጠራሞታል። በብዙ ጥበብ ከእጅ የገባው ሥልጣን፥ እንዳያፈተልክ ቆቅ ሆኖ ይጠብቃል። በሥልጣኑ የመጣ ባይኑ ብቻ የመጣ አልነበረም፣ መተኪያ በሌላት በእያንዳንዱ የደርግ አባል የግል ሕይወቱ ጭምር እንጂ... </span></i><span lang="IS" style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">(ገጽ 22)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ይህ አንቀጽ በበርካታ አጫጭር አረፍተ ነገሮች ዝርዘራ የተሞላ አጭር አንቀጽ ነው - ግን ብዙ ነገር ማለት የቻለ። የአገሪቱን መልክ ይገልጻል፣ ሕዝቡ ያለበትን አስጨናቂ ሁኔታም እንዲሁ...<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>በዚያው ልክ ደርግ የሚገኝበትን ፈታኝ ጊዜና አቋሙን ጥርት አድርጎ የሚያሳይ ነው። በአጫጭር አረፍተ ነገሮች ብዙ ነገር ማለትና ታሪኩን በፍጥነት ማራመድ የአበራ ለማ የተመረጠ ዘዬ (style) ሆኖ አግኝቼዋለሁ። <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ሌላ አንድ ምሳሌ ላክል...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="IS" style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ወዲያው ደሞ አንድ ሌላ ሃሳብ መጣበት። ‘ምናለ ባገባትስ? ብትወልድስ?... ስንዱ ውብ ልጅ ነች። ቆንጆ ነች። ባል ከፈለገች አማርጣ ማግባት የምትችል ነች። ያረገዘችልኝ ብትወደኝ እንጂ ለሌላ አይመስለኝም...‘ እያለ መልሶ ለራሱ ይፈግጋል። እራሱን በእድለኛነቱ ያግባባል፥ ያጽናናል። ወዲያው ደሞ በሌላ ሃሳብ ይጠለፋል። ‘ግንኮ ስለማንነቷ ምንም የማውቀው ነገር የለኝም። እንዳጠናት እድል አልሰጠችኝም። በጣም ፈጠነችብኝ። ካረገዘች መጋባታችን ነው... ከተጋባን በትዳር ዓለም ልንዘልቅ ነው። ግን ግን ምን ያህል ተዋውቀናል? የነቶሎ ቶሎ ቤት... ዓይነት ቢሆንስ?...‘ እያለ በሃሳብ ጢሎሽ ውስጥ ሽቅብ ቁልቁል ተናጠ </span></i><span lang="IS" style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">(ገጽ 150)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> ።<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ይህ እንግዲህ አንድ በሃሳብ “ሽቅብ ቁልቁል“ የሚናጥ ሰው ወደ ውስጡ የሚያደርገውን ሃሳባዊ የጉዞ ውጣ ውረድ (dilemma) ለመከሰት ደራሲው በብቃት የተጠቀመበት በአንድ ቃል ሳይቀር የተሠሩ አጫጭር አረፍተ ነገሮች ሰንሰለት ነው። የሃሳብ ሰንሰለቱ ገጸ ባህሪው የሚገኝበትን ሕሊናዊ መጨናነቅ አንባቢውም እንዲሰማው የማድረግ ኃይል ያለው ነው። <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ከዚህ በተረፈ ቋንቋው በዘይቤም ያሸበረቀ ነው። ጥቂት ምሳሌዎችን ብቻ ልጥቀስ። የጓድ መንግሥቱን የማእርግ ልብስ አለባበስ እንደሚከተለው ይገልጸዋል።<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="IS" style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">የእለቱ አለባበሳቸው ሙሉ ቅጠልያ ወታደራዊ ዩኒፎርም ካኪ ነው። የሌተናል ኮሎኔል ማዕርጋቸው ኮከብ ከወርቅ እንጂ ከሌላ የብረት ዘር የተሠራ አይመስልም - ሲያብረቀርቅ። ከተሰብሳቢዎቹ መካከል ያንን ልብ የሚል የለም። ባይሆን ከቀዩ የማርሻልነት ማዕርግ ምልክታቸው ላይ እንጂ፥ ዓይኖቻቸው የሚያርፉት።</span></i><span lang="IS" style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> (ገጽ 82)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">እንደወርቅ የሚንቆጠቆጠውን የማዕረግ ምልክት አፍዝዞ ቀዩን የማርሻልነት ማዕረግ ያጎላው ያለፋይዳ አይመስለኝም። የደም ሃብታም የሆነውን የሰውዬውን አመራርና ሥርዓት እንዲሁም ሁኔታው የሚፈጥረውን የፍርሃትና የሽብር መንፈስ ለማንጸባረቅ እንጂ።<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ደራሲው ማለፊያ የውበት አገላለጽ ችሎታም አለው። ውበትን መግለጽ ብቻ አይደለም፣ ውበቱ በተመልካች ዘንድ የሚፈጥረውን ስሜትም በጥሩ መንገድ ይገልጸዋል። ለምሳሌ የሚከተለውን እንመልከት...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="IS" style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ዳኛቸው ላንዳፍታ ስንዱን በውስጡ አገላብጦ አሻሻት። ጠይም ነች። ቁመትዋ መለስ ብሎ፥ ቀጥ ያለ አቋም ያላት። የሰውነቷ ውፍረት መካከለኛና ስትራመድ የዓይን ወለምታን የምትጋብዝ... ዞማ ጸጉሯ ባጭሩ ተቆርጦ፣ ከወደ ግምባሯ መለስ በማለቱ፣ ጥርት ካሉት የጎሉ ዐይኖቿ ጋር ሲስተዋል መስተፋቅርን የሚሠራ... በዚህም እኔ ነኝ የሚል የወንድ ኮስታራን ቀልብ የምትገፍ። ከፊቷ ላይ ፈገግታ እንዳይለያት ሲሉ ጥርሶቿ እንደታማኝ ሞግዚቶች የሚያገለግሏት የሃያ አምስት ዓመት ወጣት ነች። ከሱሪ ይልቅ ቀሚስን ስለምታዘወትር የባቷ የተስተካከለ ቅርጽ ሌላው ውበቷን የሚያጎላላት መስህቧ ነው</span></i><span lang="IS" style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> ( ገጽ 32/3)<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">።</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ገለጻው የልጅቷን ውበት ቁልጭ አድርጎ ከማሣየት አልፎ በተመልካቹ ላይ የሚፈጥረውን የመጎምዠት ስሜት ይከስተው ዘንድ ሲጀምር ዳኛቸውን፣ <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #548dd4;">“...በውስጡ አገላብጦ አሻሻት“</span></i> ብሎ ሃሳባዊ የፍትወት ተግባር ውስጥ ይከተዋል። እንዲያም ሲል ያን ውበት እያየን የሚፈጠርብንን የመደናገጥ ስሜት፣ <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #548dd4;">“...ስትራመድ<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>የዓይን ወለምታን የምትጋብዝ...“</span> </i>በሚል ስሜት ብቻ ሳይሆን ድርጊት ከሳች በሆነ<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ውብ ቋንቋ ያሳየናል። ወዲያውም የወለምታን ስሜትና ቃሉን እራሱን በልማድ ከቆረበባቸው ምላስና ጉልበት አፋትቶ ለአፍታም ቢሆን ከዐይን ጋር ያጋባዋል። ሁላችንም ያይን ወለምታ ምን እንደሚመስል ለመረዳት በየራሳችን ላይ ሙከራ እንድናደርግ ያስጋብዛል።<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ከዚህ ጋር ተያይዞ የወሲብ ስሜት ትዕይንት አቀራረቡ ማራኪነት በአብዛኛው ተግባሩ ከሚገለጽበት ቋንቋና ተዋንያኑ ካሉበት የስሜት ግላጼ (expression) እንጂ አሁን አሁን ባገራችን በሚጻፉ መጻህፍትና ሌሎች የጥበብ ውጤቶች ውስጥ እንደምንታዘበው ወሲብን በደረቁ አግጥጦ ከማቅረብ ተግባር የሚመነጭ አይደለም። ከዚህ አንጻር ደራሲው በደራሲነት እየታወቀ ለመጣበት የሥነ ስሁፍ ዘመን ታማኝነቱን ያሳየ ይመስለኛል። ለምሳሌ ስንዱ ዳኛቸው ዘንድ ላዳሯ በመጣችበት አንድ ምሽት ወደ ትዕይንቱ<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ከመግባቷ በፊት በምታደርገው የተረጋጋ ጉዞ (መታጠቢያ ቤት ውስጥ መቆየት፥ ልብሶቿን ተረጋግታ ማውለቅ ወዘተ...) እና በዳኛቸው ስግብግብነትና ትዕግሥት ማጣት (መቁነጥነጥ፥ ኋላም በስንዱ እርጋታ መሃል ድንገት የውስጥ ልብሷን “መዥርጦ“ ማውለቅ፣ ወዘተ...) መካከል ሆነን በጥሩ ቋንቋ ተከሽኖ የቀረበውን ድሪያና ወሲብ ሳይቆረቁረን እንድንታደመው ያደርጋል። የዳኛቸው ስግብግብነትና ጥማት <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #548dd4;">“የናፍቆቱን፥ ያምሮቱን፥ የጉጉቱን ያህል አፈራረቃት“ </span></i><span style="color: #548dd4;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span>በሚል አጭርና ፈጣን አረፍተ ነገር ሲገለጽ፣ ባንጻሩ የስንዱ መረጋጋት <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: #548dd4;">“ስንዱም በተራዋ ተረታች“</span></i> በሚል ሂደታዊና በስሜት የመሸነፍን ቅደም ተከተላዊ አመጣጥ በሚያሳይ ቋንቋ የቀረበ፣ የሁለቱን ስሜታዊ ልዩነትና አንድነት የሚያመለክት ነው። <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">በዚህ ክፍል መግቢያ ላይ እንደገለጽኩት፣ ስለቋንቋው ብዙ ማለት ቢቻልም፣ የበለጠ ምርምር የሚጠይቅ በመሆኑና እኔ ይህንን ማድረግ ስላልቻልኩ እዚሁ ላይ ይብቃኝ።<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">መ. ቀርነቶች<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ማንኛውም የሥነ ጽሁፍ ሥራ (ልቦለድ፥ ኢልቦለድ፥ ወይም ጥናታዊ ጽሁፍ) ጉድለቶች ይኖሩታል። ሌላው ቢቀር ለጸሃፊው በአንድ ምክንያት ትክክል የመሰለው ነገር ለአንባቢው በሌላ ምክንያት ተቃራኒ ግንዛቤን ሊፈጥር ይችላል። እንከን የመሰሉኝን የሚከተሉትን ጥቂት ነጥቦች ሳቀርብ፣ በርግጥ እንከን ለመሆናቸው ተጠቃሽ የማደርገው ሌላ ሳይሆን የመጽሃፉን ሰናይ ገጽታዎች ለመቃኘት የተጠቀምኩበትን የራሴኑ ውስን ግንዛቤ (intellect) ብቻ ነው።<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">የመጀመሪያው ነጥቤ የሊቀመንበር መንግሥቱ መልክ የተገለጸበት ወጥነት የጎደለው ቋንቋ ነው። በተለይም የፊታቸውን ገጽታ ወይም ቀለም ደራሲው አንድ ጊዜ “ጠይም“ (ገጽ 90)፥ ሌላ ጊዜ “እንደወትሮው ሁሉ በጨው የታሸ መዳፍ መስሏል“ (ገጽ 72) ሲል ይገልጻቸዋል። በርግጥ መልካቸው የስሜታቸውን ጥላ እየተከተለ የሚቀያየር ነው ብሎ መከራከር ይቻል ይሆናል። ሆኖም በተለይ ጠይምነታቸው በተገለጠበት አረፍተ ነገር ላይ “ጠይም ፊታቸው በንዴት ጉበት እንደመሰለ ነው“ ስለሚል ሌላው መልክ ከንዲህ ዓይነት ስሜት ጋር ተያይዞ መምጣታቱን የሚያሳይ ነገር ባለመኖሩ፣ የመልክ መለዋወጡ ምክንያት ግልጽ ሆኖ የቀረበ አይመስለኝም። ጠይምነትን እንደወትሮ መልካቸው አድርጎ የተገለጸበት ቋንቋም “እንደወትሮው ሁሉ<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>በጨው የታሸ መዳፍ መስሏል“ ከሚለው ሌላ ገለጻ ጋር የማይጣጣም ይመስላል።<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">አለባበሳቸውን አስመልክቶም አንድ ቦታ ላይ የለበሱት ሙሉ ቀይ ሰማያዊ ልብስ እና ቀይ ከረባት ተጠቅሶ ሰውየው “አንድ ከወደ ምዕራብ አፍሪካ ብቅ ያለ ዲፕሎማት መስለዋል“ በሚል አነፃፃሪ ዘይቤ ተገልጸዋል(ገጽ 98) ። አለባበሱ ከሌሎች አፍሪካውያን ዲፕሎማቶች በተለየ ሁኔታ በምዕራብ አፍሪካዊያኑ አቻዎቻቸው የሚዘወተር አይነት ለመሆኑ ርግጠኛ አይደለሁም።<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">በደርጉ ውስጥ ባሉ ቡድኖች <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>መካከል የሚደረጉት ስብሰባዎች ውጥረቱን ሳይቋረጥ እንድንከታተለው በተከታታይ ምዕራፎችና ንኡስ ምዕራፎች<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>መቅረቡ በጠቅላላ ጥሩ አቀራረብ ሊባል የሚችል ቢሆንም፣ የተወሰነ ፋታ በመሃል ቢኖር የአንባቢ ትእግሥት እንዳይፈተን ይረዳ ነበር የሚል አስተያየትም አለኝ። <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">በተጨማሪ አልፎ አልፎ የሚታዩ የተአማኒነት ችግሮች አሉ እላለሁ። ለምሳሌ ዳኛቸው ለቀናት ታስሮ በነበረበት ጊዜ ሚስቱ ስንዱ ቢሮ (መ/ቤት) ውስጥ ሲያንሾካሹኩ ትሰማለች ተብለው ከተገለጹት ወሬዎች በተጨማሪ ሰዎች በቀጥታ ለሷው እንደነገሯት ተደርጎ የሚቀርብልን ነገር፣ በግሌ“በውኑ ለሚስት እስር ላይ ስላለ ባሏ እንዲህ ተብሎ የነገራታል?“ የሚል ጥያቄ የሚያስነሱ ሆነው<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>አግኝቼያቸዋለሁ። በተለይም የሚከተሉትን ልብ ይሏል...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“ወይዘሮ ስንዱ፥ እጅግ የሚዘግንን ወሬ ነው የሚሰማው። ጓድ ዳኛቸው መንግሥት ለመገልበጥ ሲያሴር ተገኝቶ ተያዘ ይላሉ... አቤት ! አቤት!...“ አንድ ሸምገል ያሉ የዘበኞች አለቃ ነበሩ (ገጽ 191)።<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“ስንድዬ እኔ አፈር ልብላልሽ... ጓድ ዳኛቸው እምን ደረሰ? ጸረ አብዮተኛ ነው ተብሎ እንዲረሸን በጉባኤ ተወሰነበት ይባላል...“ አንዲት ነባር፥ የመዝግብ ቤት ሠራተኛ ነበረች (ገጽ 191)።<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ሌሎች ጥቃቅን ነገሮችን አንስቼ ላብቃ። መንግሥቱ ለማ አሉት ተብሎ የቀረበው ቀልድ አዘል ቁምነገር (ገጽ 166) መቅረቡ አስፈላጊ ቢሆን እንኳ ሁኔታው ዳኛቸው የምሩን ስለቅስቀሳ አስፈላጊነት ለአንድ ታላቅ ጉባኤ ሪፖርት በሚያቀርበብት ሁኔታ ውስጥ (በጊዜው በቅስቀሳና ፕሮፓጋንዳ አስፈላጊነት ላይ ጠንካራ አቋም ነበረው) ትዝ ብሎት ፈገግ ይላል ለማለት የሚያስቸግር ይመስለኛል። ቀልዱ ሌላ ቦታ ቢፈልግለት ኖሮ አሰኝቶኛል። የአንዳንድ ቃላት አግባብነትም ግር ይላል። ለምሳሌ “እራሱን ከራሱ እኔነት“ የሚለው ድግግሞሽ (redundancy) “ከማንነቱ“<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ከሚለው ግልጽ ቃል በምን ተለይቶ ወይም ተሽሎ ጥቅም ላይ እንደዋለ ለመረዳት አልቻልኩም። በተረፈ አልፎ አልፎ የፊደል ግድፈቶች፥ በተለይ ደግሞ በድንገት ያለምክንያት የሚለወጡ የፊደል ፎንቶች እንዲሁም ደስታ የተባለው ገ</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="IS" style="color: black; font-family: "nyala"; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">ጸ</span></span><span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> ባህሪ ደሳለኝ ተብሎ በስህተት የተጠቀሰበት ገ</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span lang="IS" style="color: black; font-family: "nyala"; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 115%;">ጽ</span></span><span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> በሁለተኛው እትም እንዲስተካከሉ ቢደረግ መልካም ነው።<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 115%;">መውጫ<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">“ጥሎ ማለፍ“ ታሪካዊ ልቦለድን በጣም በግርድፉ ከሦስት የሥነ ጽሁፍ አላባውያን፥ ማለትም ከገጸ ባህሪ አሳሳሉ፥ ከታሪኩና ከቋንቋው አንጻር ለመቃኘት ሞክሬያለሁ። የቅኝቴ ይዘት በጥቅሉ ሲታይ የመጽሃፉን ታሪካዊና ሥነ ጽሁፋዊ ፋይዳ የሚያሳይ ቢሆንም፣ ከውይይት የመነሻ ሃሳብነት የዘለለ ጥልቀትና ሙያዊ አስተዋጽአኦ ይኖረዋል ብዬ አልሟገትም። ፈርጀ ብዙ ምልከታ ሊደረግበት የሚችለውን ይህን መጽሃፍ ኃያሲያን አንበብው ብዙ ሊሉን እንደሚችሉ ግን አምናለሁ። የዘመናችን ፖለቲከኞችም በ“ጥሎ ማለፍ“ በኩል ታሪክን ብቻ ሳይሆን ራሳቸውንም ያገኙበትና ከታሪክ ምጸት ይማሩበት ዘንድ እመኛለሁ። </span><span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="IS" style="font-family: "visual geez unicode" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 9;"> </span>zewgeart@yahoo.com</span><span lang="IS" style="font-family: "ethiopia jiret"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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reflectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253535359241897110noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4738675685656215369.post-52407601685178424762010-10-22T14:03:00.000-07:002018-11-07T05:03:52.404-08:00መገናኛ ተባእት<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ስኬታማ</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ሲሆን</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ወንዱን</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ያወጡታል</span></div>
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'<span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ጠንካራ</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ሴት</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">አለች</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ከጀርባው</span>' <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ይሉታል</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ሴትም</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ደስ</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ይላታል</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ሸንጎ</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ሲቀባባት</span></div>
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'<span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ረዳት</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ነሽ</span>' <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ማለት</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ምስጢሩ</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ርቆባት</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ቆማ</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">እንደማትሄድ</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">በራሷ</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ጎዳና</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ማጀት</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">እንድትባጅ</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ጥንት</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ተፈርዷልና</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ፊት</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">መሪ</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">እንደማትሆን</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ይነግሯታል</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">አሉ</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ጋዜጠኛና</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ባል</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">እየተማማሉ</span></div>
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<o:p> </o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ፍርደ</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ገምድሉ</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">አለም</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">አያልቅም</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ምጸቱ</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ለልበ</span>-<span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ሙሉ</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ሴት</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ተዛብቶ</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">አንደበቱ</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ስኬታማ</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ስትሆን</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ሴትም</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">በፈንታዋ</span></div>
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'<span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ጠንካራ</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ወንድ</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">አለ</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">መቼም</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ከጀርባዋ</span>'</div>
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<span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ብሎ</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ይታበያል</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ወንዳወንዱ</span> <span style="font-family: "nyala"; mso-bidi-font-family: Nyala;">ሸንጎ</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> '</span><span style="font-family: "nyala"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ራሷን</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "nyala"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;">አትችልም</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;">' </span><span style="font-family: "nyala"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ከሚል</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "nyala"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;">አዘቅት</span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , "sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "nyala"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;">ሰርጎ</span></span></span></div>
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reflectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253535359241897110noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4738675685656215369.post-22544735043613929822009-12-22T13:35:00.000-08:002009-12-22T14:09:38.473-08:00አዲስ አመትየዘመን ለውጥ ፍቺ ኖሮት ፈረንጅ ሲያከብረው በድምቀት<br />አፍሪካም ያግዘው ይዙዋል ለጥፋቱ እውነት ሲዶለት<br />ዘመነኛው ምእራባዊ ካባቶቹ ባየለ ርግጫ<br />እኛን ከኛ ጋር ሲያንጫጫ<br />በማያበራልን ብርሃን<br />በሚያሳፍረን ድርሳን<br />ባሸበረን ወፍራም ልሳን<br />እናውጃለን 'ሃፒ ኒው ይር'<br />አዲስ ጥፋት አዲስ አመት<br />በአውሮጳዊው የእብደት እለት<br /><br />ሲጀመር አዲስ እቅድ<br />ሹል ትንፋሹ ሲያርበደብድ<br />ባውዛ አይደፍረው ጨለማችን ባለንበት ሲያስረግጠን<br /> ያለነፍጥ እጅ ሲያሰጠን<br /> አየሩ በደባ ሲጠን<br />ጸሃይ በምስራቅ እንዳትወጣ ተፈጥሮዋን እንድትገታ<br />በምእራብም እንዳትገባ ይልቁንም ልምዷን ትታ<br />እንድትዘልቅ ደምቃ በርታ<br />ጨረቃም ድርሽ እንዳትል በምስኪኖች የጠኔ አምባ<br />በአፍሪካዊ 'የጨዋ' ብሂል በምዕራባዊ ጭብጨባ<br />'አዲስ አመት እንኳን መጣሽ<br />ደግሞ እንዲሁ ባመት ያምጣሽ'<br />እያልን እናስቃለን<br /><br />በእርጅናችን ምርቃት መዓት<br />ስልጣኔን ዕደጊ አልናት<br />በርቀት ሆና እያየችን<br />በርቀት ሆነን እያየናት፡፡reflectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253535359241897110noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4738675685656215369.post-36974580413160254522009-12-14T13:19:00.001-08:002018-11-07T05:04:17.996-08:00Dagnachew Worku: His Motives to Write and His Contributions to Ethiopian Literature<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">By Zewge Abate (A.A.U)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="color: #000099;">N.B. This is my first article published in the Ethiopian English private weekly, The Reporter, back in 2001.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ethiopia, as a country of ancient history, has a long tradition of literature. Much of its pre-twentieth century literature is dominantly characterized by translation with a taste of originality. Moreover, Ethiopian literature took much time before dealing with the socio-politico-economic conditions that had been prevalent in the country. The country embraced Christianity during the fourth century A.D. since when Christian morality has been dominating the literary scene. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">For ages, therefore, our literature had to embark on a smooth, unbroken move. In fact, the static nature of Ethiopian literature still seems to stand out against this world of dynamism. However, the twentieth century may justifiably be said to have made a move up-ward with the coming into view of some creative writers, among them Dagnachew Worku. The change he has brought forth to the realm of the country's literature is believed to be more significant than that of many writers of his time, and perhaps his contribution still remains unprecedented.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Dagnachew Worku was born in 1944 near Debre Sina in North Shoa. Molvaer (1997) attributes Dagnachew's drive to writing his earliest poems to his mother's folk tales that he enjoyed listening to. Besides, the artist was lucky enough to have a father exposed to western influences. As a result, he was sent to school early in his life. In school, Dagnachew read the works of the then prominent writers like Kebede Mikael and Makonnen Endalkachew. With the pressure put by his mother, he also went to church school and learned Geez. He attended high school at Kotebe in Addis. Then he obtained his diploma in teaching from a teacher-training school. Dagnachew was not only a "…born a writer…" as he describes himself to Molvaer (1997'292) but he was also born so lucky that, after acquiring his B.A. from University College of Addis Ababa, he received a three-year scholarship and studied creative writing at Iowa University in the U.S.Dagnachew picked up literary courage as early as when he was thirteen by staging his own play at Debre Sina. His early publication is a play entitled "Sew alle biyye" (1966). When he was a teacher in Harar, he staged another un-published play: "Seqeqenish isat". Later, when he was a lecturer at the Addis Ababa University, he came up with a play of better techniques entitled "Tibelch" staged at the Creative Arts Centre and Haile-Selassie I Theatre in 1964. The author got more sophisticated and technically elevated with his novels "Adefres" (Amharic) and The Thirteenth Sun (English) published in 1978 and 1981 respectively. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Although Dagnachew wrote a lot more than the aforementioned ones, including, according to Teklu (1983), more than a hundred unpublished short stories, we find his name well established through his pioneer work, "Adefres" to which this piece of writing gives more emphasis.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Molvaer (1997) reports that Dagnachew called himself "a one-work author" attaching great importance to his Amharic novel - Adefres. When he was reading for his Master of Creative Arts, he minored creative photography. This seems to be the main reason why Dagnachew succeeded in giving splendid backgrounds to his descriptions and dialogues in the novel. The novel begins with a unique description of the setting in which the whole story takes place. The scenery of the setting with full of ups and downs, the complex feature of the intermingled society there, and the cultural values, etc. are well depicted through listing down of details. Immediately after such a picture a long dialogue between a symbolic landlady of intricate character and a tenant who comes to her to borrow some grain is presented. This technique of magnifying a character in the background of relevant (but unique) description is argued to be original to Dagnachew.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The description is made in a manner so that we harmoniously see the area and the people living in it. It may not be surprising here if a society with a "once-upon-a- time" sort of narrative culture finds Dagnachew's depiction difficult. Many agree, however, that the author has shown magnificent technical and stylistic excellence. By listing down the names of many kings who reigned from Ezana to Menelik II, he shows the historical significance of the setting. By listing down names of churches, he indirectly reveals that the area (Yifat) is highly Christian dominated. Through the splendid dialogues between characters behind deliberate backgrounds of class, cultural richness conflicting with corrupt change devoid of understanding established old Ethiopia; he mirrors the agony of necessary reform in the face of the revolutionary tendencies of the time. All in all, in “Adefres", Dagnachew sometimes communicates more things through new techniques than he does through words. Fekade (1990) stresses that the ideas Dagnachew communicated by way of techniques are numerous and the technique as a whole should be recorded as a new appearance to the culture of writing Amharic novel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">A closer look into the novel seems to be an essential requirement to see the background he gives to depict characters and the situation they are in. Weizero Assegash, for instance, is sort of filmed behind a background of complex scenery. By the same t<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">o</span>ken, the lovely, simply flowing conversation between Gorfu and Roman is made colorful with the beautiful sounds that cock-roaches, houseflies, frogs and bees make. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Socio-political forces also influenced Dagnachew as a writer. Most post-war (post-Italian aggression) writers of Ethiopia are said to be widely exposed to world literature. Dagnachew was not an exception in this respect. As a result, he makes significantly spirited effort and achieves, according to Fikre (1970), a long leap from 'Araya, by Girmachew T. Hawariat to Dagnachew's Adefres, and Fikre attributes a new literary trend to the latter. "Twenty-one years after the publication of Girmachew's "Araya", there appeared a writer of another generation with a novel entitled "Adefres" on the scene of Amharic literature" wrote Fikre Tolossa in his PhD dissertation. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Adefres, according to Fikre, "comes to the fore in an atmosphere of Ethiopian students, unrest." However, he argues that the heroic character, Adefres, <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">does not symb<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">o</span>lize the revos. </span></span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> adhering to Marxism,<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> t</span></span></span>he progressive students are characterized by fighting against feudalism. Adefres, on the other hand, "...is not against a monarch." <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">U</span>nlike the progressive student, "...Adefres thinks that the fact that the people of Ethiopia "love" their Emperor is a positive quality in them." (1970).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Dagnachew's description of Adefres </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">that he made in an interview with Molv<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">aer </span></span>slightly differs from Fikre’s assertion<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">. Dagnachew argues;</span> "Adefres is progressive - but he should be progressive with other people. He rationalizes too much. He is not a practical person. Rationalization is good but with limitations. He is like people we have today. The revolution [he means the 1974 revolution) tries to awaken people overnight, but that cannot be done although I wish it could be done. There was no other way (out) for Adefres than death. He was too superficial. He could not see reality around him. He speaks one language and people around him another. That is why we fail this revolution. We are like Adefres" (Molvaer,1997: 298). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br />It should be noted here that Dagnachew was highly taken up by the politics of the time. Nevertheless, he said he was not a Marxist. He tried, in his way, to suggest a reform rather than a revolution. Who knows if it would have been better that way? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Dagnachew opens his eyes wide to see social values. One of his marvelous contributions comes from his conscious and deliberate employment of proverbs, tales, legends ("gadles") and lyrical poems for their technical significance. Studies cite that proverbs are effectively used in 'Adefrs' depicting characters, tensioning conflicts and developing techniques and contents. The tales are said to be symbolic manifestations of what comes against the love affair between unequal <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">characters</span>, namely Gorfu and Siwone, The legends (gadles) tighten the conflict between forces of tradition and modernity. The lyrical poems (in the love letter of Belay to Firewa) give relief to the reader as they are read amidst a <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">b</span>oring address by a certain monk (Abba Yohannes). Symbolically. Firewa throws the letter into the water to foreshadow that their love won't be sustainable. In short, Dagnachew is believed to have developed his techniques through a conscious use of folklore. He may be regarded as the Ethiopian Chinua Achebe. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Dagnachew is also admired for his originality of language. Assefa (1981), for instance, agrees that the onomatopoetic words used in Adefres are quite original and indicate the author's creative effort in his diction. Instead of telling us in his own words about the sounds created by the cock-roaches, houseflies, frogs and bees, he makes us listen to them. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">To do all this, to describe nature, feelings, to reproduce the conversation, the author has attempted to overcome the limitations of present-day Amharic lexical resources by creating a vocabulary “original to himself in which meanings of words have been stretched, adaptations freely made of roots often into … forms unattested elsewhere” (ibid). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Let us finally wind up this piece by noticing how Dagnachew Worku emphasises society and its values in the interview mentioned earlier. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">"We have created certain values and certain society where <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">we </span>contributed. This (culture) is what makes me tick. Without this, life does not make sense to me… We are still backward and developing and we must change but what we have achieved in 3000 years cannot be replaced easily. Spiritually we have developed but not otherwise. Artistically and aesthetically we have not yet opened our eyes" (Molvaer, 1997:298).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">More on Dagnachew Worku at <a href="http://www.adefris.info/index.html">http://www.adefris.info/index.html</a></span></div>
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reflectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253535359241897110noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4738675685656215369.post-61879153078130030952009-12-11T09:07:00.000-08:002018-11-07T05:04:54.012-08:00A sung hero in the shadow<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmo3h9c5ZuaGEk5ceVcTmO9E3ErsWW3tOAwMJTWrBEjuRp8B9T0ClrrH-ALU9uMkdgY0nYkCMB8NUPiLYGzWjC0VMUGwXzBrNoj-sVVaEhGNrYuxyRMKLnr_gi75DOvhkIUpR17D7otfs/s1600-h/DSC01826.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414026645741765074" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmo3h9c5ZuaGEk5ceVcTmO9E3ErsWW3tOAwMJTWrBEjuRp8B9T0ClrrH-ALU9uMkdgY0nYkCMB8NUPiLYGzWjC0VMUGwXzBrNoj-sVVaEhGNrYuxyRMKLnr_gi75DOvhkIUpR17D7otfs/s320/DSC01826.JPG" style="cursor: hand; float: left; height: 240px; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px;" /></a>December 10 - It was not a cold evening by Norwegian winter standards, six degrees. A majority of the crowd of thousands was chanting praises for the yet unseen guy who, at this point in time, might have sensed the burden of global adoration in the face of his dimensional challenges in sharp collision with meeting expectations. Hours elapsed before he made it to the balcony of Grand Hotel, an elevation from where Nobel Prize winners greet congratulating spectators. My first experience of the occasion, I cannot compare it to previous scenes although I presume that this is perhaps the biggest gathering from all walks of life standing so long as to express support and hope for change under his leadership of the United States, a nation whose decisions and doings exert a growing bearing on other nations in the ‘globalizing’ world. A significant others represented voices of concern lamenting the way he is dealing with the plights of warfare and global climate change.<br />
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Circumstances indeed govern our sense of time that I felt I waited longer when I stood to see president Obama appear in the balcony than I sat in the library all day to finalize my assignment. The excitement finally had to come to a funny end when Obama and Michelle showed up behind a transparent door leaving most of us almost with no chance of proper view from that distance as it were. The chanting crowd still cheered with a slight sight of Obama’s waving hand or a small glimpse of Michelle’s. It was a three-minute show attended by young enthusiasts who put trust in Obama’s eloquence, senior citizens who seemed to make an historical presence in such a momentous occasion, and in fact children rising higher than us on the shoulders of their parents. Dwarfed by a mass of taller figures in front of me, I wished I had been a child on my dad’s shoulder for that moment. </div>
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It may be silly to be desperate about seeing one of the most televised faces of our time, but as an awesomely inspiring as he has been, I would say it was worth an attempt to have a gawk of Obama’s look with no colorful TV backgrounds and camera edits. </div>
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Slight collection of part of his motioning body notwithstanding, he was generally an unseen figure for me and for a lot others. Neither have his initiatives for peace and harmonious global environment been concrete as he collects the world’s greatest prize for his ideal embracement of these immense causes. His ideals were appealing enough to ignite global motivation to commit for change and they convinced the Nobel Peace Committee to sign in to the approval of his ways of meeting challenges to create a better world in the possible participation of what were vocally dubbed ‘evil’ by his predecessor.</div>
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In practice, however, president Obama’s commitments to peace and prosperity are hardly seen in the realm of practical politics with two wars one of which he is clearly intensifying and his national policies not necessarily impressing for many at least at the moment. While too early to expect him to fix the huge messes he inherited from the past, his pronounced confidence to address the problems and certainty to bring about change that he has shown during his presidential campaign should transcend the field of rhetoric sooner than later. He needs to maximize the mobilization of unparalleled public support he enjoyed at least in recent history for the change he aspires. His seeming indifference to tyranny in the poor nations, his language of ‘just’ wars with inclinations towards going down a similar path to resolve conflicts, and the sluggish process of dialogue he appears to have failed to redesign in the Middle East for a better way forward, and the resistance he is meeting along political lines for his national policies all deter the fulfillment of his promises people have trusted him for.</div>
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To be fair to him though, I do not think the world should also expect way too much from him given his humanly limitations and the bulk of problems he is not responsible for causing them but determined to work towards their resolution in the context of global cooperation and understanding. I see no more angelic pop up in politics than candid human devotion about him for us to claim a swift rescue to our terribly troubled world. </div>
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My blog primarily concerned with Ethiopian affairs (although this is also relevant in a way), I think I made too much noise on global politics as if I had an audience at that level. May be it is because I, like many others, also attach hope to Obama’s promises of change and am afraid that in the absence of its materialization, we may suffer frustrations and the world may see us more monstrous.</div>
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I throw a toss to his future achievements that I hope will prevail against potentialities of distructive weds in the harvest.</div>
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reflectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253535359241897110noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4738675685656215369.post-70272933386616016802009-12-07T12:05:00.000-08:002018-11-07T05:06:00.871-08:00Being there against all odds<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I almost missed Teddy Afro's concert last week when he threw a magnificent one here in Oslo.<br />
<a name='more'></a> Some thought it was their commitment to lobby for people's boycotting of the event because <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Teddy</span> was doing business with an <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">EPRDF</span> sympathizer of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Tigrean</span> ethnic background. Save all the strong naming of the individual, including his alleged indifference to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Teddy's</span> imprisonment, he was by no chance a choice for some diaspora politicians. I did not want to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">boycott</span> it for that lobby but for fear that some uncivilized dispute may emerge to kill my excitement of dancing to the tune of one of my favourite pop artists. </div>
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The situation reminded me of what one artist said. The people to people show during the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Derg</span> regime, he remembered, was <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">aggressively</span> lobbied against by our anti-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Derg</span> politicians in the West. Overcoming the challenges, that show promoted Ethiopian culture arguably in an unprecedented way.</div>
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I imagined myself boycotting a concert for such unyielding reasons which, if one looks deeper, is no better than the ethnic based politics I do not stand for,, and which in fact, many of the accusers of the individual who paid Teddy would also argue they denounce. I then thought I should face whatever disruption people might have created and suffer the consequence in stead of missing the show.</div>
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Luckily for everybody, the concert was just great with a lot of people filling the atmosphere with warmth and a climate of joy. I was glad to be there against all odds.<br />
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reflectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253535359241897110noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4738675685656215369.post-36137314241986672352009-12-03T14:54:00.000-08:002018-11-07T05:21:12.494-08:00Let others know us better<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;">Contributed to a bulletin, Ethiopian Students Union, Oslo</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Kitchen parties in Krinsja, have you gone to some of them? Of course, you can’t go to all of them. My guess, however, is that you might not have gone to any of them as we have never met at all. The only Ethiopian guy I met once was a refugee himself working for the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). To be fair for you and me, it could be that I never went to the party you were in and neither am I a party animal as such that you spot me everywhere. Those I had been to were sometimes fun, but you miss little often times and sometimes you can get very annoyed with people approaching you with all sorts of perceptions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Once, a French girl told me the only thing she knows about Ethiopia is that it is the poorest country in the world. Sure enough: who denies that? If I do, I can only try as far as telling her that my country is the second or third poorest- nonsense. But again, as an Ethiopian, you may want people to get a wider perspective hoping that the horizon brings forth multiple faces of reality. Ok, what more can I tell people to imagine Ethiopia better? That colonial forces met with fierce resistance from gallant Ethiopian patriots to eventually pass an ever independent country to us? Well, that is indeed worth boasting about although, in reality, we are sadly witnessing that some Ethiopians wished we had been colonized and enjoyed better development and infrastructure. I could have said Ethiopia is a country in which as slightly more Christians as Muslims live in harmony respecting each other’s religious values, and perhaps I said that, when a guy asked me if Ethiopia was an entirely Muslim nation. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still want to believe this mutual existence of unique nature that manifests itself through tolerance, understanding and love shall survive the currently not so sporadic incidents and tendencies of destruction challenging its age- long strength. However, in kitchen parties people would like you to take things less seriously than you want to and they do not have patience to listen to your sentimental History 101 lectures. Neither do many care more about whatever you have to tell them for better understanding of your country than they would make sure that they do not forget the dominant account they got from the media. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I recently came into contact with a study revealing that in England, people born after 1984 still associate Ethiopia with the 1984 famine which they did not witness themselves, not even with the less deadly ones we have periodically faced after these kids were born.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Oh, God! I never meant to lament people’s perception of our country. I know it is rather important to act in one’s capacity to alter situations than worry over them too much as such. Besides, our true love to our country makes more difference than some foreign attitude even if it were to come in some form of genuine sympathy, which in reality has increasingly come to be a rare trait in humanity. So what is the issue here? Not a big one, but it is of my opinion that we are often victims of judgment by the rich world for what we have not brought to it and for what is essentially our own headache to deal with ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, I believe Ethiopian students should work harder to be judged by what we have brought with us down here as Ethiopians and as humans instead. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As individuals, I think we can sometimes utilize some spare time to go out into the public arena and enjoy with other nationals than only Ethiopians. This tendency of moving in the confinement of our own national sense of belonging, while important to a greater degree, helps us little to be known by as well as understand the world outside us. So those like me who occasionally go clubbing, let us join others at times in other places of enjoyment than places like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Red Sea</i>, where we go in search of Ethiopians and Ethiopian music amidst Eritrean brothers and sisters. Do not misunderstand me as if I said <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Red Sea</i> is not a good place to go to; it is in its own right. If one throws an Ethiopian kitchen party, we should bring non-Ethiopians we know and allow them to enjoy our communal identity as well as individual variety. After all, we threw one recently to end up having a small group gathering of Ethiopians, a sleepy atmosphere that could have been more stimulating in the presence of international students as we would definitely have been more alert to show ourselves off.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">More importantly though, I strongly believe that ESUO needs to seriously consider this idea of giving out what we have as Ethiopians. It should at least organize some cultural events for international viewing instead of only getting Ethiopian fellows to enjoy home-like holiday parties and finding means to stand in support of troubled people back home. Once again, I do not mean to underestimate the grand causes the Union is working towards, not at all. But you see, what we can do to better the dimensional challenges in mother Ethiopia, while self-satisfying in the sense that we can only do what we can afford to do, is so little in the face of the country’s needs of mighty nature. It is, therefore, worth a try to direct part of our endeavors as a Union towards showing our other faces of ‘Ethiopianness’ that the mediated world has little portrayed. I often hear we are one of the largest African scholarship recipients in Oslo, and it is just unfair not to make some strength out of this to at least organize events in which people may dance to the tune of Ethiopian musical richness and appreciate distinct cultural manifestations of what it means to come from Ethiopia, a gorgeous mosaic in this regard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Speaking of such events, I should mention a really impressive occasion this (already gone) summer. Four beautiful Ethiopian UiO summer students in their wonderful traditional outfits met with a challenge of doing a cultural show in a huge cinema hall here in Oslo where quite a number of other countries were represented by fellow students outnumbering ours. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The Ethiopian girls just ran a clip from one of the greatest millennial hits by <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gosaye</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ephrem</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Balageru III</i>, and danced to the tune with their beautiful smiles and snow white dresses perfectly filling the huge stage. The ovation from the huge crowd went on all the way through their show and I thought that was too much for the girls’ level of performance. However, what happened at the end of the whole event was even more amazing that the girls had to remain the busiest group for the rest of the night. Back stage, they found themselves in the rain of warm appreciations from the spectators who begged them to take pictures together and show them the shoulder shake. It all turned a shoulder shaking, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">eskista</i>, scene out in the open and later many whites joined our Ethiopian group to funnily dance with us in the background of Michael Jackson’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thriller</i>. Some cynic friends may still ask if the people were interested in the girls or in eskistsa; well, I can’t say for sure that some were not interested in our girls- at least my Irish friend definitely was. Equally though, there was no doubt people, including a lot of girls, were highly taken up by the show. My cynic friends may want to put another difficult question, I know. “What if even the girls were interested in our girls?” Well, my answer goes, “Jeg vet ikke.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />Any ways I know for sure we have beautiful women in our student community who can perform even better to enlighten the ignorant world within our rich. Oh, my latest points seem to play to the advantage of those cynic friends again. Guys, I mean married ones, Ok! So there are no other intentions or ill-intentions here. The whole point I am trying to make in here is that, if we commit ourselves to be understood better, we have a lot to tell to world within our reach. Then, happy new year is a good place to stop wishing further for us to embrace each other more and survive the winter more easily. For cynics, this is again going too far and asking too much. Genuine readers know I do not mean lying in the same bed though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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reflectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253535359241897110noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4738675685656215369.post-43646772981942005152009-12-01T15:23:00.000-08:002018-11-07T05:36:17.091-08:00First impression is not always the lasting one<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">By Zewge A. Assefa</span></div>
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When I arrived in Norway August last year, I thought I surrendered to a deadly quietness that I was never used to in Ethiopia. I was not sure how long I could live on my happy memories of lively interactions not just with my friends back home but also nearly with everyone nearby, someone who sat by me in a café or another one in a taxi. My Norwegian professor’s descriptions of his country echoed into my ears transcending the limits of time. He would turn a frown face to display this strange look an average Norwegian would automatically throw in reaction to one’s daring to work out a conversation just by the virtue of sitting on a nearby chair. In what appeared to be a nostalgic confession of his years of life in Ethiopia, this visiting lecturer in Addis Ababa University often tilted his lectures toward appreciations of Ethiopians’ warmth and hospitality despite their poor livelihood. “On my bus trip to Awasa (some 260 km south of the capital, Addis Ababa), I can be sure that, by the time we are in Meki (100 or so km), the person sitting next to me would pay my lunch in Ziway,” he would say, and that I can assure you is often the case.</div>
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At least at first sight, I had the impression that nobody seemed to have found it interesting to interact with strangers more than it is important for them to read books or newspapers while sitting together in the subway. Nearly regardless of age, men and women would easily get lost in the ipods whose earphones they would plug into their ears. Some other ladies concentrate on their needlework and never seem to have cared for their immediate human environment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those needles, I thought, were more effective to maintain distance than to produce sweaters or headscarves, and I was wondering which one was the objective. Just a hobby, some would say. Adding to my frustration was my roommate, a Norwegian himself, who was never a convincing disproof to my quick claims of rejection at least of a man of my color. Just at first contact, he gave me “hey be careful with the bathroom” tips rather soldierly. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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However denying the environment appeared to be, I had to willy-nilly find means to cope with the system as someone who comes from a largely traditional society, and this is unthinkable without braving the rain of silence. Of all the information booklets I received from the university I have come to, there is this little brochure which, among other things, provides advice for new comers in Norway to take the initiative to communicate with otherwise reserved Norwegians. To this day, I have always carried this key (the advice, not the physical paper) to open people up and it has worked ninety nine times out of hundred. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In so doing, I have come to find Norwegians who, if I was lost in the city, not only gave me a workable direction but also went out of their way to take me there. It was even easier with my other Norwegian flat mates that I didn’t have to take the start. They have embraced me with all my difference and encouraged me to have my voice heard in the kitchen, and I then thought I should also try it in sociopolitical forums. This piece of writing can be taken as the first attempt to respond to that call in me.</div>
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In all honesty, I have increasingly felt vindicated here by most people’s judgment more by what one has to deliver than what she looks like (in Ethiopia I would have used ‘he’ as a generic pronoun). Although it sometimes takes a great deal of effort rather undeservedly to make people understand that we are not all what the global media say we are, I witnessed people’s willingness to synchronize their mediated data with what we Africans have to say about ourselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Classrooms as well as kitchen parties have often exhibited a huge appetite to understand others, at least those I go to where I found more comfort in talking to Norwegians than other nationals. </div>
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I do not however mean to underestimate the difficulty for me as an African and in particular as an Ethiopian to give a proper picture of the place I call home. Many people seem to have a thick background reinforced with terrible images of war, famine and overall poverty. For all that I know, this face of reality has been mediated almost in the absence of other faces that do not fit into news because they are not that horrific. So it is not fair to blame the audience for that; after all many Britons born after 1985 are said to associate Ethiopia with the 1985 famine, not even with the less adverse ones we have had after they came into this world. That is not my focus for the moment, but as the rich world needs to explore more about humans and their environs, so much is at stake for the poor to reveal more human features than statistical characterizations which have imprinted lasting stereotypes in the Western society.</div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Personally, I do not feel rejected. Neither do I feel fully embraced. I still live with the situation where more often than not, people prefer to sit by people of their color type even when I am sitting alone and the others have just a space to crowd another one in. Indeed, some appreciate something I do, not just because it is a smart thing to do but because I do it that way being a black- ‘rather uncharacteristically’. Nevertheless, I come into contact with a lot others who take me as a normal success in those instances. </div>
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Somewhere in Europe my friend was told by a passerby that he did not belong there. Of course he knew he did not belong there, and he told the guy that he belongs to God. “No,” said the European. “See how handsome I am and I am God for you. So you don’t belong to me.” At least I expect no Norwegian to be that irrational or I never met one till now, and that is why this friend of mine misses his first semester here before he went to the country where people are not necessarily understanding.</div>
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We can isolate people if we elect to a certain degree, thereby choosing who to invite over for coffee, chat with or who we would like to sit by in the subway. That still hurts the isolated, but one can do little to alter the situation. People can identify themselves in the way they feel is fit to them. Speaking of racial differences, however, no one contributed anything to retain their color even if it were made of some ‘quality’ attributes. I therefore believe it is not that smarter to take pride in some trait we have no say what so ever in making it ours. </div>
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Save some discrepancies, I am enjoying life with those who understand all that and more and fortunately they are not few. It also feels great to be in a nation that generally lives up to ethical standards emanating from social development, the rule of law and human right values. One thing has not changed in my communication continuum though- I still have to take the initiative and that is not a tough thing to do.</div>
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reflectorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16253535359241897110noreply@blogger.com1