[ecrea] Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies, Volume 15, Number 2/3, Fall/Winter 2006

Diaspora: A Journal of Transnational Studies, Volume 15, Number 2/3, 
Fall/Winter 2006 is now available at 
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/diaspora_a_journal_of_transnational_studies/toc/dsp.15.2.html



Special Issue: Creating the Ethiopian Diaspora: Perspectives from Across 
the Disciplines





Introduction

Kay Kaufman Shelemay and Steven Kaplan

Abstract:

This essay offers a general introduction to the volume's papers, 
providing the necessary background information about their genesis and 
relationship to other relevant publications within Ethiopian, African, 
and diaspora studies. The concept of diaspora and its relevance for the 
Ethiopian experience is discussed, providing a historical overview of 
Ethiopian movement abroad, culminating in the mass exodus sparked by the 
1974 revolution. The essay explores the topic of cultural creativity in 
critical perspective, offering definitions of creativity and its 
relationship to Ethiopian concepts, along with an overview of the 
essays, a note on technical matters, and acknowledgments.

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/diaspora_a_journal_of_transnational_studies/summary/v015/15.2.shelemay.html





On Cultural Creativity in the Ethiopian Diaspora

Donald N. Levine

Abstract:

This brief introduction to the essays in this volume offers commentary 
on the conference that generated them while expanding on its central 
theme, "creative incorporation," drawn from the author's 1974 book, 
Greater Ethiopia. The essay provides a provisional semantic matrix that 
defines four types of creativity: in problem-solving; in finding new 
ways to combine existing elements; to provide for spontaneous expression 
of energies; and to invent novel forms. The conclusion suggests that all 
of these processes occur among Ethiopians in diaspora, where they are 
inflected by the intensity that Ethiopians manifest in their attitude 
toward their homeland.

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/diaspora_a_journal_of_transnational_studies/summary/v015/15.2.levine.html





"Whatsupoch" on the Net: The Role of Information and Communication 
Technology in the Shaping of Transnational Ethiopian Identity

Nancy J. Hafkin

Abstract:

The Ethiopian diaspora is using the Internet increasingly to reflect on 
its identity, to forge new communities, and to promote cultural 
innovation. This essay tracks the close association of information and 
communication technologies (ICTs) with the emergence of the Ethiopian 
diaspora since 1980, setting forth a series of brief case studies 
illustrating the role of ICTs among different Ethiopian ethnic 
communities. It documents the manner in which ICTs shape socialization 
and address questions of return to homeland; it also explores the way in 
which Ethiopians have exploited new media and their technical 
innovations. The essay concludes with an account of ways in which 
freedom of expression and access to technology enable diaspora 
Ethiopians to have public discussions and circulate critiques of 
Ethiopian politics and culture that could not have taken place in 
Ethiopia, which is not only at the bottom of the digital divide but has 
exercised censorship over a number of homeland Ethiopian Web sites and 
blogs.

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/diaspora_a_journal_of_transnational_studies/summary/v015/15.2.hafkin.html





Vital Information at Your Fingertips: The Ethiopian Yellow Pages as a 
Cultural Document

Steven Kaplan

Abstract:

In the last decade of the twentieth century, Yellow Pages, the 
well-known business directories that effectively advertise services in 
fairly standardized formats, have been published by entrepreneurs for 
various ethnic communities, including Ethiopians. This essay reads the 
Ethiopian Yellow Pages (EYP), published for the Washington, DC, area, as 
a cultural document, interpreting it as a text in which issues of 
identity and community are represented by and for members of the 
Ethiopian community. The essay provides a detailed overview of the EYP 
in its thirteenth edition, covering the year 2006/2007, surveying its 
structure; its target area; and the wide array of services, venues, and 
institutions that advertise in its pages. The discussion concludes that 
the EYP is much more than an instrument for providing information and 
access to services: It both captures the mundane aspects of life in 
America and highlights the specific features of an ethnically distinct 
immigrant population's journey of cultural creativity, which 
reverberates in both their new and their old homelands.

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/diaspora_a_journal_of_transnational_studies/summary/v015/15.2.kaplan.html





Transnational Politics in Ethiopia: Diasporas and the 2005 Elections

Terrence Lyons

Abstract:

Beginning with a discussion of new political processes in transnational 
social networks, this essay presents Ethiopians in North America as a 
conflict-generated transnational diaspora closely involved in homeland 
politics. The essay surveys a range of key diaspora political 
organizations and media, detailing their involvement in the dramatic 
political events surrounding the Ethiopian election in 2005. The 
critical and creative roles that the Ethiopian diaspora played—in 
framing political events and as a gatekeeper for opposition 
strategies—provided essential support for the homeland's opposition 
parties both during and after the election.

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/diaspora_a_journal_of_transnational_studies/summary/v015/15.2.lyons.html





Creating Sacred Space: Orthodox Churches of the Ethiopian American Diaspora

Marilyn E. Heldman

Abstract:

This essay examines the creation of places of worship by Ethiopian 
Orthodox congregations in North America, focusing primarily on the 
District of Columbia and adjacent areas in the states of Maryland and 
Virginia. Following a discussion of the historical background and 
development of church architecture in Ethiopia, the essay demonstrates 
that the shaping of the interior space of Ethiopian Orthodox churches in 
North America follows a modern model developed in Addis Ababa during the 
early 1960s. The study concludes with a brief analysis of painted 
decoration, a necessary component of the sacred space of an Ethiopian 
Orthodox church.

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/diaspora_a_journal_of_transnational_studies/summary/v015/15.2.heldman.html





Ethiopian Musical Invention in Diaspora: A Tale of Three Musicians

Kay Kaufman Shelemay



Abstract:

This essay, based on ethnographic interviews and observation, discusses 
the lives and careers of three prominent Ethiopian musicians from 
sacred, folkloric, and popular musical domains (Moges Seyoum, Tesfaye 
Lemma, and Mulatu Astatke, respectively) whose individual initiatives 
have shaped the musical life of the Ethiopian diaspora during its 
formative years in the United States. These three careers provide an 
overview of musical activity within the Ethiopian American diaspora 
community since its inception and shed light on concepts of creativity 
as conceived both in the Ethiopian homeland and among the immigrant 
musicians profiled. The conclusion suggests that the ability of each man 
to negotiate the transition to diaspora life varied according to the 
musical domain in which he was engaged, his personal background, and the 
moment and circumstances of his arrival in the United States.

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/diaspora_a_journal_of_transnational_studies/summary/v015/15.2.shelemay01.html





Amharic Poetry of the Ethiopian Diaspora in America: A Sampler

Getatchew Haile

Abstract:

This essay offers the first English-language translations of Amharic 
poetry written by Ethiopian immigrants to the United States. Following 
an introduction to the Amharic language and the central place of poetry 
in Ethiopian literature and cultural life, the author discusses the work 
of four poets. The poems of Tewodros Abebe, Amha Asfaw, Alemayehu 
Gebrehiwot, and Alemtsehay Wedajo make creative use of Ethiopian verbal 
constructions reminiscent of traditional war songs and verbal 
interrogations used in legal contexts. Many of the poems speak 
eloquently of the personal losses Ethiopians have suffered as a result 
of their departure from their homeland. The essay includes biographical 
and ethnographic details about the individual poets and various 
influences on their compositions.

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/diaspora_a_journal_of_transnational_studies/summary/v015/15.2.haile.html





S?dät, Migration, and Refugeeism as Portrayed in Ethiopian Song Lyrics

Solomon Addis Getahun

Abstract:

This essay explores the history of the concepts of s?dät (migration) and 
s?dätäññannät (refugeeism), tracking the changing Ethiopian perspectives 
on separation from homeland as conceived and conveyed through song 
lyrics. After detailing traditional Ethiopian notions of s?dätäññannät, 
the author surveys song lyrics about Ethiopians living abroad, first in 
military service in Libya (1911–1930) and in Korea and Japan (1950s), 
then for educational purposes in Europe and the United States 
(1945–1974). In contrast to either silence or negativity about 
s?dätäññannät in songs about these earlier periods, lyrics dating from 
after the emergence of the Ethiopian diaspora (1974–present) invoke the 
concept as an integral part of Ethiopian life, moving it from a term of 
shame to a desirable status with connotations of success and initiative.

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/diaspora_a_journal_of_transnational_studies/summary/v015/15.2.getahun.html





Slow Awakening? The Ethiopian Diaspora in the Netherlands, 1977–2007

Jan Abbink

Abstract:

This essay offers a preliminary account of the development of the 
Ethiopian diaspora in the Netherlands, charting the process of community 
formation among Ethiopian immigrants posited within a five-phase 
diaspora developmental model (DDM) that has theoretical applicability to 
a wide array of migrant groups. The discussion traces the various stages 
in the emergence of the Ethiopian community in the Netherlands, 
suggesting that by 2007, the community had reached stage 4 of the DDM, a 
juncture at which people abandon plans to return to their homeland and 
invest in lives in the host country. The important transition to stage 4 
was achieved in 2007 as a result of the dual impact of a new Dutch Law 
giving most Ethiopians resident status and of initiatives connected to 
the widespread celebration of the Ethiopian Millennium on 11 September 
of that year. The discussion ends with consideration of how the 
community will likely develop as a whole and what the prospects are for 
creative opportunities, given its small size and the restrictive social 
and institutional environment of Dutch society.

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/diaspora_a_journal_of_transnational_studies/summary/v015/15.2.abbink.html





A Response: Doro Fänta: Creativity vs. Adaptation in the Ethiopian Diaspora

James C. McCann



Abstract:

Invoking the common dish doro fänta ("substitute chicken stew"), served 
without either its traditional chicken or hard-boiled egg, as a metaphor 
for cultural and economic change since the Ethiopian revolution began, 
this short response to the volume's essays queries whether doro fänta is 
a metaphor for expressive invention or an adaptation of structure 
without substance. Following comments on a number of the essays 
appearing in this volume, the discussion suggests that their subject 
matter is more complex than the Ethiopian homeland study to which the 
notion of creative incorporation was originally applied. The paper ends 
with a brief case study of Ethiopian cooking and cuisine as aesthetic 
knowledge of identity and as a domain in which market forces have 
encouraged deviations from historical structures of taste, meaning, and 
processing of food.

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/diaspora_a_journal_of_transnational_studies/summary/v015/15.2.mccann.html









Diaspora is dedicated to the multidisciplinary study of the history, 
culture, social structure, politics, and economics of both the 
traditional diasporas – Armenian, Greek, and Jewish and the new 
transnational dispersions which in the past four decades have come to be 
identified as ‘diasporas.’ These encompass groups ranging from the 
African-, Chinese-,Indian-, and Mexican-American to the Ukrainian- and 
Haitian-Canadian, the Caribbean-British, the Antillean-French, and many 
others.


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