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‘Is literary history possible?’—the question that has been asked time and again may perhaps have several answers. One straight answer, which is amply confirmed by Negash’s book, is a clear and loud YES. The book, in fact, not only attests this but also shows the care, professional skill and balance the author demonstrated in preparing this study.
Writing a literary history of English, French, German, Persian, Hindi or Japanese, might not be challenging, because these languages have an established literature, but writing a literary history of Tigrinya, a language which has been affected by one socio- economic and political upheaval after another over centuries, is something to be admired.
The very title and subtitle of the book, A History of Tigrinya Literature in Eritrea: The Oral and the Written 1890-1991 clarify the author’s intention of defining his subject firmly and unambiguously. Tigrinya is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken by a majority of citizens in the multilingual state of Eritrea, as well as in some parts of Ethiopia. Tigrinya along with Arabic is now the main language of Eritrea.
When charting the development of a language like Tigrinya, nothing can be taken for granted; basic information has to be collected and, at times, the author has to do his own basic research. Perhaps recognizing these limitations, and the practical problems future researchers, particularly from the fields of linguistics and language studies, might face, the author advocates a linguistic survey (47), which is crucial for a multilingual (and newly emerged) country like Eritrea. However, he provides tentative percentage figures of the languages spoken in Eritrea. Tigrinya speakers are estimated at 50% of the population followed by Tigre at 31.4%. The estimate for Tigrinya speakers is apparently very close to the actual figures, but percentages for other languages need confirmation, which is possible only through a linguistic survey. Interestingly, the author also makes certain linguistic observations, such as finding a close relationship between Afar and Saho, the two languages spoken in the Eastern lowlands of the country. Moreover, the discussion on bilingualism (which in most cases is also multilingualism) is very interesting and useful, particularly the observation about the respective positions of Tigre, the second widely spoken language, and Arabic, one of the official languages of the country.
Making Greenberg’s classification of African languages as the basis (61), the author discusses the genealogical status of the languages spoken in Eritrea including Tigrinya, and, particularly, Giiz, both a language and script which entered from East Arabia into the region with South Arabian immigrants during the first millennium B.C. The Tigrinya alphabet is adopted from the Giiz script (which is purely syllabic), and the Tigrinya version has 202 signs to meet the phonemic structure of the language. Giiz is no longer spoken, but is still used as the liturgical language of the Coptic Church.
Based on this discussion, the author examines the 14th and 15th century Giiz manuscripts, where there is a casual mention of Tigrinya (the language of Habasha). The first book written in Tigrinya is the translation of the Gospel by D. Matewos, followed by a collection of Tigrinya proverbs during 1883-85 (68-9), where the printed Tigrinya alphabets were used. The author has provided the first phase printed Tigrinya material (in Giiz script).
Chapter 4 provides an appropriately placed discussion on the definition of literature (75-6). He highlights J. Lotman’s model to facilitate a viable definition, and to prepare the ground to accept both oral and written works as literature. The author claims that the oral works of literature are experienced as literature by the speech community for their creative use of language, fictionality and imaginative qualities.
The first written piece of literature, according to the author, is a travelogue, by Fesseha Giyorgis, which appeared in 1895, dealing with his journey from the Tigray region to Italy. The travelogue being multipurpose, the author quotes extensively from it to substantiate his claim that it has all the qualities of a literary work, based on its (emotive) language and style.
The author discusses the issue of Eritrea’s high illiteracy rate, compared to other sub-Saharan countries, and attributes it to Italian colonization. He also discusses the work of three foreigners and two Eritreans (88). Ghebre Medhin’s compilation of popular tales and Conti Rossini’s collection of oral poetry (86 poems, 489 proverbs, descriptive notes on cultural traditions, and the genealogy of tribal clans of Tigrinya) constitute interesting readings. The animal tales in Ghebre Medhin’s compilation show an uncanny resemblance to animal tales in the folk wisdom of the Indian sub-continent (in, for example, the Panchatantra). One wonders whether the tales have traveled across continents or that folk wisdom has a universal dimension. The chapter ends with a detailed review of ‘Habasha poetry’ by Faitlovitch (162-3). One anonymous poem is finely analyzed, through a comparison with Sassoon’s poetry of the horrors of World War I.
Chapter 5, which the author titles ‘Stillness and Revival,’ sums up the period between 1917-42. One wonders whether the period of stillness was because no literature was produced. It seems very unlikely that the production of literature would come to a halt at any point of time in a speech community. Literature would continue to emerge in one form or another. However, the author recognizes the likelihood that unpublished texts from that period exist. The author holds Italian oppression, particularly after the coming of Mussolini in 1922, responsible for creating conditions of this so-called period of stillness.
Normally, the political situation of a place has both direct and indirect impact on almost all aspects of life. Indeed, political uncertainty or turmoil can open new dimensions in literature. There is every likelihood that the literature of the so-called period of stillness (if it can be traced) would add a new chapter to Tigrinya literature. One commonly hears patriotic songs in Eritrea, the seeds of which might have been sown during this period of oppression.
The British take over of Eritrea during the 1940s gave a new lease of life to Tigrinya literature, which the author duly recognizes. Unlike other colonizers, Britain was tolerant to diverse languages and societies, and provided them an equal opportunity to develop. It was during the British period that the ‘Tigrinya Language Council’ was formed. The author gives a detailed description of the positive developments in the field of languages and literature which took place during the British period: the growth of linguistic solidarity, the publication of a weekly Tigrinya newspaper which carried critical articles, essays, and poetry. These journalistic writings paved way for the emergence of the Tigrinya novel. Here, the author also acknowledges the enormous contribution of Weldeab Weldemariam, a known nationalist, who with his farsightedness stepped forward to plan and standardize Tigrinya, and infuse a sense of linguistic solidarity among the different linguistic communities in Eritrea.
Chapter 6 deals with the Tigrinya novel, in which five writers are discussed at length. Amongst these Musa Aron is ranked ‘the best-known’ Tigrinya novelist. The other novelists discussed are: Beyene Haile, Yishak Yosief, Yebio Umer Bahubashi, and Abeba Tesfaghiorgis. The discussion is concluded with the works of the woman writer Abeba Tesfaghiorgis. Most of the novels of the 1960s and 1970s are based on social realism. However, a unique novel entitled Abidu’do Tibliwo, written by Beyene Haile, is modeled on the modernist principle of “Art for Art’s Sake.” The main protagonist of this exceptional book is a painter who leads a bohemian life, and lives in his own world of art, critically distancing himself from society.
The last chapter is devoted to the resistance writers and writings of the exiles during 1976-1991. The author collectively designates the resistance writers “Sahel Writers,” and considers them responsible for the development of “socialist realism.” Alemseged Tesfai, the renowned Eritrean writer and author of Two Weeks in the Trenches: Reminiscences of Childhood and War (2002) is discussed at length, and the author concludes the chapter by honorably acknowledging the other poets and novelists of the revolution.
Ghirmai Negash’s book could prove a source of inspiration for researchers, who usually shy away from working on the literatures of lesser-known languages. It can also be valuable for social scientists who are interested in working on languages, history, cultures, folklore, and ethnography.
Vijay K. Kaul