Abstract
The diverse ethnic groups, as well as
religion and a long history of political struggles has shaped music and the
arts of Eritrea. Art and music can provide a tremendous amount of information
and insight into a culture; this is the case with the music of the Eritrean
people. Music was shaped by the struggle for independence as well as shaped our
information was dispersed during the nation’s many decade-long struggle for independence.
Music as Historical Record: How Socio-political Struggle and Ethnic Diversity has Shaped Eritrean Music
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Situated
on the Horn of Africa, Eritrea is bordered by the Red Sea to the north and north
east, Ethiopia to the south, Djubuti to the southeast and Sudan to the West and
northwest. Eritrea is divided amongst nine ethnic groups each with its own
language with Tigrinya and Arabic being the most widely used. The 4th
century brought Christianity to the Horn of Africa; today more than one half of
the Eritrean population is Christian with many belonging to the Eritrean Orthodox
Tewahedo Church and members of the Roman Catholic Church (Eritrea, 2015).
Eritrea
has a complex and colored political history; Colonized in 1890 by Italy it
remained in Italy’s possession until 1941 when the British took possession
during World War II (Eritrea, 2015). The United Nations declares Eritrea a
federal component of Ethiopia in 1959 and subsequently Eritreans would face
decades of political turmoil, conflict, and violent struggles for power leading
to revolution and coups in the pursuit of independence.
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The
diverse ethnic groups, as well as religion and a long history of political
struggles has shaped music and the arts of Eritrea. Tesfagiorgis (2010) highlights this in his
book Eritrea noting that “each ethnolinguistic
group has its own form of music; hence, there is a great diversity in musical
performance” (p. 270). Religious music played an important role in the lives of
Eritreans of both past and present with sacred music and performance taking
center stage at religious ceremonies, weddings, and social gatherings.
Art and music can provide a tremendous amount
of information and insight into a culture; this is the case with the music of
the Eritrean people. Music was shaped by the struggle for independence. Socio-political
problems have greatly influence the folk music of Eritrea (Tesfagiorgis, 2010)
During the nation’s revolution beginning in 1962, both the Eritrean Liberation
Front (ELF) and Eritrean People’s Liberation Front (EPLF) utilized music for propaganda
and as a means to draw attention to the social and political problems (Tesfagiorgis,
2010). Folk music served as a coded means of communication for the socially and
politically suppressed Eritreans, allowing them to communicate undetected by the
Ethiopian rule. This was accomplished through the emergence of cultural troupes like that of the one featured in the video below. These revolutionary songs were not just politically laced calls to action but morale boosters in times of great difficulty.
A Revolutionary Influenced Folk Song
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3KAD0EhJco
References
Eritrea. (2015). In Encyclopædia
Britannica. Retrieved from
Tesfagiorgis G., M. (2010). Culture. Eritrea (Africa in Focus) (pp. 270-279). Santa Barbara, California: Greenwood
Publishing Group.
