12 - Songs of Sidet: An Insight into Ethiopia’s Culture of Migration through Song Lyrics Analysis

Summary

Introduction

As a ubiquitous form of cultural production, music, and more specifically the study of song lyrics, provides a unique entry point in the study of Ethiopian migration. Music not only allows for storytelling and the communication of emotion in a visceral manner, but it generally cuts across generations as it is a form of mass media pertinent to everyone from the very young to the very old. Moreover, music is egalitarian from the perspective of consumers as the means and methods of accessing and listening to music have drastically changed and increased in the last several decades due to improving technologies. As a widespread expressive cultural practice central to social life, music is simultaneously a reflection of the attitudes, beliefs, and value systems of a society as well as a force that can shape and exert influence over cultural perspectives. In the tradition of ethnomusicology, social scientists can therefore systematically analyze music (its content, production, reception, etc.) as an entry point into a culture.

Elsewhere, I have discussed the significance of examining the culture of migration that permeates Ethiopian society using various forms of cultural production in order to provide a greater depth to our understanding. Indeed, “there are very few studies relating Ethiopian politics, history, and society to popular culture.” The Ethiopian politics of music (production, lyrics, performance, dissemination, censorship) is an understudied but potentially infinitely fruitful area of inquiry for social scientists. However, by and large, music remains “one of the most neglected themes” and “among the least explored topics in Ethiopian studies.” In effect, “popular music should give a nuanced understanding of the difference between history as narrated by the political elite and history as lived and experienced by the population.” While Ethiopia's rich musical heritage has received only scant scholarly attention and there are still paths to take within it, recent works have made important contributions in this field. As a field in its infancy, there are significant gaps in the scholarship on contemporary Ethiopian music, and even the “existing scholarly literature remains confined to limited themes.” Shelemay, one of the foremost ethnomusicologists specializing in Ethiopian music, states that “while Ethiopian concepts of migration … have changed over the course of time, … the condition of exile has given rise to rich Ethiopian song repertories.”