The histories buildings tell: aesthetic and popular readings of state meaning in Ethiopia

IF 0.9 3区社会学 Q2 AREA STUDIES

Journal of Eastern African Studies Pub Date : 2022-01-02 DOI:10.1080/17531055.2022.2068234

J. Gallagher, Daniel Mulugeta, Atnatewos Melake-Selam, J. Tomkinson

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引用次数: 1

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this article, we attempt to understand the persistence of the ‘great tradition’ in describing what the state means to Ethiopians. We do this by examining stories about history, told by and about Ethiopia’s architecture. Within these stories we find two ideas in apparent tension. One is an attachment to state history as exceptional, unified and ordained by God. This is told through architectural continuities reaching back to the pre-Christian Aksumite aesthetic that continuously underwrites the notion of a teleological progression of the state; and in current nostalgia for the assertive certainty of exceptionalism expressed in ancient architecture. The other is an acknowledgement of hybridity and disruption. This is expressed in innovative architectural aesthetics and techniques; and in the ways that state buildings have been made to carry the marks of dramatically different types of regime, particularly in the last 50 years. Drawing on the sem-ena-werq (ሰም እና ወርቅ or ‘wax and gold’) tradition we show how these stories-in-tension describe ambiguities within the great tradition, a story of confidence and exceptionalism, but also one that is disturbed and shaped by rupture and compromise.

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建筑讲述的历史：埃塞俄比亚国家意义的美学和流行解读

摘要在这篇文章中，我们试图理解“伟大传统”在描述国家对埃塞俄比亚人意味着什么时的持久性。我们通过研究埃塞俄比亚建筑讲述的历史故事来做到这一点。在这些故事中，我们发现了两个明显紧张的想法。一种是对国家历史的依恋，认为它是特殊的、统一的、由上帝任命的。这是通过追溯到前基督教阿克苏米特美学的建筑连续性来讲述的，该美学持续支持国家的目的论发展概念；以及当前对古代建筑中表现出的例外主义的自信确定性的怀念。另一种是承认混杂性和破坏性。这体现在创新的建筑美学和技术上；以及国家建筑被打造成带有截然不同类型政权标志的方式，尤其是在过去50年中。在sem ena werq上绘图(ሰም እና ወርቅ 我们展示了这些紧张的故事是如何描述伟大传统中的模糊性的，这是一个充满自信和例外主义的故事，也是一个被破裂和妥协扰乱和塑造的故事。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Eastern African Studies AREA STUDIES-

CiteScore

3.30

自引率

7.10%

发文量

期刊介绍： Journal of Eastern African Studies is an international publication of the British Institute in Eastern Africa, published four times each year. It aims to promote fresh scholarly enquiry on the region from within the humanities and the social sciences, and to encourage work that communicates across disciplinary boundaries. It seeks to foster inter-disciplinary analysis, strong comparative perspectives, and research employing the most significant theoretical or methodological approaches for the region.