The language of culture and the culture of language : Oromo identity in Melbourne, Australia
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Abstract
Until recently, the Oromo were largely unknown among scholars of Africa.
Since the Abyssinian conquest of the vast Oromo land-known today as Oromiyain
the late-nineteenth century, Oromo within the Ethiopian empire state (where
they number more than half the population) have remained politically,
linguistically, economically and historically marginalised. Since the late 1970s,
almost a century after their conquest, when the Derg military junta's campaign of
terror was at its peak, and continuing with the present regime, large numbers of
Oromo have fled Ethiopia to neighbouring countries. By 1997 a small number
(approximately 500) had resettled in Melbourne, Australia. Over these past two
decades Oromo nationalism has grown into a mass movement in east Africa and
among the worldwide exilic communities. Central to the growth of nationalism has
been the assertion of a pan-Oromo national identity (Oromumma, 'Oromoness').
Like all identity politics, Oromo nationalism remains academically deadlocked
between essentialism and social constructionism: Oromo anti-colonial nationalists
posit an atavistic account of Oromo identity, while 'Western' scholars generally
conceive of it in politically disabling constructionist terms