Discourse on Moral Womanhood in Somali Popular Songs, 1960–1990

Abstract

This article is a study of Somali popular songs of the period 1960–90, which opened with the establishment of the Somali national state and ended with its collapse. It focuses on these songs as a discursive site in which a particular dilemma of the new Somali state clearly comes into focus, namely the desire to be ‘modern’, while at the same time turning to ‘tradition’ (i.e. a particular construction of Somali cultural authenticity and traditional religious morality) to mark and anchor a new Somali collective self-understanding and communal identity. The discursive push-and-pull of ‘modernity’ and ‘tradition’ evident in the songs expresses itself specifically in debates about moral womanhood – that is to say, about what ‘good’ women should be like. Since the collapse of the state in 1991, Somali discourses about common public identity and gender norms have undergone dramatic change, with the sites of popular culture multiplying, especially outside of Somalia, and accessible through the internet. Although an interpretation of Islam that distances itself from Somali ‘tradition’ has been gaining importance as a source of legitimization, as is evident both in the struggle over the state in Somalia and in everyday life in Somalia and the diaspora, this is not a major concern in the Somali popular songs from the period after 1991. It was born auspiciously this flag raised above usWe will not differentiate among any SomalisSince none of us are closer to it than the others,Let us be equal in front of our flag(Waa samo ku dhalayoo calanka noo saaranSoomaali oo dhan, kala sooci maynoUma kala sokeynno, ha loo sinnaado)Somali popular song, articulating the hope of Somali unity and equality, sung by Faduumo Abdillaahi ‘Maandeeq’ in the early 1960s

Narrating everyday peace and (in)security: Somaliland women�s lived realities as sites of contestation

“…Opposition to the Family Law of 1975 largely came from religious leaders, who saw it as an affront to Islamic principles. Barre executed ten religious leaders who openly opposed the changes to the Family Law and, as such, women's rights became closely associated with the Barre regime's oppressive practices (Kapteijns 2009). Consequently, women's rights occupied an ambivalent position in the public discourse on nationalism.…”

“…Somali women composed poems promoting, and later deriding, Somalinimoo as defined by Barre. They popularised their poetry through songs over the radio and discursively shaped the ambitions, as well as the eventual discontent, of Somali society in general from 1960 to 1990 (Kapteijns 2009). These songs also reinforced attitudes regarding women's roles and were layered with symbolism and hidden meanings.…”

‘If there was no jaad’: poetics of khat and remembering the future in a London Somali community

“…In Somali collective memory, roughly two decades of independence post‐1960 are referred to as the ‘good old days’ ( waayo waayo ). Regardless of some instances of political violence (Menkhaus 2014), Somalis widely remember this as the prime time of national consciousness, modern urban life, and emerging popular culture, notably poetry, music, and theatre (Andrzejewski 2011; Beckerleg 2010: 5‐27; Goth 2015; Kapteijns 2009). During these decades, khat use spread throughout large cities of South Somalia, such as Mogadishu, as a consumer practice among progressive classes who sought ‘to promote interest in secular education, to exhort Somalis to overcome clan divisiveness in the name of Islamic unity and to seek appropriate privileges for civil servants’ (Gebissa 2004: 81; see also Cassanelli 1986).…”

“…Somali poetic tradition has a long and venerable history of playing a crucial part in political life. Poems reflect more than a record of the author's sentiments, and their performances have a direct aim to persuade people, to disgrace or to honour, to win hearts or incite hatred (Andrzejewski 2011; Johnson 2010; Kapteijns 2009; 2010; S.S. Samatar 1982; 2010). In her analysis of Somali poetry, Kapteijns terms this an ‘effective speech’, a ‘speech that affects change and forward solutions that go beyond the individual alone’ (2010: 31).…”

Can Somalis make peace without justice?

“…The Somali nationalist movement and discourse of Somalinimoohad a twopronged objective: to resist further colonial dominance from two colonial powers with separate styles of administration, and to forge a discourse for nationalism that reflected the direct contrast between urban and modernist attitudes, on one hand, and the hegemony of the pastoral society in describing Somali culture (daqaan), on the other. The first objective was a project of colonial resistance, while the latter emphasized nationalism in a unified Somali state (Lewis, 2010;Lewis, 1999;Kapteijns, 2009). Somalinimoo took on varied meanings at each stage and became quite perverse as the military rule of SiyadBarre failed to retain the character of the anti-colonial movement and fused with anti-clan rhetoric that proved itself contradictory based upon his own actions.…”