‘You can hear wholly only if you remove the waxes in your ears’: The Hararghe Oromo’s theory for establishing the intersubjective foundation of cognition

Abstract

The article sets out to examine the way the Hararghe Oromo in Ethiopia use their mirriiysa culture to express and cultivate criticality, mindfulness, interpersonal sensitivity and emotional intelligence. The paper discusses the nature of the performance culture and analyses the social psychological meanings of a set of mirriiysa texts collected from a group of folk performers who participated also in the interpretation and analysis of the cultural, social and psychological meanings of the texts. For theory, the study drew on interpretivism. During data analysis, the horizontal and vertical planes of analysis interacted and reinforced each other. The act of removing earwax symbolizes a cultural dimension of intersubjectivity and interaffectivity. The analyses indicated that mirriiysa is a socio-cultural performance wherein listening, understanding and responding occur in socially meaningful and interactive contexts. To understand the communicative intent of a mirriiysa text, one should take broader perspectives and pay due attention to the non-linguistic elements that offer the performance holistic import. The paper highlights the implication of these and other findings for our understanding of the meanings of mirriiysa and other genre performances.

Culture & Psychology: 25 Constructive years

“…The inclusion of non-occidental world views is a resource for advancement in cultural psychology. The increasing interest in the traditions of Chinese and Indian original thought systems (Giordano, 2017; Guo, Shen, Zhang, & Wu, 2019; Hen & Wang, 2013; Hwang, 2017; Misra & Kapur, 2014) and new links with phenomena (Hussein, 2019) indicate that cultural psychology is in the process of changing its axiomatic base geographically from the North-West (Europe and North America) to South-East (South America and the Orient). In this geo-intellectual move, Guimarães’ theory is an example of new synthesis of ideas beyond being caught in the struggle for being heard internationally by “indigenous” psychologies.…”

Life Trajectories and Changing Patterns of Marginalization Among the Smiths of Hararge, Ethiopia

“…They were not given equal status with those from an agricultural background; as such, their socio-political role is congruent with this positioning. A miriga -a traditional Hararge song describing socio-political and cultural interrelationships (Woliye, 2019) -vividly describes the low social position of the smiths and other occupational groups, although the dominant agricultural Oromo use the products of these occupational groups. The miriga collected from oral informants runs as follows:…”