() is a genre of improvised

oral poetry Oral poetry is a form of poetry that is composed and transmitted without the aid of writing. The complex relationships between written and spoken literature in some societies can make this definition hard to maintain. Background Oral poetry is ...

from

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

. The genre originates in the

Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church () is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Christian churches in Africa originating before European colonization of the continent, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church dates bac ...

, which historically provided traditional religious education, including the composition of qene. Its origins are supposed to date back to the 14th century.

Elements

''Sam-ena-warq''

The defining characteristic of qene is a literary device known as ''sem-ena-werq'' (), which uses

ambiguity Ambiguity is the type of meaning (linguistics), meaning in which a phrase, statement, or resolution is not explicitly defined, making for several interpretations; others describe it as a concept or statement that has no real reference. A com ...

to layer hidden meanings within the text; the term refers to an obvious meaning (the wax) above a deeper meaning (the gold). In the process of

goldsmith A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Modern goldsmiths mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, they have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), plat ...

ing, a clay cast is made around wax, after which the wax is drained and molten gold is poured into the cast. This device is similar to a

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, one of which is typically obvious, and the other often conveys a message that would be too socially unacc ...

, and is predicated on multiple meanings of individual words or sentences.

''Wista weira''

''Wista weira'' () is a literary device similar to ''sem-ena-werq'', though less common. While it also uses ambiguity to provide hidden meanings, its ambiguity comes from interpretation of the qene as a whole, rather than words or sentences.

History

Origin claims

Tradition credits its invention to Tawanay of

Gojjam Gojjam ( ''gōjjām'', originally ጐዛም ''gʷazzam'', later ጐዣም ''gʷažžām'', ጎዣም ''gōžžām'') is a historical provincial kingdom in northwestern Ethiopia, with its capital city at Debre Markos. During the 18th century, G ...

, who is said to have lived in the 14th century and founded the famous Qene school of Gonj. Other tradition claims further back to

Yared Saint Yared ( Ge'ez: ቅዱስ ያሬድ; 25 April 505 – 20 May 571) was an Aksumite composer in the 6th century. Often credited with being the forerunner of traditional music of Ethiopia, he developed the music of the Ethiopian Orthodox Ch ...

, a 6th-century

Aksumite The Kingdom of Aksum, or the Aksumite Empire, was a kingdom in East Africa and South Arabia from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, based in what is now northern Ethiopia and Eritrea, and spanning present-day Djibouti and Sudan. Emerging ...

composer.

Earliest documentation

The earliest specimens of qene

extant Extant or Least-concern species, least concern is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Exta ...

date back to the late 15th century to the reign of Emperor

Eskender Eskender (, "Alexander"; 15 July 1471 – 7 May 1494) was Emperor of Ethiopia and a member of the Solomonic dynasty. His throne name was Kwestantinos II (Ge’ez: ቈስታንቲኖስ, "Constantine"). He was the son of Emperor Baeda Maryam I by ...

(1478–94).

Qene schools

Qene has always been associated with Amhara culture and people, although it was originally composed in Ge'ez. The main qene schools have always been located in Amhara areas, such as Gonj and Washara monasteries in Gojjam, at

Gondar Gondar, also spelled Gonder (Amharic: ጎንደር, ''Gonder'' or ''Gondär''; formerly , ''Gʷandar'' or ''Gʷender''), is a city and woreda in Ethiopia. Located in the North Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region, Gondar is north of Lake Tana on ...

town in Begemder,

Sayint Sayint (), also known as Amhara Sayint (), is a district in the Amhara Region, Ethiopia. It is named after the historical district of Amhara Sayint which was located in the same area. Part of the South Wollo Zone, Sayint is bordered on the south b ...

Wollo Wollo (Amharic: ወሎ) was a historical province of northern Ethiopia. During the Middle Ages this province name was Bete Amhara and it was the centre of the Solomonic emperors. Bete Amhara had an illustrious place in Ethiopian political and ...

and Wadla monastery in

Lasta Lasta (Amharic: ላስታ ''lāstā'') is a historic province in northern Ethiopia located in the Amhara Region. It is the province in which Lalibela is situated, the former capital of Ethiopia during the Zagwe dynasty and home to 11 medieval roc ...

. The rules and style of qene were historically taught as part of religious education in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, in the level of schooling known as ''qene bet'' (“house of poetry”). Well-known modern Ethiopian poets include

Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin (; 17 August 1936 – 25 February 2006) was an Ethiopian poet and novelist. His novels and poems evoke retrospective narratives, fanciful epics, and nationalistic connotations. Gabre-Medhin is considered to be one of the most ...

Kebede Michael Kebede Michael (; 2 November 1916 – 12 November 1998) was an Ethiopian-born author of both fiction and non-fiction literature. He is widely regarded as one of the most prolific and versatile intellectuals of modern Ethiopia – he was a poet, pl ...

, and Mengistu Lemma.

Themes

''Sem-ena-werq'' in religious qene represents the theological dualism of

Miaphysitism Miaphysitism () is the Christological doctrine that holds Jesus, the Incarnate Word, is fully divine and fully human, in one nature ('' physis'', ). It is a position held by the Oriental Orthodox Churches. It differs from the Dyophysitism of ...

of the

Oriental Orthodox Churches The Oriental Orthodox Churches are Eastern Christian churches adhering to Miaphysite Christology, with approximately 50 million members worldwide. The Oriental Orthodox Churches adhere to the Nicene Christian tradition. Oriental Orthodoxy is ...

. These poems were composed for religious events and church activities. Secular qene was historically used to subtly insult and criticize those in positions of authority.

References

Ethiopian poetry Ethiopian literature {{Ethiopia-stub