The Ethiopian revolution began in 1974, forcing large numbers of Ethiopians to flee their country for new locales abroad. In the forty years since that time, Ethiopians have migrated worldwide, establishing communities elsewhere in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Australia, and North America. Today the United States hosts the largest population of Ethiopians living outside their historical homeland; Ethiopians today constitute the second largest group of Africans (after Nigerians) to have arrived in the U.S. since 1965. This volume focuses on the processes through which multiple waves of immigrants have created the modern Ethiopian diaspora, particularly in the United States, and includes essays that document details of Ethiopian diaspora life from a wide array of disciplinary perspectives. Written by a cohort of scholars deeply engaged with Ethiopian studies both at home and abroad, the volume brings together contributions from history, anthropology, sociology, political science, literary studies, musicology, media studies, and art history, to explore the central role of Ethiopian creativity in establishing new communities abroad. 

Glossary 

Acknowledgements

Map of Ethiopia

Introduction

1. On Cultural Creativity in the Ethiopian Diaspora by Donald N. Levine

2. “Whatsupoch” on the Net: The Role of Information and Communication Technology
in the Shaping of Transnational Ethiopian Identity by Nancy J. Hafkin

3.  Vital Information at Your Fingertips: The Ethiopian Yellow Pages as a Cultural Document by Steven Kaplan

4.  Transnational Politics in Ethiopia: Diasporas and the 2005 Elections by Terrence Lyons

5.  Creating Sacred Space: Orthodox Churches of the Ethiopian American Diaspora by Marilyn E. Heldman

6.  Ethiopian Musical Invention in Diaspora: A Tale of Three Musicians by Kay Kaufman Shelemay

7.  Amharic Poetry of the Ethiopian Diaspora in America: A Sampler by Getatchew Haile

8. SÓ™dät, Migration, and Refugeeism as Portrayed in Ethiopian Song Lyrics by Solomon Addis Getahun

9.  Slow Awakening? The Ethiopian Diaspora in the Netherlands, 1977–2007 by Jan Abbink

10.  A Response: Doro Fänta: Creativity vs. Adaptation in the Ethiopian Diaspora by James C. McCann

Contributors’ Biographies

Index

Creating the Ethiopian Diaspora eloquently and brilliantly defines, expands, and complicates our understanding of Ethiopian culture across a broad, and all too often forgotten and poorly understood range of aesthetic practices. This is a seminal work of both cultural and diasporic studies.

—Dinaw Mengestu, MacArthur Fellow and author of The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears

This pioneering volume shines much needed scholarly light on the Ethiopian diaspora that is often marginalized in African diaspora studies, and its refreshing focus on diaspora creativity and consciousness powerfully enriches the field. 

—Paul Tiyambe Zeleza, author of In Search of African Diasporas: Testimonies and Encounters

Kay Kaufman Shelemay, G. Gordon Watts Professor of Music and Professor of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, is an ethnomusicologist who has carried out fieldwork in Ethiopia and with Ethiopians in the United States. She has published numerous books and articles on Ethiopian music, including the award-winning Music, Ritual, and Falasha History (Michigan State U, 1986/1989) and (co-edited with Peter Jeffery) the three-volume Ethiopian Christian Liturgical Chant: An Anthology (A-R Editions, 1994–1997). A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the 2007–2008 Chair for Modern Culture at the Library of Congress’s John W. Kluge Center, she has received fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.