Legitimization of a Pretender to the Throne

This paper presents the edition of a short bilingual Amharic-French biography of Tafari/ Hāyla Sellāsē published in Ethiopia in 1930. This biography, published by the Ethiopian government, is a panegyric text aiming at presenting the life and the political actions of Tafari Makwannen until he became King of kings of Ethiopia, in a way, which shows the continuous and development of his career towards the highest levels of power. This text is one of the first examples of the official narrative on the legitimacy of Tafari as King of kings of Ethiopia. The historiographical aspect is extremely important and this text deserves publication. This paper aims at contributing to our knowledge and understanding of the creation of an official Ethiopian historiography in 20th century history. Because of its historiographical significance, the original text in Amharic is presented together with its original translation in French and a new translation in English, both with annotations. The English translation aims at presenting the characteristics of this text to non-French and non-Amharic speakers. The annotations highlight the work done by the French translator and offer a critical analysis of the contents of the text

Amharic · Art · Biography · Historiography · Linguistics · Literature · Narrative · Panegyric · Poetry · Political science · Politics · Throne · African history and culture analysis · African history and culture studies · African Studies and Geopolitics · Classics · History · Law · Philosophy

• Refashioning the Ethiopian Monarchy in the Twentieth Century

  Sara Marzagora•Global Intellectual History•2020

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