ISSN: 2360-7831

 International Journal of English Literature and Culture
 

International Journal of English Literature and Culture

Vol. 7(5), pp. 121-129, August, 2019

 ISSN: 2360-7831

DOI: 10.14662/IJELC2019.097

Review paper

The main objective of this paper is to survey out Ge’ez literature specifically studying Ethiopian hagiographies to see what influence they put to modern Ethiopian literature. Ethiopian literature has aged about two millennia. Ge’ez literature, started by Saint Yared before 1500 years ago, is the prominent feature of Ethiopian literature. Before the introduction and expansion of Christianity, the habit of writing on stones and other hard materials was introduced in Ethiopia. After the maturity of Christianity, the attention was turned to write on soft materials like parchment. St. Yared, The Nine Saints and St. Salama were major literary figures of the Ancient Period. The literature reached at its highest point of development during the medieval historical period. A number of great figures with their magnificently enlightened works were raised in the period. The era is termed as the “Golden Age” of Ethiopian literature for the quality and quantity of works and writers. Indigenous works, in addition to translation, was peculiar feature of the period. Among many others, hagiography which records saintly lives, acts and the honor shown to saints is major literary genre. Having inspirational sense controller stories, hagiographies are well composed and arranged in a range of literariness. In the early stages of modern Ethiopian literature, Ethiopian didactic prose fictions were observed highly influenced by the tradition of hagiographic writing. Ethiopian hagiographies can exert substantial impact on the country’s literary thinking. Although hagiography is a compilation of facts to believers, it is rich in literary features since it qualifies aspects of novel and literary techniques.

Key Words: Hagiography, Ge’ez literature, literariness, Medieval Ethiopian literature, Golden Age of Ethiopian literature  

 
Cite This Article As: Dawit G (2019). Ge’ez Literature and Medieval Ethiopian Hagiographies in the course of Ethiopian Literature. Inter.  J. Eng. Lit. Cult. 7(5): 121-129