1.1 Belete Bizuneh’s historiographic work on Ethiopian women’s history

2As Belete Bizuneh noticed in 2002, bibliographies can be used as one means of illustrating the lack of historical studies dedicated to women. Using a bibliography produced in 1994 in the Journal of Ethiopian Studies, he noticed that out of a total of 494 papers published in the Proceedings of the International Conference of Ethiopian Studies (vols. 1–9 and 11), only 12 articles appeared in the index under “women”; the majority produced by anthropologists or sociologists and were ahistorical. They dealt with subjects such as women’s reproductive health and their roles and participation in crafts, education, and voluntary associations. The same was true of the Journal of Ethiopian Studies itself. The author shows that out of 311 entries only three of them concerned women: “one dealt with elite marriage at the Ethiopian court in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the second described the position of Hadiya women in Southern Ethiopia, and the third was a review of a book about Empress Ṭaytu.” He concluded by saying that, before the 1980s, only one journal seems to have taken an interest in women’s studies, The Ethiopia Observer, a newspaper founded by a feminist, promoter of Ethiopian women: Sylvia Pankhurst (1882–1960), that replaced the famous New Times and Ethiopian Times. However, Belete Bizuneh (2002) noticed that articles “tended to be sketchy, focusing mainly on the activities of elite women or women in urban centres” and that “the methodology used was not sophisticated” for the authors did not indicate their sources. These articles were however pioneers in the genre and unfortunately, the death of Sylvia Pankhurst in 1960, only four years after the establishment of the journal, “seems to have resulted in a decline in interest in women.”

3Belete Bizuneh also noticed, “the absence of institutions that direct and encourage research by students and scholars” on women and gender issues until the 2000s. The establishment of the Center for Research, Documentation, and Training on Women in Development (CERTWID) in 1990, and a new research grant for gender issues established by the Organization of Social Science Research for Eastern Africa (OSSREA), which is based in Addis Ababa, were promising signs for the future of the field. In his research, he regrets however that although some work on women, often outstanding, has been done as BA and MA theses at Addis Ababa University since the end of the 1990s’, unfortunately, most of these works remain unpublished. Many references published before 2002 can be found in the article published in the same year by the author quoted in this chapter.

1.2 Only few changes since 2002: a critical need to develop women’s history in Ethiopia

4If we applied the same methodology as that used by Belete Bizuneh to review the progress of the research conducted in history on Ethiopian women, it is still remarkable that only a few works have been added since 2002 till almost the end of the 2010s. In 2002, T. Fernyhough and A. Fernyhough published a chapter dedicated to “Women, Gender History, and Imperial Ethiopia.” Margaux Herman is one of the few historians of medieval and modern times to have chosen “women” as the core subject of all her studies. She produced in 2020 a state of the art of the researches undertaken on women’s history during the medieval times. Other scholars, like Anaïs Wion, Claire Bosc-Tiesse, or Habtamu M. Tegegne have given new insights into the history of women in the modern times while being interested in the historical approach of art history, diplomatic and properties documentation. Pierre Guidi, another historian, also published in the last decades studies on women and education from the 1950s up to 1991.

5In the online catalogue of Addis Ababa University consulted in 2018, only 18 master’s theses are specifically dedicated to women according to their titles. However, none of them were defended in the History Department, a fact that suggests that historians still neglect women as a topic worthy of study. In the bibliography drawn up by Jon Abbink, “The Anthropology of Ethiopia 1999–2011,” only eight entries contained the word “women” in their titles. In the annual “Ethiopia Bibliography” or “Bibliography” published in the International Journal of Ethiopian Studies from 2005 to 2012, one theme is dedicated to “Women and Children” and had a total of 58 articles including the term “women” in their title while only five were historical works. In 2012, a specific theme on gender was added with four entries (one being placed in anthropological works). Browsing the work of Jon Abbink “Ethiopian-Eritrean Studies, a Bibliography on Society and History: 2010–2015,” studies using the word “women” in their title numbered 67 entries out of more than 700 entries, and among these, ten articles added a historical approach to their studies. In this bibliography, there are no specific themes dedicated to women and in the index only “refugee women” and “artist women” are specified. In “Ethiopian-Eritrean Studies, a Bibliography on Society and History: 2016–2022,” compiled by the same author, there are no specific entries dedicated to women or gender issues, and in the history section only 23 out of 630 articles deal with women or gender. Of these, 6 were written by contributors of this volume (four by M. Herman and two by S. Bruzzi) and 10 others are related to migrant communities. In the other sections, 130 articles focus on women or gender. The gap in historical studies dedicated to women still needs to be filled. Women’s history is dealt with in various types of sources or historical works, but has not yet been the subject of in-depth studies in its own right. Progress is being made and more articles and essays have been published since 2018, although few in the field of history.

2.1 Ethiopian written sources

6For medieval and post-medieval studies, besides biblical, liturgical and hagiographical texts, royal chronicles are the oldest of the Ethiopic written sources that are at the disposal of scholars engaged in the study of Ethiopian history. By their very nature, the chronicles, which are the works of priests constructed under the control of the kings, tend to be androcentric. Women principally appear only in connection with marriage alliances or in their involvement in court intrigues; they also appear as sponsors of foundations, religious movements or as regents.

7It is also important, as Donald Crummey showed, later followed by Habtamu M. Tegegne, to focus attention on the marginalia of the churches’ manuscripts whose contents include useful information on land properties, marriages, adoptions, inheritances and donations. It is helpful in drawing genealogies of the local community where women were and became important characters. On another level, as noticed by S. Kaplan and more recently by Mersha Alehegne, hagiographies also give a good insight into women’s position in society. Though few studies have been undertaken into a careful reading of this type of religious text, they contain some data on the daily life of women, from the commoners to the elites. Some of the rare pieces of research undertaken have for instance showed that one of the concerns of medieval women was the problem of infertility as a major health issue.

8For contemporaneous history, newspapers are by far one of the most important categories of written sources, indispensable in the reconstruction of women and gender history. Although newspaper production goes back to the early decades of the 20th century, the most useful would be those published since 1941. One of these papers, Addis Zämän (አዲስ ዘመን; “New Era” in English), for example, has appeared regularly since 1941-42, and, at times, has contained biographies of prominent women as those who participated in the patriotic resistance against Italian rule. Addis Zämän and other newspapers carried writings by men and women regarding various issues such as marriage, women’s liberation, debates over “proper” and “improper” dress, the hardship of prostitutes, advertisements, etc. These newspapers helped in understanding the popular perceptions about gender relations, as well as the changes that occurred over time.

9The second type of source, but equally useful, are the private and state archives. They are difficult to access and use. They are kept in different places, they are mostly not well catalogued, or organised, and their state of preservation is usually not good. Hopefully, digitisation will facilitate their access in the near future. For example, the digitisation project “African Worker on file” lead by the International Institute of Social History based in Amsterdam and involving Ethiopian partners will allow scholars to draw promising research on the archives of the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions (CETU). However, research will depend highly on the catalogue that accompanies the archives to render their use more accessible. The study of the legal system and customary laws is also fruitful in approaching the position of women in the society. In that sense, the work of Helen Pankhurst in 1992 is one of the rarest providing an analysis of the impact of the state policies defining state-peasantry relations and their effects on gender relations.

2.2 Ethiopian oral sources

10Women’s life histories and the biographical approach with the use of oral testimony help to fill lacunae in published sources; however, one shall notice that this has limitations in researching earlier periods. On the medieval and post-medieval periods, scholars can retrieve genealogies and compare them to written sources, if available. From folktales and stories, researchers can gather information on marriage, kinship, and social expectations regarding women’s behaviour, as such issues are discussed in allegorical forms. The researcher would have to be careful, as folktales might appear timeless but in fact they change over time, depending on the people who tell them or to whom the story was told. However, they still reflect the cultural ideas and customs of the time and area in which they are recited.

11For the recent past, especially for the study of both elites and ordinary women, oral sources are valuable as showcased by the biographical interview of Zenebework Tadesse in 2013 or in the work of Marta Camilla Wright on nuns. Oral traditions, personal and family histories both at regional and local levels offer priceless information. The works of Anne Cassiers is in that sense fruitful. Nevertheless, conducting interviews or recording oral history should follow a strict methodological approach in order to be used properly and reduce the bias for analysing them. All researchers should be prepared in advance and make a good balance between the good and bad aspects of all challenging questions before, during and after conducting the interview: maintaining the informant’s privacy, sharing the researcher’s own comparable information, hiring an interpreter from the local area, the problems of language and translation, the choice of interviewee, the balance between asking questions and free-form stories, the payment (or not) of the people interviewed, the issue of gender (of both the researcher and the interviewees), the need to create a space for women to talk freely in case of male intrusion, etc. Moreover, women and men have different stories to tell because their own experiences may differ according to gender: they may not remember or experience events (e.g. weddings, work, wars) in the same way, whether inside or outside the domestic sphere. As well, the level of education of the women may also have consequences on the amount of data collected.

12Proverbs, sayings, poems, and songs that are performed at various occasions such as births, weddings, and funerals are another substantial source of data. For example, Eyayu Lulseged, quoted in Belete Bizuneh’s article, has used contemporary Amharic songs from the 1950s to 1970s “to show popular perceptions and views regarding social, economic, and political processes in the country.” Considering the majority of the rural population continues to be illiterate, it is of particular importance. Scholars, however, must use a strict methodology when using them, identifying authorship and periodising the tradition. Scholars can also use historical linguistics to examine changing patterns in women’s roles.

2.3 Archaeology and material culture and techniques

13Combining the traditional research method of a close reading of textual documents with the study of the architecture of homes and communities can be fruitful for history. This combined approach has been proven for the study of the history of women in European, American and African contexts as well. Archaeological evidence is also a way to understand the division of labour in early societies, though evidence collected through archaeological research does not prove that women or men did particular work, but only provides a basis for analysis. Nevertheless, archaeologists can help retrieve some of that earlier history. Items such as pots, jewelry, and other material goods can provide evidence about women’s activities in earlier historical periods. The study of craftmanship, such as weaving techniques, is also useful in terms of approach: noting for example evolutions in designs and techniques can also reveal interesting data in a long-term perspective. In other African countries, the study of tattoo designs, the evolution in fashion, the location on women’s bodies and the physical space they inhabited have been used as historical “documents.” Finally, both the production of art and the representation of women in artistic images can also add to our knowledge of women’s roles in history, but have been barely studied.

2.4 Foreign sources

14A variety of foreign sources are available for the historian interested in gender relations and women’s studies in Ethiopia. Accounts by travellers, missionaries, and diplomats are accessible from the Middle Ages up to today, especially flourishing from the last quarter of the 19th century. However, a specific methodological approach has to be used as many of the authors resided in the country for only a short period of time, and therefore their accounts tend to lack details and be ethnocentric. Many of them had few direct interactions with local people due to language barriers, were restricted only to the court or concentrated on the northern and central parts of the country. Despite these limitations, foreigners described what they saw and sometimes customs, events or details that were too common to be mentioned in local sources. Therefore, if interpretations of what they witnessed must be used cautiously, their accounts described various issues related to the life of women in the country. Belete Bizuneh highlighted in his article some of the travellers’ accounts to be used; such as Nathaniel Pearce, Mansfield Parkyns, and the D’Abbadie brothers; as they stayed in the country for longer periods and learned to speak the local languages. He especially recommended to have a look at the work of Augustus Wylde for he had “a keen eye for gender relations, (…) visited northern Ethiopia a number of times in the 1880s and 1890s, described women’s household and agricultural activity, the dress and jewellery of various classes of men and women, and the life of children and childrearing.” Belete Bizuneh also pointed out the necessity to search for information in female travellers’ accounts when studying issues relating to women. In the late 1980s, Yvonne Knibiehler and Régine Goutalier, quoted by K. Sheldon, recognised that “sources from European women are very different from male sources.” For the Ethiopian case, the work of Rosita Forbes, a British woman who travelled on a mule from Dire Dawa to northwestern Ethiopia and thence to Massawa can be mentioned.

15According to Belete Bizuneh “in the post-Italian period, the number of travel accounts with ethnological information seems to have declined.” However, he recommended to have a look at works written by expatriates who worked in Ethiopia, providing the example of David Talbot who was interested in the “changing attitudes toward marriage, beauty, and work in the capital city.” Foreign sources also include archives (diplomatic mainly) and newspapers such as Life Magazine. Finally, reports of the international organisations can also be used to define issues concerning women and their evolution through time since the 1990s.