Gorfaynta silsiladdii deelley

Baadhis

2012

299 p.

9789198010107

A study in the poetic chain Deelley, is a review of a major literary event in the modern Somali cultural history. It is an old Somali tradition to have a poetic duel that start with two poets and end with a long chain of poems participated by many poets. This kind of chain is called 'Silsilad' in Somali. Deelley was the most famous Somali poetic duel in recent history. The poetic duel of Deelley has left an endilabe mark in the Somali literature that after more than thirty years to the event itself there are many who still want to know and understand the chain. Therefore, it will be fair to say this body of study is a long-awaited work indeed.This study has given a particular importance to look into both sides of the Deelley poetic duel argument and tried to provide answers to the many questions that people who are interested in the Deelley chain might pose, such as: What was this coded poetic chain was really about? What and where was the conflict between the participants originated from? Why do they have such a differing opinions about their country and its state of affairs? What was the effect of this kind of debate in the society as a whole and in politics in particular? Has the opinions expressed in the Deelley chain contributed or has anything to do with the long lasting civil war in Somalia? The peiod between 1970s and the 1980s was an eventful era for Somalia and its people. A whole regions of the country was placed under military curfew and any dissenting voices were dealt harshly. In all indications Somalia was facing the abyss. In the year 1979/1980 some of the most prominent Somali poets began to speak out and critisise the state of the country. The late Mohamed Hashi Dhamac "Gaarriye" and Mohamed Ibraahim Warsame "Hadraawi", two of the most famous and outspoken Somali poets, were at the time living and working in Mogadishu. They were both critics of the regime and they foresaw the danger that their country was sleepwalking into. But it was too dangerous to anyone to speak out openly. The two poets decided to use other means, poetry, to convey their message to the public and warn the impending danger. The message was: the country needed a profound political change. So the poetic duel of Deelley began and from the depth of despair has risen one of the greatest Somali poetic chains in history. Some poets saw what Gaarriye and Hadraawi have seen and added more meat to the bones of the two gaint's arguments, but other poets saw the argument differently and decided to use their poetry skills to launch counter offensive against the other side. So almost all known Somali poets said their word in the great argument at the great poetic duel of the Deelley chain. The Deelley poetic duel was the fiercest, hottest and longest poetry argument in Somali history. That is why it is dubbed as "the war of words".

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