Representation of Slavery and Class in Kafa Proverbs

Abstract

Slavery and class-based subjugation are key elements of human rights violations. They deprive the dignity of human beings and disrupt the fundamental human rights. This paper argues that violation of human rights is reflected in everyday use of language, such as proverbs in Kafa. Although proverbs maintain accepted socio-cultural values of a given society, they can be deliberately misused to spread prejudices and stereotypes that result in rights violations. Through informal interviews with selected informants from Kafa Zone, this study examined how proverbs in Kafa language serve as a means of communication in the community to show social hierarchy. Proverbs focusing on slavery were collected and translated into English, and then they were classified and analyzed. As the analysis shows, in the Kafa proverbs, people whose roots are traced to “slave” families and to a lower tribal class called Sheraaro are considered as those on the lower social strata hence imposing differential treatment. In the traditional Kafa society, there were class differences. These differences were based on economic and political power, and such differences were observed in Kafa proverbs. Other than clan/tribal differences, the Kafa people were categorized into three classes: the royal class (Iraasho), the ordinary clans (Sharaaro) and the slaves (Guuno). Based on these class differences, the Iraasho undermines both the Sharaaro and Guuno while the Sharaaro in turn disrespects the Guuno. Some of the Kafa proverbs maintain such a stereotypical category and stand against international and national human rights declarations.
Keywords: class, slavery, proverbs, Kafa, culture, oral literature