THE IMAGE OF WOMAN'S SEXUALITY IN TIGRIGNA ORAL POETRY

Abstract

Purpose: This article aimed at investigating the image of a woman in Tigrigna oral poetry and gender relationship in the Tigrigna community through the milieu of the image of woman's sexuality.

Methods: The study was carried out through qualitative data collection. The primary data for this study has been collected from field work and the secondary data has been collected from scholarly writings and relevant documents written about the Tigrigna oral poetry.

Results: The significance of this study is enormous as it sheds light in to the deep-rooted cultural connotations regarding women as subordinates or downright inferior to men. The study has also contributed in identifying prevalent attitudes regarding women representation in the Tigrigna oral poetry.

Recommendations: The study recommended that it is of paramount importance that one looks critically into the context of the oral poems and songs and attempt to correct them in a way they serve the modern day gender relationships of the contemporary Tigrigna society. Culture is a societal heritage and oral songs and poems constitute a bulk of the literature that harbors it. As such it should benefit the society by which it is made and to which it is designed to benefit. This can be done only with critical analysis and polishing of the literature from time to time, thereby creating awareness in the society that uses it to address the issues that might portray a section of its members, such as women in an adverse manner. Children who grow up hearing and reciting those songs and poems should be put in to consideration because their gender relationship will be influenced by the image of a woman in their oral poems and songs.

Keywords: Image, woman's sexuality, Tigrigna, oral poetry