Somalia Bibliography

[Constantine MMX]

An educational film, rather than a book, but still appropriate to the theme of the topic:

Award-winning ethnoarchaeological film documents the complete sequence of pottery production and use at Buur Heybe, “The Hill of the Potter’s Sand”, in southern Somalia. The Potters of Buur Heybe portrays the complete life cycle of earthenware pottery manufacture and use, places the pottery in its social and economic context, and considers the roles of gender, symbolism, agency and religion in the process. Although oral tradition credits women for first discovering the natural qualities of the highly valued local clay, it is only the men who create the wide range of beautifully decorated drinking, cooking and storage vessels. Women quarry and transport the clay to the village where men make and decorate the vessels using the coil method on a foot-turned wooden plate.

The pots are fired in open air pyres, and distributed both locally and regionally where they are used, recycled and discarded by farmers, pastoralists, and townspeople. Short, technologically fascinating, and ethnographically rich, Potters of Buur Heybe is an excellent film for both undergraduate and graduate courses in anthropology and archaeology, including methods, technology, material culture, ethnography, and arts. -- Source

[Constantine MMX]

Wavin’ Flag” has become an international anthem. Its powerful words of hope have crossed generations and borders, and have made K’NAAN an international star.

In his first book for children, When I Get Older, Somali-Canadian poet, rapper, singer, and songwriter K’NAAN tells his own story. Born in Somalia, he grew up in Mogadishu. His grandfather was a renowned poet who passed on his love of words to his grandson. When the Somali Civil War began in 1991, K’NAAN was just thirteen. His mother made the difficult decision to move her family so that they could grow up in safety. First in New York and then in Toronto, K’NAAN faced many challenges.

Like so many other immigrants, he had to make a place for himself in a world of alien customs, clothes, and language. His road was a hard one: he lost many friends to violence. But K’NAAN’s love of music, and his enormous talent, became a way for him to connect with his past, with his classmates, and eventually, to millions of people around the world. Not only does K’NAAN tell a story that will inspire and encourage young readers, but he provides a brief history of the Somalian conflict. The lyrics of “Wavin’ Flag” are also included.

Born Keinan Abdi Warsame, K’NAAN first came to prominence when he performed a spoken word piece before the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in 1999. A member of the audience, the singer Youssou N’Dour, was so impressed that he asked K’NAAN to take part in an album and to tour with him.

Since then, K’NAAN has performed in more than 86 countries and has received many honors, including three Juno Awards and the BBC Radio 3 Award for World Music. During the Vancouver Olympics, he worked with other Canadian musicians and artists under the name Young Artists for Haiti to produce a charity version of “Wavin’ Flag.” The song was adapted again to become the FIFA World Cup theme song. There are now twenty-two versions of the song, which hit #1 in nineteen countries. -- Source

[Constantine MMX]

A record of Somali radio's early years, from its beginnings in 1941 through to the 1960s when it had become a highly successful and dynamic form of mass communication. A welcome and rare piece of reference material for students of social history and broadcast journalism. -- Source

[Constantine MMX]

This is a completely new edition of the only scholarly work on the poetry of popular and mass culture among a people who are renowned for their passion for poetry. Johnson traces the heello movement from its origins as a youth culture which in its early days was concerned with themes of love and pleasure. It later became the medium for freedom songs in the preindependence period, for the expression of modern political ideas, political protest, rallying songs and social comment, many examples of which are cited in this volume. Heello became the most dynamic form of Somali poetry in this century. -- Source

[Waaberi]

Constantine since you opened pandora box, i want to include Articles from Journals as well.

Atrocious misery: the African origins of famine in northern Somalia, 1839-1884.
Durrill WK.

this articles i believe has great importance to somalia history. it not only chronicles the rise of the Majeerteen Sultanates and its often contentious relationship with all the surrounding somalia clans but also the socio-economic dynamics of this region of somalia before the british built their military outpost in Aden and create a demand for livestock from somalia. the subsequent transformation of an egalitarian society to one in which you have a few wealthy merchant and thousands of debts, a mode of living that was sustainable but because of greed leaded to two famines in 1860 and 1880s. and eventually the ellipse of this Sultanate by the rise of Hargayso economically and the rise of both Hobyo and the Daraawish state politically, ideologically and militarily.