Orality and written documentation in the history of the Horn of Africa

This presentation has two aims. On one hand, to introduce the recent developments in the teaching of Ethiopian history and languages at the University of Bologna (see the two courses we recently opened "Lingue e letterature dell'Etiopia" and "Lingue e storia dell'Africa orientale"). On the other hand, I would like to propose some remarks on modern Ethiopian history as reflected in the recent historiography dealing with the use of Ethiopian written sources, and at the same time pose an evaluation of the historiography produced from the last decade of the 19th century up to the end of colonial rule. The focus will be on how historians have treated Ethiopian languages - Amharic first of all - as a source for history, paying particular attention to the new methodological perspectives that this approach has produced.