Aim of the Conference
In Search of Zera Yacob will be the first international and interdisciplinary conference on two remarkable philosophical texts from early modern Ethiopia, the Ḥatäta Zär’a Ya‛ǝqob and the Ḥatäta Walda Heywat. These texts have fascinated and puzzled alike on account of their philosophical depth, beauty and apparent historical singularity. They have been called the ‘jewel of Ethiopian literature’, and served to demonstrate, in the words of Claude Sumner, that “modern philosophy, in the sense of a personal rationalistic critical investigation, began in Ethiopia with Zera Yacob at the same time as in England and in France”.
This conference aims to examine the ideas, language and history of the Ḥatäta Zär’a Ya‛ǝqob by putting scholars from across the world, and across disciplinary boundaries, into dialogue. It aims to stimulate a productive discussion between scholars from philosophy, history, philology, and Ethiopian studies, and to serve as a prolegomenon to broader philosophical study of the Ḥatäta Zär’a Ya‛ǝqob. Contributors to the conference will explore the text's philosophical arguments and their significance, the historical context of intellectual exchanges in Ethiopia, issues of translation and the forging of philosophical vocabularies, notions of authorship and authenticity in philosophical writing, the legacy of colonialism for Ethiopian studies, and the methodology of a truly global history of philosophy.
One of the guiding threads of the conference is the century-long controversy over the authorship of the Ḥatäta Zär’a Ya‛ǝqob and the Ḥatäta Walda Heywat: do the texts have a genuine 17th century Ethiopian authorship, as asserted in the texts, or was the supposed ‘discoverer’ of the texts, the Capuchin missionary Giusto da Urbino, in fact their secret author? In addition to bringing new research to bear on this debate, we hope that the conference will provide an opportunity to analyse the history and politics of this controversy, from the first scholars who admired and enthusiastically catalogued and edited the texts in the early 20th century, to its rejection by Carlo Conti Rossini, an orientalist, and apologist for the fascist invasion of Ethiopia, and the reassertion of a 17th century authorship by Almeyahu Moges, Amsalu Alkilu and Claude Sumner in the 1970s. We hope also to explore the suggestions of scholars such as Binyam Mekkonen that the Ḥatäta Zär’a Ya‛ǝqob, ‘authentic’ or not, can obscure other rich philosophical resources to be found elsewhere in Ethiopian literature. The conference will thus also provide an opportunity to interrogate the often fraught and often ideological underpinnings of these arguments, examining the role of colonial knowledge production in shaping the controversy, and the history of Ethiopian studies at large. Addressing this controversy with an eye to its troubled history is important if the Ḥatäta is to receive the attention it deserves.
Further study of the Ḥatäta Zär’a Ya‛ǝqob might have profound implications for the history and historiography of philosophy in Africa and in a global orientation, for understanding processes of philosophical translation and connected intellectual histories, as well as the history of Ge’ez philology and literature.
This conference aims to examine the ideas, language and history of the Ḥatäta Zär’a Ya‛ǝqob by putting scholars from across the world, and across disciplinary boundaries, into dialogue. It aims to stimulate a productive discussion between scholars from philosophy, history, philology, and Ethiopian studies, and to serve as a prolegomenon to broader philosophical study of the Ḥatäta Zär’a Ya‛ǝqob. Contributors to the conference will explore the text's philosophical arguments and their significance, the historical context of intellectual exchanges in Ethiopia, issues of translation and the forging of philosophical vocabularies, notions of authorship and authenticity in philosophical writing, the legacy of colonialism for Ethiopian studies, and the methodology of a truly global history of philosophy.
One of the guiding threads of the conference is the century-long controversy over the authorship of the Ḥatäta Zär’a Ya‛ǝqob and the Ḥatäta Walda Heywat: do the texts have a genuine 17th century Ethiopian authorship, as asserted in the texts, or was the supposed ‘discoverer’ of the texts, the Capuchin missionary Giusto da Urbino, in fact their secret author? In addition to bringing new research to bear on this debate, we hope that the conference will provide an opportunity to analyse the history and politics of this controversy, from the first scholars who admired and enthusiastically catalogued and edited the texts in the early 20th century, to its rejection by Carlo Conti Rossini, an orientalist, and apologist for the fascist invasion of Ethiopia, and the reassertion of a 17th century authorship by Almeyahu Moges, Amsalu Alkilu and Claude Sumner in the 1970s. We hope also to explore the suggestions of scholars such as Binyam Mekkonen that the Ḥatäta Zär’a Ya‛ǝqob, ‘authentic’ or not, can obscure other rich philosophical resources to be found elsewhere in Ethiopian literature. The conference will thus also provide an opportunity to interrogate the often fraught and often ideological underpinnings of these arguments, examining the role of colonial knowledge production in shaping the controversy, and the history of Ethiopian studies at large. Addressing this controversy with an eye to its troubled history is important if the Ḥatäta is to receive the attention it deserves.
Further study of the Ḥatäta Zär’a Ya‛ǝqob might have profound implications for the history and historiography of philosophy in Africa and in a global orientation, for understanding processes of philosophical translation and connected intellectual histories, as well as the history of Ge’ez philology and literature.
Invited speakers
Dr Teshome Abera (Addis Ababa Science and Technology University)
Prof. Peter Adamson (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich/King's College London)
Mr Eyasu Berento (Kotebe Metropolitan University)
Dr Ralph Lee (SOAS)
Prof. John Marenbon (University of Cambridge)
Mr Binyam Mekonnen (Addis Ababa University)
Dr Fasil Merawi (Addis Ababa University)
Prof. Justin E. H. Smith (University of Paris 7 - Denis Diderot)
Prof. Neelam Srivastava (Newcastle University)
Dr Anaïs Wion (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)
About the invited speakers:
Teshome Abera Tessema, Ph.D. in Sociology, has published research articles on Ethiopianism, Indigenous knowledge, Yoga, and Ethiopian philosophy. He has also published a book on Globalization, Michel Foucault, Power and the Knowledge Nexus and a textbook on Logic. Currently, he is serving as an assistant professor at Addis Ababa Science and Technology University.
Peter Adamson is Professor of Late Ancient and Arabic Philosophy at the LMU in Munich. His main area of speciality is the reception of Greek philosophy in the Islamic world, and in this area he has written many articles and three monographs. He has also edited and co-edited numerous books, including volumes for Cambridge University Press, the Warburg Institute, and the Institute of Classical Studies. He is the author of the book series "History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps", which appears with Oxford University Press.
Eyasu Berento is a young scholar who completed his BA and MA degrees in philosophy at Addis Ababa University. He has worked as lecturer of Philosophy at Aksum University (2011-2016), before working at and chairing the department of Philosophy at Mekelle University (2016-2020). He is lecturer of philosophy at Kotebe Metropolitan University (April 2020-present). As a researcher, he has participated in several national and international conferences with two peer reviewed journal articles, two book chapters, about six proceedings and other forthcoming publications.
Ralph Lee has a PhD in the Study of Religions from SOAS. He has worked in Ethiopia for a total of 16 years teaching both chemical engineering and theology in Ethiopia. Most recently he was teaching at the Ethiopian Orthodox Church’s Holy Trinity Theological College, from 2008-2014. Since returning to the UK he has taught and supervised research at SOAS, Cambridge, and within the Cambridge Theological Federation (Wesley House, Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies), and has developed teaching on many aspects of contemporary Africa, with a focus on the interaction between Christian traditions, and those traditions with Islam.
John Marenbon was educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he has been a fellow since 1978. He is also Honorary Professor of Medieval Philosophy in the University of Cambridge and Visiting Professor at the Università della Svizzera Italiana. His recent publications include Pagans and Philosophers. The Problem of Paganism from Augustine to Leibniz (Princeton, 2015) and Medieval Philosophy. A very short introduction (Oxford, 2016).
Binyam Mekonnen is Lecturer at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, and the chairperson of the Department of Philosophy. His main research areas focus on social and political philosophy, liberation philosophy and theology, critical theory and Ethiopian philosophy.
Fasil Merawi is an assistant professor of philosophy at Addis Ababa University. He obtained his B.A, M.A and PhD degrees in philosophy from Addis Ababa University. His areas of interest include postmetaphysical thinking, fundamental ontology and utopia and Otherness.
Justin E. H. Smith is professor of philosophy in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Paris. In 2019-20, he was the John and Constance Birkelund Fellow at the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers of the New York Public Library.
Neelam Srivastava is Professor of Postcolonial and World Literature at Newcastle University. She is interested in the cultural history of Italian imperialism, South Asian literature, anticolonial and liberationist writing (she has worked on Antonio Gramsci and Frantz Fanon in particular), and postcolonial print cultures.
Anaïs Wion is researcher at the CNRS, in Paris (France) and a specialist of Medieval and Pre-modern Ethiopian history. Working on literacy and the social value of written documents, she dedicated a study to the academic roles of the Hatata Zar’a Ya’eqob.
Prof. Peter Adamson (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich/King's College London)
Mr Eyasu Berento (Kotebe Metropolitan University)
Dr Ralph Lee (SOAS)
Prof. John Marenbon (University of Cambridge)
Mr Binyam Mekonnen (Addis Ababa University)
Dr Fasil Merawi (Addis Ababa University)
Prof. Justin E. H. Smith (University of Paris 7 - Denis Diderot)
Prof. Neelam Srivastava (Newcastle University)
Dr Anaïs Wion (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)
About the invited speakers:
Teshome Abera Tessema, Ph.D. in Sociology, has published research articles on Ethiopianism, Indigenous knowledge, Yoga, and Ethiopian philosophy. He has also published a book on Globalization, Michel Foucault, Power and the Knowledge Nexus and a textbook on Logic. Currently, he is serving as an assistant professor at Addis Ababa Science and Technology University.
Peter Adamson is Professor of Late Ancient and Arabic Philosophy at the LMU in Munich. His main area of speciality is the reception of Greek philosophy in the Islamic world, and in this area he has written many articles and three monographs. He has also edited and co-edited numerous books, including volumes for Cambridge University Press, the Warburg Institute, and the Institute of Classical Studies. He is the author of the book series "History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps", which appears with Oxford University Press.
Eyasu Berento is a young scholar who completed his BA and MA degrees in philosophy at Addis Ababa University. He has worked as lecturer of Philosophy at Aksum University (2011-2016), before working at and chairing the department of Philosophy at Mekelle University (2016-2020). He is lecturer of philosophy at Kotebe Metropolitan University (April 2020-present). As a researcher, he has participated in several national and international conferences with two peer reviewed journal articles, two book chapters, about six proceedings and other forthcoming publications.
Ralph Lee has a PhD in the Study of Religions from SOAS. He has worked in Ethiopia for a total of 16 years teaching both chemical engineering and theology in Ethiopia. Most recently he was teaching at the Ethiopian Orthodox Church’s Holy Trinity Theological College, from 2008-2014. Since returning to the UK he has taught and supervised research at SOAS, Cambridge, and within the Cambridge Theological Federation (Wesley House, Institute for Orthodox Christian Studies), and has developed teaching on many aspects of contemporary Africa, with a focus on the interaction between Christian traditions, and those traditions with Islam.
John Marenbon was educated at Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he has been a fellow since 1978. He is also Honorary Professor of Medieval Philosophy in the University of Cambridge and Visiting Professor at the Università della Svizzera Italiana. His recent publications include Pagans and Philosophers. The Problem of Paganism from Augustine to Leibniz (Princeton, 2015) and Medieval Philosophy. A very short introduction (Oxford, 2016).
Binyam Mekonnen is Lecturer at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, and the chairperson of the Department of Philosophy. His main research areas focus on social and political philosophy, liberation philosophy and theology, critical theory and Ethiopian philosophy.
Fasil Merawi is an assistant professor of philosophy at Addis Ababa University. He obtained his B.A, M.A and PhD degrees in philosophy from Addis Ababa University. His areas of interest include postmetaphysical thinking, fundamental ontology and utopia and Otherness.
Justin E. H. Smith is professor of philosophy in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Paris. In 2019-20, he was the John and Constance Birkelund Fellow at the Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers of the New York Public Library.
Neelam Srivastava is Professor of Postcolonial and World Literature at Newcastle University. She is interested in the cultural history of Italian imperialism, South Asian literature, anticolonial and liberationist writing (she has worked on Antonio Gramsci and Frantz Fanon in particular), and postcolonial print cultures.
Anaïs Wion is researcher at the CNRS, in Paris (France) and a specialist of Medieval and Pre-modern Ethiopian history. Working on literacy and the social value of written documents, she dedicated a study to the academic roles of the Hatata Zar’a Ya’eqob.
Speakers selected through the Call for Papers
Mr Brooh Asmare (Mekelle University)
Dr Anke Graness (University of Hildesheim)
Mr Mauricio Lapchik Minski (Ben Gurion University of the Negev)
Mr Henry Straughan & Mr Michael O'Connor (University of Oxford), joint paper
Dr Anke Graness (University of Hildesheim)
Mr Mauricio Lapchik Minski (Ben Gurion University of the Negev)
Mr Henry Straughan & Mr Michael O'Connor (University of Oxford), joint paper
Dates & Directions
Dates: 29 April - 1 May 2022
Location: Worcester College, Sultan Nazrin Shah Centre, Oxford, OX1 2HB, United Kingdom
More details regarding conference venue: Sultan Nazrin Shah Centre
Location: Worcester College, Sultan Nazrin Shah Centre, Oxford, OX1 2HB, United Kingdom
More details regarding conference venue: Sultan Nazrin Shah Centre
The Conference is organized with the generous support of the Royal Institute of Philosophy; the Mind Association; the Aristotelian Society; the British Society for the History of Philosophy; and the Hinton Clarendon Fellowship, Worcester College.
All illustrations on this website are taken from an illuminated manuscript of 17th century Ethiopia, depicting the miracles of the archangel Michael.