Paper short abstract:

This paper explores how gendered and generational shifts in the form and content of a recent poetry debate in Somaliland ("miimley") might index, or indeed bring about, alternative visions of Somaliland's political future.

Paper long abstract:

In February 2017, a poem titled "Muddici" ("Plaintiff") by a young Hargeysa-based poet, Weedhsame, went viral on social media. Accusing members of the government of corruption and the mismanagement of public funds, the poem circulated amongst tens of thousands of viewers on Facebook and YouTube. The poem quickly elicited a chain of poetic responses from dozens of other poets, some supporting Weedhsame's initial criticism, while others accused him of being a traitor. In what is often called a "nation of poets", this poetry debate chain ("silsilad") emerged from a rich tradition of orature that has long included heated political debate. Yet "miimley" (as it came to be called) departed in a number of significant regards: in the straightforward speech it employed, the speed with which it spread online, and the higher levels of participation by women poets. This paper explores how these generational and gendered changes might index, or indeed bring about, alternative visions of Somaliland's political future. Based on preliminary findings of a longer research project, I ask: What kind of political future is imagined in this debate? What alternative modes of political participation might be summoned into being by this form of popular expression? And what might this case have to teach us about the often uneasy relationship between "tradition" and "innovation" in claim-making projects?