Paper short abstract:

The process of securitisation of water resources is evident across the Nile River at different scales: perceptions and prioritization of risks are central to water-related disputes, since they are associated to -and reproduced by- imaginaries through the creation of peculiar (water) narratives.

Paper long abstract:

The multi-faced representation of the Nile in Ethiopia has historically evolved around contrasting perceptions, the "mighty" river being at the same time depicted as a "good-for-nothing" treasure. Across the centuries, from a plethora of Ethiopian myths, poems, folktales, novels, drama, proverbs, have emerged a number of symbolic meanings associated with the Nile waters, which -albeit often diverging- share a recurrent melancholy feeling: the sacred river, whose abundant gifts have never been thoroughly exploited, is often beneficent but vengeful, somewhat inspiring to the Ethiopians a sense of resentment before its presumed uselessness, alongside its glorification as "Father of all the rivers".

This dual narrative over the Nile not only has pervaded culture and commonsense, but has also informed political imaginaries and policy-making processes in Ethiopia. Often intentionally re-constructed by power elites, the "victimhood narrative" associated with the under-utilisation of the Nile waters has been progressively assimilated and converted into a national narrative of water development and "renaissance aspirations" for a prosperous Ethiopia.

By unveiling the multi-layered iconography of the Nile in contemporary Ethiopian poetry, this study will reveal how the ideological dimensions in the relation between knowledge, culture and technology have shaped Ethiopia's vision on the Nile waters management.