The Life and Struggles of Our Mother Walatta Petros : A Seventeenth-Century African Biography of an Ethiopian Woman / Galawdewos; Michael Kleiner, Wendy Laura Belcher.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gälawdewos, author.

Contributor:

Belcher, Wendy Laura, editor.

Kleiner, Michael, editor.

Standardized Title:

Gadla Walatta Péṭros. English.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Walata P̣éṭros, Saint, 1592-1642--Miracles.

Walata P̣éṭros.

Walata P̣éṭros, Saint, 1592-1642.

YaʼItyop̣yā ʼortodoks tawāḥedo béta kerestiyān--Biography.

YaʼItyop̣yā ʼortodoks tawāḥedo béta kerestiyān.

Monasticism and religious orders for women--Ethiopia--History--17th century.

Monasticism and religious orders for women.

Nuns--Ethiopia--Biography.

Nuns.

Women saints--Biography.

Women saints.

Genre:

History.

Biographies.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (545 p.)

Place of Publication:

Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2015]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This is the first English translation of the earliest-known book-length biography of an African woman, and one of the few lives of an African woman written by Africans before the nineteenth century. As such, it provides an exceedingly rare and valuable picture of the experiences and thoughts of Africans, especially women, before the modern era. It is also an extraordinary account of a remarkable life-full of vivid dialogue, heartbreak, and triumph. The Life and Struggles of Our Mother Walatta Petros (1672) tells the story of an Ethiopian saint who led a successful nonviolent movement to preserve African Christian beliefs in the face of European protocolonialism. When the Jesuits tried to convert the Ethiopians from their ancient form of Christianity, Walatta Petros (1592-1642), a noblewoman and the wife of one of the emperor's counselors, risked her life by leaving her husband, who supported the conversion effort, and leading the struggle against the Jesuits. After her death, her disciples wrote this book, praising her as a friend of women, a devoted reader, a skilled preacher, and a radical leader. One of the earliest stories of African resistance to European influence, this biography also provides a picture of domestic life, including Walatta Petros's life-long relationship with a female companion. Richly illustrated with dozens of color illustrations from early manuscripts, this groundbreaking volume provides an authoritative and highly readable translation along with an extensive introduction. Other features include a chronology of Walatta Petros's life, maps, a comprehensive glossary, and detailed notes on textual variants.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Abbreviations

Chronology

Preface / Belcher, Wendy Laura

Acknowledgments

Introduction to the Text / Belcher, Wendy Laura

Manuscripts of the Text and Earlier Translations / Belcher, Wendy Laura

Introduction to the Translation of the Text / Kleiner, Michael

The Ethiopian Script and Its Transcription / Kleiner, Michael

The Translation of the Life- Struggles of Walatta Petros (Gädlä Wälättä P̣eṭros)

Introduction

Chapter 1: The Author's Worthiness - Chapter 50: The Mother of Our Mother Dies

Chapter 51: Our Mother Raises the Monk Silla Kristos from the Dead - Chapter 92: Our Mother Departs to Eternal Life

Alternate Ending of the Gädlä Wälättä P̣eṭros

The Translation of the Miracles of Walatta Petros (täˀamərä Wälättä P̣eṭros)

Summaries of Additional Miracles of Walatta Petros (täˀamərä Wälättä P̣eṭros)

Summary of the Short History of Walatta Petros's Community (in MSS I and J only)

The Translation of the Poem Portrait of Walatta Petros (Mälkəˀa Wälättä P̣eṭros)

The Translation of the Poem Hail to Walatta Petros (Sälamta Wälättä P̣eṭros)

Colophons

Appendix: Manuscript Folio Missing From the Conti Rossini print edition (From MS J)

Glossary: People, Places, and Terms in the Text / Belcher, Wendy Laura

Works cited

Index

Credits:

Jacket image reprinted by kind permission of the photographer, Claire Bosc-Tiessé. Portrait of Walatta Petros from a manuscript at Walatta Petros's monastery on Lake Tana; MS D, folio 134v; photographed in 1997.

Notes:

A "gädl" or hagiography, originally written by Gälawdewos thirty years after the subject's death, in 1672-1673. Translated from multiple manuscripts and versions.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 471-485) and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Mai 2019)

ISBN:

9781400874149

1400874149

OCLC:

926668757