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The Epic of Sumanguru Kante
Series: - African Sources for African History, Volume: 15
The Epic of Sumanguru Kante contains the Bamana text and English translation of griot Abdoulaye Sako’s oral narrative of the life of Sumanguru, recorded in 1997 in Koulikoro (Mali), together with explanatory notes, a scholarly introduction, and sections on the Bamana language and musical accompaniment. Sumanguru is a familiar figure within Manding epic oral traditions about ancient Mali. But while these narratives generally focus on Sunjata Keita, Sako’s oral poem is rare in according Sumanguru the central role. In so doing he includes hitherto undocumented episodes relating to Sumanguru’s life and role as the ruler of Soso, the little known state said to have flourished in the western Sudan between the fall of ancient Ghana and rise of ancient Mali.
Stephen P.D. Bulman (Ph.D. 1990, University of Birmingham) is a management consultant in higher education and has published several historiographic and literary studies on the Sunjata epic.
Valentin F. Vydrine is a Professor of Manding at INALCO and an Enseignant-Chercheur at LLACAN (CNRS), both in Paris. He has published widely on Manding.
Valentin F. Vydrine is a Professor of Manding at INALCO and an Enseignant-Chercheur at LLACAN (CNRS), both in Paris. He has published widely on Manding.
Editors’ Introduction
Acknowledgements
List of Figures
Introduction
Stephen P.D. Bulman
A Note on the Language and Transcription of the Bamana Text
Valentin F. Vydrine
Glossary of Manding Words
Transcriptions of the Major Musical Themes That Abdulaye Sako Played on the ngɔ̀ni to Accompany His Performance of the Epic of Sumanguru
Sam Dickey
Summary of Contents of the Epic of Sumanguru
Banama Text and English Translation of the Epic of Sumanguru by Abdulaye Sako
Valentin F. Vydrine, Amadou Togo and Stephen P.D. Bulman
Bibliography
Index
All interested in pre-colonial West African history, ancient Mali, Manding (Manden or Mande) oral tradition and the epic of Sunjata (or Sundiata) Keita.