Epic of Sundiata

The Sundiata Keita or Epic of Sundiata is an epic poem of the Malinke people and tells the story of the hero Sundiata Keita, the founder of the Mali Empire. The story has been transmitted by centuries narrated by Griot poets.

Plot

In the Epic of Sundiata (also spelled Son-Jara or Sundjata) Naré Maghann Konaté (also called Maghan Kon Fatta or Maghan the Handsome) was a Mandinka king who one day received a divine hunter at his court. The hunter predicted that if Konaté married an ugly woman, she would give him a son who would one day be a mighty king. Naré Maghann Konaté was already married to Sassouma Bereté and had a son by her, Dankaran Toumani Keïta. However, when two Traoré hunters from the Do kingdom presented him an ugly; hunchbacked woman named Sogolon, he remembered the prophecy and married her. She soon gave birth to a son, Sundiata Keita, who was unable to walk throughout his childhood. Despite his physical weakness, the king still granted Sundiata his own griot at young age; this was in order to have them grow together and provide constant consultation as was custom. With the death of Naré Maghann Konaté (c. 1224), his first son, Dankaran Tuman, assumed the throne despite Konaté's wishes that the prophecy be respected. Sundiata and his mother, who now had given birth to two daughters and adopted a second son from Konaté's third wife Namandjé, suffered the scorn of the new king and his mother. After an insult against Sogolon, Sundiata requested an iron rod from the blacksmith Nounfari, which he used to pull himself upright and walk. Nonetheless, the hatred of Sassouma Bereté and Dankaran Toumani Keita soon drove Sundiata, his mother, and his two sisters into exile in the Mema kingdom.

Meanwhile, Soumaoro Kanté, cruel sorcerer king of Sosso, attacked the Mandinka kingdom, causing Dankaran Toumani Keita to take flight in fear. The oppressed Mandinka people then sent for the exiled Sundiata. Forging a coalition of neighboring small kingdoms, Sundiata waged a war against the Sosso, finally Sundiata was later crowned with the title "Mansa," or "king of kings," as the first ruler of the Mali Empire. He soon set about organizing the nucleus of the empire, presenting the Gbara of nobles and notables at his coronation with an oral constitution known as the Kouroukan Fouga. His model for government would guide the empire into greatness and beyond its zenith toward its eventual dissolution in 1645. His exploits have even been compared to those of Alexander the Great by some griots.

Historical context and significance

The epic of Sundiata has been the subject of much scholarly discussion. Although some information on 13th century Mali is available from Arabic sources like Ibn Khaldun, there is a severe limitation of written documentation on this period. Therefore the oral evidence of ancient Mali is especially critical. Although Western historians have traditionally given preference to written records, oral traditions including the epic of Sundiata have recently gained recognition as important demonstrations of Africa's rich cultural heritage and as legitimate literary constructions. It reflects the early stages in West African traditions when different cultural influences were still coming together. Knowledge of 13th century Malian history is in large part derived from the Sundiata tradition. The epic of Sundiata is still an integral part of Mande culture. Ethnographic research has shown that the story continues to be retold by griots and through masked ritual performances. Today the epic of Sundiata has become part of history lessons in primary schools in Mali, Gambia, Senegal and Guinea.

References

• Conrad, David C. (1992), "Searching for History in the Sunjata Epic: The Case of Fakoli", History in Africa 19: 147–200, JSTOR 3171998 .
• Jansen, Jan (2001), "The Sunjata Epic: The Ultimate Version", Research in African Literatures 32 (1): 14–46, JSTOR 3820580 .
• Niane, D.T. (1965), Sundiata: an epic of old Mali, London: Longmans .

Further Reading

• Biebuyck, Daniel P. (1976), "The African Heroic Epic", Journal of Folklore Institute 13 (1): 5–36, JSTOR 3813812 .
• Bulman, Stephen (2004), "A school for epic? The école William Ponty and the evolution of the Sunjata epic, 1913-c. 1960", in Jansen, Jan; Mair, Henk M. J., Epic adventures: Heroic Narrative in the Oral Performance Traditions of Four Continents, Münster: Lit Verlag, pp. 34–45, ISBN 3825867587, http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=UJEyHSUy8GMC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA34#v=onepage&q&f=false .
• Conrad, David C. (1984), "Oral sources on links between great states: Sumanguru, Servile Lineage, the Jariso, and Kaniaga", History in Africa 11: 35–55, JSTOR 3171626 .
• Davidson, Basil (1995), Africa in History: Themes and Outlines, New York: Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0684826674 .
• Gilbert, E.; Reynolds, J.T. (2004), Africa in World History: from prehistory to the present, Pearson Education, ISBN 0130929077 .
• Janson, Marloes (2004), "The narration of the Sunjata epic as gendered activity", in Jansen, Jan; Mair, Henk M.J., Epic adventures: Heroic Narrative in the Oral Performance Traditions of Four Continents, Münster: Lit Verlag, pp. 81–88, ISBN 3825867587 .
• McKissack, Patricia; McKissack, Fredrick (1995), The Royal Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali and Songhay: Life in Medieval Africa, Sagebrush, ISBN 0805042598 .
• Quiquandon, F. (1892), "Histoire de la puissance mandinque d' après la légende et la tradition" (in French), Bulletin de la Société de géographie commerciale de Bordeaux 15: 305–318, http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k1046920/f320 . One of first publications presenting a version of the Sundiata Epic.
• Tsaaior, James Tar (2010), "Webbed words: masked meanings: proverbiality and narrative/discursive startegies in D.T. Niane's Dundiata: An Epic of Mali", Proverbium 27: 339–362 .
• Waliński, Grzegorz (1991), "The image of the ruler as presented in the tradition about Sunjata", in Piłaszewicz, S.; Rzewuski, E., Unwritten Testimonies of the African Past. Proceedings of the International Symposium held in Ojrzanów n. Warsaw on 07-08 November 1989, Orientalia Varsoviensia 2, Warsaw: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, http://www.orient.uw.edu.pl/web-kjika/images/stories/Testimonies/20_walinski.pdf .

• Published translations of the epic include D.T. Niane's prose version, Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali (Harlow: Longman, 2006, 1994, c1965: ISBN 1-4058-4942-8), Fa-Digi Sisoko's oral version, Son-Jara : The Mande Epic (Bloomington, Ind. : Indiana University Press, 2003), Issiaka Diakite-Kaba's French-English diglot dramatized version Soundjata, Le Leon/Sunjata, The Lion (Denver: Outskirts Press and Paris: Les Editions l'Harmattan, 2010).

External links

• PDF: Guide to Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali from the Boston University's African Studies Center
• Outline of the Sundiata epic by Janice Siegel
• Parallels between The Sundiata Epic and The Lord of The Rings A comparison of shared character traits between Sundiata and Aragorn the hero that is the prophesied king in Tolkien's novel.
• The True Lion King of Africa: The Epic History of Sundiata, King of Old Mali - Paper addresses parallels found between Disney's "The Lion King" and the Epic of Sundiata.
• Background information on Sundiata Sections include Geography, Religion, Society & Politics
• History of Mali With reference to Sundiata and his successors.