Sunjata: A West African Epic of the Mande Peoples

by Anonymous, David C. Conrad (Translator/Introduction)

A pillar of the West African oral tradition for centuries, this epic traces the adventures and achievements of the Mande hero, Sunjata, as he liberates his people from Sumaworo Kante, the sorcerer king of Soso, and establishes the great medieval empire of Mali.

David Conrad conveys the strong narrative thrust of the Sunjata epic in his presentation of substantial excerpts from his translation of a performance by Djanka Tassey Conde. Readers approaching the epic for the first time will appreciate the translation's highly readable, poetic English as well as Conrad's informative Introduction and notes. Scholars will find the familiar heroes and heroines taking on new dimensions, secondary characters gaining increased prominence, and previously unknown figures emerging from obscurity.

Genres: Africa, African Literature

256 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2004

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:

* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author

Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.

See also: Anonymous

Reviews

[Grady]

Designed for an undergraduate and perhaps a general audience, this is essentially an abridged (but published before the full) version of the West African epic of Sunjata, as recounted by a master bard, Djanka Tassey Conde. Conde passed in 1997, but translator David Conrad recorded his performance in 1994. The full-length scholarly version would probably be fascinating, but according to Conrad, includes lots and lots of genealogical details and tangential local histories. This 197 page version stays engaging and manageable throughout, with footnotes that make sense of key details and references in the original text.

The basic story is the tale of a falling out between wings of a family; after a bunch of preliminary matter, the core conflict is between Soso Bali Sumaworo on the one hand, and Sanjata and his mother and brothers on the other. But while Sumaworo is a fantastic villain - he slaughters whole villages, and wears a shirt and pants made out of the skin of his human victims - the greater parts of the epic, and some of the most interesting details, consist of conversations and negotiations among Sunjata's family and allies. Sometimes, these are funny, for example, when two influential young warriors 'win' Sunjata's young mother as their wife, but can't handle her sorcery, and get rid of her by transferring her to Sunjata's father. Often, the episodes illustrate social mechanisms for resolving minor conflicts, tensions, or inadvertent insults. I suppose one lesson, for ordinary folks hearing the epic recited, is that if legendary figures with super powers can resolve their conflicts through dialogue and compromise, and end up founding a great empire, we who have no recourse to magical powers have even less reason to resort to open conflict. One of the other nice touches of Conde's version is his insistence - repeated throughout the performance - that all human beings are descendants of Adam, and are brothers, essentially the same, no matter our specific lineages.

[Heather]

Having studied anthropology, I enjoyed the structure of discussion of the transcript. In an effort to gain insight of the culture of West Africa before I journey there, this was a great book to read. An additional discussion on top of the endnotes would be helpful to better understand some of the traditions. However, there are many more books on top of this which extend the content. The storyline was very exciting. Having undertaken this from an academic perspective I expected to be bored upon reading this. Instead I couldn't put this book down. The rhythm of presentation Tassey Conde is portrayed to have here was enchanting and I can only imagine how much more the in person presentation of this epic engages the audience.

[Mills College Library]

398.20899 S9585 2004