The epic of Sumanguru Kante / / narrated by Abdulaye Sako ; edited by Stephen P.D. Bulman, Valentin F. Vydrine.

• Superior document: African Sources for African History, Volume 15
• VerfasserIn: Sako, Abdulaye,
• TeilnehmendeR: Sako, Abdulaye,; Bulman, Stephen P. D.,; Vydrin, V. F.
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, Netherlands ;, Boston, [Massachusetts] : : Brill,, 2017.; ©2017
• Year of Publication: 2017
• Language: English; Bambara
• Series: African sources for African history ; Volume 15.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (172 pages) :; color illustrations, map, photographs.

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.

Table of Contents

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 ngoni 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.