The epic of Sumanguru Kante
By: narrated by Abdulaye Sako ; edited by Stephen P.D. Bulman, Valentin F. Vydrine
Contributors: Bulman, Stephen P. D., editor, translator; Vydrin, V. F. (Valentin Feodosʹevich), editor, translator
Series: African sources for African history -- volume 15; African sources for African history -- v. 15.
Publisher: Brill
Published: 2017
Place of publication: Boston
Language: eng
Number of pages: 172
ISBN-13: 9789004347960; 9789004349339
Copyright date: 2017
Subjects: Legends; Bambara Epic poetry; African Epic literature; Bambara (African people); Folklore; Mandingo (African people); Heroes in literature
Description: 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.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.

Text of epic in original Bamana and English translation; notes and critical material in English.
Table of contents: title: Introduction / Stephen P.D. Bulman; title: A note on the language and transcription of the Bamana text / Valentin F. Vydrine; title: Glossary of Manding words; title: Transcriptions of the major musical themes that Abdulaye Sako played on the ngoni to accompany his performance of the Epic of Sumanguru / Sam Dickey; title: Summary of contents of the Epic of Sumanguru; title: Banama text and English translation of the Epic of Sumanguru by Abdulaye Sako / Valentin F. Vydrine, Amadou Togo and Stephen P.D. Bulman.