SUNJATA: A WEST AFRICAN EPIC OF THE

MANDE PEOPLES
late thirteenth-early fourteenth cen tury

he \Vest African epic named after one generation of jeliw to the next ,
its centra l hero, Sunjata , is an esse n- and the principal l\lande clans frame
tial par t of i\lande cu lture. The heartland their id e ntiti es in term s of descent
of l\,lande tenitOf) is loca ted in \\hat is from th e ancesto rs desc rib ed in epic
nm~ northeastern Guinea and sou th ern tradition.
\ la li, but the i\lande peop les are found As special ists in maintaining the oral
th roughout a much larger portion of traditions of th e ir cu ltur e, jeliw arc
sub -Sa haran W es t Africa, speaking knov. n to their peop le as guardians of
\arious related lang uages and dialects. 'The Word." In ea rly times th ey served
The ,\lande, a lso know n as ..the people as the spokespersons of chiefs (du,gu-
of \ landen,'' \I ho include the Bamana of tigiw ) and kings (man smv), and were
i\lali and the Maninka of Guinea, are thus responsible for their patron s' rep -
heirs to a vibrant historical legacy, the utations in th e community. Genera-
high point of whic h was the Ma li Empire tions of jeli families were permanently
that flourished from th e mid-thirteenth attached to leadin g hou se hold s and
to the ear ly fifteenth century. The ep ic ruling dynasties, who supp orted the
narrative of Sunjata and his contempo- bards in exchange for th eir sef\iccs in
raries illustra tes the Mancle peop les' own the verbal arts. The jeliw encouraged
view of thi s glorious past both before and their patrons to stri ve for ambi ti ous
after Islam began to influ ence their cul- goa ls by reminding th em of th e exam -
ture , and it rightfully cred its their ances- ples se t by their hero ic ancestors, as
tors \I ith establishing one of the grea t described in the epic narratives. The)
empire s of the medieval world. pointed out mi stake s throu gh th e use of
In Mande culture , ora l tradition is proverbs, and adm on ished th eir patro ns
th e domain of hardl> popular!) known when they seemed likely to fail in th e ir
as griot s, but as jeliw or jeli/11 (sing. duti es. At th e same tim e, the bard s' own
jeli ) to th eir own people. They arc th e secu rit y depended on th eir ruler s' politi -
here dit ary oral artists responsible for ca l pm1er an d social prestige , so the sto -
relating the alleged deeds of the ear l) ries th ey told tended to be biased in
a nc estors, keeping th em and their fmor of their patro ns· m1·n ancestors.
exploits a live in the commu nit 1°!> mem - In i\ la nd c socie ties, all matt ers
ory. For many centu ries th e jeliw have im olvin g famil), clan , an d ethnic kin -
served as genea logists, musicians , praisc- ship arc of sup re me importance. Peo-
singers, spokes persons, an d diplomats. ple are identified by th eir jamu-the
As the principal narrators of ora l tradi- fam ily name or patronymic associa ted
tion, the bards have been responsible 11ith famous ances tors remembered
for preserving narrati, es th a t C\prcss for important deeds alleged to ha ve
1\hat peoples of the .\lanck · c ultural occurred aro und th e beginning of th e
h eartland believe to have happened thirte e nth century. Thanks to regular
in the di stant past. For cent urie s, sto - exposure to live or loca lly taped perfor-
r ies of th e ancestors ha, c passed from mances by jeliw that arc played privatel y

12
 ', U ',JAIA , A ¼1\1 AIRI C I\'- ll'IC I)

or heard regularly on local radio broad- performance. Even th e most ce ntral

casts, general awareness of th e heroes names in the story may vary accordi ng
and heroines of ancie nt Limes, like LO th e pronunciation of the individual
those in Sunjata, enters the peo ple 's jeliw and to reg ion a l differences, so
consciousness in c hildhood and grows that S unj ata, for example. may appear
there throughout their lives. Memories as Son-Jara, So'olon Jara, or Sunjara.
of the ancestors are constantly evoked Oral literature th at has been passed
in praise songs and narrative ep isod es do\\ n from generation to genera t ion is
that are sung or recite d by the bards on difficult to date. I he ep ic material
virtuall y any occasion that calls for feeding this version of the S1111jata
entertainment. When elders meet in vil- ep ic was narrated and recorded only in
lage council, th e ancestral spi rit s are the late twentieth centUI'), a lth ough it
felt to be prese nt because, according to retells stories that go back cen t uric~.
tradition , it was the y who establis h ed Djanka fasse) Conde, th e jeli who
the re lative status of everyone present, narrated this \ersion, li,ed his entire
as well as th e administrative protocols life in the small \illage of fadama near
to be follO\\ed and th e values underpin- the Niandan Rin~r in northeastern
ning every decision. The ancestors who Guinea. '-:ominall) a i\luslim like most
arc described in kmna koro or "ancie nt peop le in Loda) 's ~lande society,
speech" def-inc the identity of virtually Tassey was descended from a lineage
e\eryone of Mandc orig in. of Co nd e bards \I ho !race their a nces-
The performance of Sw1jata would tr. to forebears \\ ho lived before the
often be accompanied by mu sical inst ru- a;riva l of Islam in the land of Do ni
ments: a small lut e (11koni), a t\1en ty- Kiri as it is described in the i\ lanclc
onc-string calabash harp (kora ), or a epic. Eve n amo ng other bardic Man-
~lalian x·ylop hone (bala). Even without den families, the Conde of Fadama are
music, \ landc oral poetr) incorporates respected for their \ast kmm ledge of
a kind of call-and-response rh) thm ~lande epic tradition. In the 1970s
th roug h the repeated assent of the and 1980s, Tassey's brother Mam ad i
"11aa11111-sa;er" (respo ndin g person ) to Conde was belentigi (c hi ef bard ) of
each line su ng by the jeli. The naamus Faclama, a nd one of th e best-known
of thi s secon dar y performer might be 1\landen orators, distin gui she d for hi s
translated as "yes" o r "We hear yo u "; depth of knowledge. When Mam acli
the) arc presen eel here in the origina l died in 1994, hi s brother Tassey
to gi\ e a flmor of the repetit ive, almo st beca me the belentigi. Several months
incantatory quality of the response. The later, David C. Conrad, who edited thi s
reflect differ- versio n of Swijata, began a co llabor a-
variant spe llings of na,111111
ent pronunciations used for em ph as is. tive relation ship with Tasse) Conde
Common interjections include tinye th at lasted until that great bard's dea th
("it's true") in th e indigenous la nguage, in 1997.
as \1cll as ter ms borrov.ed from Arabic The passages co llected here arc from
and reflecting th e influ ence of' Islam , th e rendering by Tassey Co nd e of thi s
su c h as walalii ("I swea r") a nd ami11a communa l, epic story. The narrali\e is
("a men "). In all cases, the co mmunit y episodic and often disjunct, full of
hears not on ly the poem but an enthusi- magic (dalilu ) and humor. as the jeli
astic, repea ted appro bat ion of it. The gives his O\\ n version of a stOI')' familiar
jeli's ov.•n language when narrating the to hi s listeners. The epic te lls of the
stories of' the ances tors is a l~o disti11<.
:t great expectation su rroundin g the birth
from everyday speech. as he turns Lo of Sunjata, whose heroism has lon g
kumc, koro ("ancient speech" ) for th e been foretold. Foreigners come to
14 5U'IJ,\T,\ ,\ W I SI ,\fRICI\', fPI C

defeat a" ild buffalo that has bee n dec- I ike most epics, ~1111jat11 is a relation
imating i\lande lands . and their fin,t of th e hero\ man) trial,, 11 hieh he sur-
achie\ eme nt is to recogn i, e the buffalo mounts through his courage, tenacit),
\\ Oman Do Kamissa as th e culpr it. and piet). \ ct th e sing ular hero is also
They tame her\ \ ith kindn ess. claiming deepl) ensconced in hb co m mu nit): in
that she resembles their mother, until order to lead he must find a llies, cu lti-
she relents and offers th em her \\ is- \ a te friends. and honor his fa mil), Part
dom. Urg ing them to look be)ond of th e charm of S1111jat11 lies in its att en-
appearances, she comme nd s to them tion to detail, and its fresh humor as it
th e deformed Sogo lon. \\ho\\ ill be the re la tes the interactions of lcgcnd al)
mother of ~unjata. \\ hen Sunjata is heroes \\ ith the \ Cl) co ncre te \I oriel
fina ll) born , into a \1orld full of sorcel') aro un d them. Thi s is a poem a hout th e
and tre ac hery. he barel) escapes the po1\er stru ggles that can lead to \1ar,
many plots aga inst him . a nd is eve ntu - cer tain! ), but it is also aho ut peop le's
a l!) dri1cn into e, ilc by th e jea lousy of relationship LO a place and a landscape.
his stepbro ther. lli s grea tes t achie\e- La nd takes on a co nc rete qualit) heyond
llll'nt comes \I ith th e defeat of th e t)T- it s po liti ca l sig nifi ca nc e as Su njata
annous ~um.moro to libera te landen. pleads for a plot in 11hic h to bu ry hb
wh ic h th e te,t recogni,es as a founda- moth er 11he n she di es in e, ilc. In its
tiona l imperial gest ur e. Sunja ta a lso vivid re-crea tion of th e hero's c,pe ri-
cmphasin•s, hO\\C\er, that the hero 's e nce , Sunjat11 knits together th e m)thic
e,a lted sta tu re comes at a great cos t to and the everyday, th e a nces tral and th e
th e commu nil ): 11 hile Sumaworo furi - co ntemporary , pro\ iding for its i\landc
ous !) see ks th e man \\ho is fated to listener s a recogni,able, living histo ry,
succee d him , \IC are told . th e i\1a nde and for e\el')one e lse rich insight into
peop le suffer his vio lent attack s. th e c ultur e of a once-g lorious empire.

1
From Sunjata

fh e Seurc /, for a Spec ial Wife

1
When Maghan Konfara \\8S a 111 a11.snin l\l a nd en, he h ad power, he had \\'ealth,
he was popular, a nd he had cla/i/11- but he had no c hild. \l aghan Konf ara, Sun -
jata's fath e r, craved a ch ild. I hough his friends had beg un to hm·e childr en, he
still had nu c hild . But th e n his duli/111 show ed th a t he \\'ou ld finaU) ha, e a c hild .
1lis mor iu •,4 his ~and di\ iner!., and hb pe hbl e dh iners ' all sa id. "S imb on, )OU "ill
sire a c hild \1ho \\ill be famous." heT)bOd) he consu lted sa id the same thin g.
"But LT) to marT) a light -\lJn ned \1oma n," th e) told him. "If )OU marT)' a light -
slJnn ed \1oma n, she \,i ll gh c birth tu th e ch ild that ha!. been fore!.een." Because
l\ laghan Konfara \I.IS pO\\Crful, he married nine light -~kinn ed women. But asi de

I. l ramlated from lhl' i\l,rninka h) Da,id ( . ~- \lagic , occult , or secret p<l\ler; in e,e1:da)
Conrad . \II note~ \\<.'re m,tde ll\ 1hc tr:111,lator us<.'. •1m me.rn, used to achie, ea goal.
unless othemise indicated . I~ an e,eerpted 4 . '\ominal l\luslim s "ho , in oral tradition,
seelion. the narra tor. Tassl'\ Condr . intr<Xluces often perform di,ination .
the birth or the seH•nth king ( 11111111<1) '>unj,tta 5. '>eer\ and healers " ho ide ntir v th e source
b) reca lling the lineage or kings born lx:forl' or all kind, or problem, b) spreading a pile or
Sunjat.1. I le dedares that he "ill no l ,tart frorn sand and reading S) mhol, in it. or ca,ting mul -
1he ,el') beginning since 1he listl'ners ancl the tiple objec t, such : is peb bles or cowrie shell s
i\land., people are all \dam 's dl•stcndan1s . and reading the config urati ons in " hich th e)
2. \ laghan Knofora is thl' fother of '-,unjata, land . Didners then prescribe appro priate sac-
also rt'forred lu a, '>unhon ( \l aster I lunt.-r ) rifin·, to rl'lnl'<h the prublC'tn.
and \lan\ll (ru ler ) !editor 's no1ej.