Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    A Study Guide for Djeli Mamoudou Kouyate's "Sundiata"
    A Study Guide for Djeli Mamoudou Kouyate's "Sundiata"
    A Study Guide for Djeli Mamoudou Kouyate's "Sundiata"
    Ebook51 pages53 minutes

    A Study Guide for Djeli Mamoudou Kouyate's "Sundiata"

    By Gale and Cengage

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    A Study Guide for Djeli Mamoudou Kouyate's "Sundiata," excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Epics for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Epics for Students for all of your research needs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCengage Learning - Gale
    Release dateSep 20, 2016
    ISBN9781535834346
    A Study Guide for Djeli Mamoudou Kouyate's "Sundiata"

    Read more from Gale

    Related to A Study Guide for Djeli Mamoudou Kouyate's "Sundiata"

    Related ebooks

    Literary Criticism For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      For More Than 40 Years, André Leon Talley Has Influenced Fashion And Culture. But It Wasn't Easy

      Jun 1, 2018

      Early the morning Edward Enninful was announced as the new editor-in-chief of British Vogue in April 2017, he received an email applauding his historic appointment as the first black man to lead such a prestigious fashion imprint. "Congratulations! Y

      4 min read

    • Article

      Leonard Pitts Jr.: The Year of Reading Women

      Jan 6, 2021

      I don’t mind admitting that I could really go for a good fistfight just now. Or a race against time to foil a terrorist plot. Or a zombie apocalypse. A zombie apocalypse would definitely hit the spot. As some of you will recall, I gave up those and o

      3 min read

    • Article

      What Ta-Nehisi Coates Wants to Remember

      Sep 29, 2019

      The writer’s debut novel, The Water Dancer, is a fantastical love story that seeks to illuminate the forgotten emotional tolls of slavery. “This just wasn’t a physical horror. It broke families,” Coates told The Atlantic.

      10 min read

    • Article

      Beware The Mino

      Oct 7, 2021

      Beware The Mino
      6 min read

    • Article

      Tails From The Deep

      Apr 15, 2021

      Tails From The Deep
      5 min read

    • Article

      YA Novel 'The Poet X' Is An Elegiac Meditation On Poesy And Religion

      Mar 23, 2018

      Young poet-protagonist Xiomara must dig deep to reclaim her identity and her voice, in spite of her rough circumstances.

      3 min read

    • Article

      Deconstructing Myths And Male Influence In ‘Fruit Of The Drunken Tree’

      Jul 31, 2018

      When I was a child growing up in Guatemala during the Civil War, my mom took me to play at my friend’s house late one night. She told me not to ask any questions. “Just play,” she said. While our mothers sat downstairs talking in hushed voices, my fr

      5 min read

    • Article

      The Unimaginable Became Reality: The Millions Interviews Shashi Tharoor

      Mar 22, 2019

      When you break the barriers of civility that help hold certain standards of conduct in a society together, and therefore keep us all together, you make anything possible. The post The Unimaginable Became Reality: The Millions Interviews Shashi Tharoo

      8 min read

    • Article

      Girls Captured By Boko Haram Brought Into Focus In 'Beneath The Tamarind Tree'

      Jul 10, 2019

      Former CNN journalist Isha Sesay argues that the Nigerian government, the media, and the public have failed the 276 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by the terrorist group five years ago.

      3 min read

    • Article

      The Footprint’s Story

      Nov 25, 2022

      The Footprint’s Story
      10 min read

    • Article

      Letters

      Sep 9, 2021

      With regard to Nick Guitard’s letter pooh-poohing the possible existence of tiny aliens [FT405:71], I would like to make the following observations. David Bowie, may he rock on, once said that the Internet is like an alien being has landed and that w

      17 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for A Study Guide for Djeli Mamoudou Kouyate's "Sundiata"

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      A Study Guide for Djeli Mamoudou Kouyate's "Sundiata" - Gale

      10

      Sundiata

      Djeli Mamoudou Kouyate

      Introduction

      This tale tells of the great thirteenth-century ruler of Mali, Sundiata. The story has been passed down through the centuries from a long line of oral historians, or griots, who are charged with keeping the memories of the past alive. Once only available to those who could understand the native language of the griot, which in the case of Sundiata is Mandekan, the Sundiata intrigued Mali historian Djibril Tamsir Niane. He transcribed the words of the griot Djeli Mamoudou Kouyatéand produced a French translation in 1960. (Naming the people and their language, from which this epic comes, is a difficult matter. This entry uses Malinke as the name for the people and Mandekan for the name of their language, following the preference of John William Johnson, a translator of the epic and folklore scholar.) An English translation by G. D. Pickett appeared, which first appeared in 1965, was published by Longman in a revised edition in 2006.

      The Sundiata illustrates the anthropological importance of saving the words of the oral historians before the advent of literacy extinguishes their memories. The griots and many other oral historians work for a particular patron, and as the patronage system falls into decline, these taleweavers are less and less able to support themselves with their words. The significance of these oral historians is underlined in the epic itself: A griot plays an important role in helping Sundiata defeat his enemy Soumaoro.

      In addition, the story of Sundiata contains important lessons for people of all times. For example, it cautions that appearances can be deceiving: Sundiata's physically repulsive mother becomes an honored queen, and Sundiata himself overcomes a severe handicap to become a great warrior. Another lesson is that hospitality pays, as those rulers who receive Sundiata well during his period as an outcast are rewarded under his reign. Above all, readers learn to respect their own history and ancestors, for they are the link to their past and to their own identity.

      Author Biography

      The story of Sundiata, the thirteenth-century ruler of Mali, was preserved through the patriarchal line of griots, bards whose function in their society is to preserve the oral history of their people. This account was told from father to son for generations. It was first written down by the historian Djibril Tamsir Niane (b. 1932), who transcribed the story as it was recounted by Djeli Mamoudou Kouyaté.

      The stories told by griots are not fixed in the way that written texts are: Each recitation or performance may include additions or deletions and can feature embellishment of some episodes and the downplaying of others. The griot may choose to play up the accomplishments of the distant ancestors of audience members as a sign of respect or to ensure that they will like what they are hearing. Thus, while the basic story derives from multiple storytellers who shaped it over time, the version that Niane wrote down is distinctly that of Kouyaté. Kouyaté is a modern day griot of the Keita clan,

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1