API tools faq
paste
Advertisement
jonstond2

Mande (African Studies)

jonstond2
Mar 13th, 2017
188
0
Never
Add comment
Not a member of Pastebin yet? Sign Up, it unlocks many cool features!
text 105.39 KB | None | 0 0
raw download clone embed print report
  1. Introduction
  2. The term “Mande” covers a linguistically and historically related group of peoples sharing an extremely rich and vibrant historical background, the high point of which was the Mali Empire that flourished from roughly the mid-13th to the early 15th century. The heartland of Mande territory is located in what is now northeastern Guinea and southern Mali, but Mande peoples are found across a much larger portion of sub-Saharan West Africa, speaking various dialects of the Manding family of languages. Recognized linguistic groups include the Maninka of northeastern Guinea and southern Mali, the Bamana of Mali, the Mandinka of Senegambia and Guinea-Bissau, the Mandingo of northern Liberia, the Kuranko of Sierra Leone, and the Dyula of northern Côte d’Ivoire. The Soninke provide a linguistic and historical substrate for much of this region. Many other culturally related groups are located around the periphery of this central zone between southern Mauritania, western Burkina Faso, northern Benin, and the Atlantic coast of Senegambia. The Mande cultural complex is distinguished by two especially prominent features, one of which is a social structure that divides the society into noble and servile, but also includes a separate professional class of occupationally defined craft specialists and artists (e.g., bards, blacksmiths, potters, and leatherworkers) called nyamakalaw who provide services and products essential to farmers, pastoralists, and traders. The second distinguishing characteristic is the Mande peoples’ profound sense of self-awareness derived from an identity grounded in a body of historical knowledge preserved and articulated by a vast body of professionally maintained oral tradition. See also the Oxford Bibliographies article “Early States of the Western Sudan.”
  3. General Overviews
  4. Brasseur 1964 and Imperato and Imperato 2008 provide good starting points for research in the Mande world. The first is useful for the period through independence; the second addresses more current affairs. The two multivolume histories, Cambridge History of Africa (Fage and Oliver 1975–1986) and the General History of Africa (UNESCO 1981–1993), offer valuable coverage of the region and the Mande group through the overall history.
  5. Brasseur, Paule. Bibliographie générale du Mali (anciens Soudan français et Haut-Sénégal-Niger). Dakar, Senegal: Institut Français d’Afrique Noire (IFAN), 1964.
  6. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  7. A comprehensive listing of French colonial research articles on the former Afrique Occidentale Française, many with informative annotations. Includes very obscure titles and topics that might otherwise be impossible to discover.
  8. Find this resource:
  9. Fage, J. D., and Roland Anthony Oliver, eds. Cambridge History of Africa. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1975–1986.
  10. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  11. An always useful multivolume history of the continent; the specific chapters dealing with West Africa offer valuable coverage of the Mande world and excellent reference to sources. Now available online by subscription.
  12. Find this resource:
  13. Imperato, Pascal James, and Gavin H. Imperato. Historical Dictionary of Mali. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2008.
  14. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  15. A basic reference work, most useful for individual biographies in the 20th century, perhaps less reliable for earlier periods. Other volumes in the series cover countries relevant to the Mande world: Guinea, Senegal, and Gambia.
  16. Find this resource:
  17. UNESCO. General History of Africa. London: Heinemann Educational Books, 1981–1993.
  18. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  19. An African-centered multivolume history of the continent available in English, French, and other languages. Individual volumes now available online through the UNESCO website.
  20. Find this resource:
  21. Journals
  22. Several prominent colonial publications are essential for serious in-depth research on the pre-independence period; see Brasseur 1964, cited under General Overviews. The most significant early source was the Bulletin du Comite d’Études historiques et scientifiques de l’Afrique occidentale française (B.C.E.H.S.A.O.F.) (1918–1938). Later outlets for scholarship included the Bulletin de l’Institut Français d’Afrique Noire (BIFAN: later the Institut Fondamental d’Afrique Noire, preserving the acronym) (1939–1953); Notes africaines (1896–1997); Journal de la Société des Africanistes (1931–1974); and the Bulletin de l’enseignement en Afrique occidentale française (1913–1933) that then added the title L’Éducation africaine (1933–1945) and after World War II was relaunched as a new series (1948–c. 1959). The last title includes many articles by African teachers describing their cultures. As most of the Mande world was colonized by the French, much scholarship on this cultural area still appears worldwide in French-language journals as well as English, but their frequency varies according to publishers’ target audiences and randomness of submissions. Among imprints of France, Canada, and England respectively, the Journal des Africanistes, Cahiers d’Études Africaines, Canadian Journal of African Studies, and Africa: Journal of the International African Institute issue studies on a broad range of disciplines with the occasional appearance of Mande topics. The Journal of African History and International Journal of African Historical Studies have long been notable for important articles on West African topics including Mande history and culture. A few publications are designed for more specific parameters, e.g., cultural in the case of Mande Studies and methodological for History in Africa.
  23. Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. 1928–.
  24. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  25. One of the prominent journals with broad coverage of scholarship on African history and culture with occasional publication of Mande-related topics. Available online by subscription.
  26. Find this resource:
  27. Cahiers d’Études Africaines. 1960–.
  28. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  29. Published in France, a leading journal of current research on African history and culture, occasionally includes studies on Mande topics. See especially two issues entirely devoted to the subject: Manding 28 (3–4) 1988 and Mélanges maliens 36 (4) 1996.
  30. Find this resource:
  31. Canadian Journal of African Studies. 1967–.
  32. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  33. One of the more prominent journals presenting articles drawn from the broader spectrum of disciplines including history, culture, economics, and politics. Available online by subscription.
  34. Find this resource:
  35. History in Africa. 1974–.
  36. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  37. Published annually; accepts articles on all African periods and places but emphasizes methodological studies dealing with problems in revealing the history of nonliterate and pre-colonial cultures; includes archival reports. Available online by subscription.
  38. Find this resource:
  39. International Journal of African Historical Studies. 1971–.
  40. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  41. A leading journal of all periods of African history. Coverage of the pre-colonial period is somewhat thin but includes several key articles relevant to the early states of the Western Sudan. Preceded by African Historical Studies (1968–1971). Available online by subscription.
  42. Find this resource:
  43. Journal des Africanistes. 1931–.
  44. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  45. The major French-language publication in African studies, source of much original work in Mande ethnography and history. Formerly Journal de la Société des Africanistes. Issues through 2010 available online.
  46. Find this resource:
  47. Journal of African History. 1960–.
  48. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  49. The premier journal of current research on African history. There has been diminishing coverage of the pre-colonial period in recent years, however. Available online by subscription.
  50. Find this resource:
  51. Mande Studies. 1999–.
  52. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  53. Official journal of the Mande Studies Association (MANSA). Publishes articles on all aspects of the history, peoples, and cultures of the vast West African Mande and Mande-influenced culture zone.
  54. Find this resource:
  55. Language and Linguistics
  56. The Mande language family is very large, comprising some forty to fifty identified members spread from Lake Chad to the Atlantic. The core covered in this article is the group centered in the Mali-Guinea region, including Bamana, Maninka, Mandinka (the Gambia), Dyula, and Soninke with regional dialects. Vydrine 2009 and the Map of Mande Family Language Distribution identify members and their locations. The earlier work by colonial administrators, such as Delafosse 1929 or Labouret 1934, offers a foundation for the language study and early lexical evidence; Westermann and Bryan 1970 places the Mande language family in the larger African context. The dictionaries of Vydrine 1999 and Dumestre 2011 represent the current scholarship. A local phenomenon of some importance for literacy and standardization in language and emergent local ideology is the N’ko alphabet.
  57. Delafosse, Maurice. La Langue mandingue et ses dialectes. Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 1929.
  58. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  59. An enduringly significant starting point for the study of the language, with a still-useful dictionary for older usage.
  60. Find this resource:
  61. Dumestre, Gérard. Dictionnaire bambara-français. Paris: Karthala, 2011.
  62. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  63. The most recent one-volume dictionary for Bamana by a current linguistic authority.
  64. Find this resource:
  65. Labouret, Henri. Les Manding et leur langue. Bulletin du Comité d’Etudes Historiques et Scientifiques de l’A.O.F. Vol. 17.1. Paris: Larose, 1934.
  66. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  67. A former colonial administrator’s effort to present a comprehensive description of Mande culture including family organization, initiation societies, social structure, and belief system with the second half of the 270-page book devoted to linguistics, including a comparative study of seven dialects.
  68. Find this resource:
  69. Map of Mande Family Language Distribution.
  70. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  71. A useful listing of the languages included in the family and their distribution in West Africa.
  72. Find this resource:
  73. Vydrine, Valentin. Manding-English Dictionary (Maninka, Bamana). Vol. 1. Saint Petersburg, Russia: Dimitry Bulanin, 1999.
  74. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  75. See sections A, B, D–DAD. Sets the standard for etymological and comparative definitions of the vocabulary based on wide documentation of the different linguistic groups in the family, unfortunately not yet followed by subsequent volumes.
  76. Find this resource:
  77. Vydrine, Valentin. “On the Problem of the Proto-Mande Homeland.” Journal of Language Relationship 1 (2009): 107–142.
  78. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  79. A review of the different members of the Mande language family and their relationships, with valuable observations on the history of the proto-Mande groups and their probable geographic origin.
  80. Find this resource:
  81. Westermann, Diedrich, and M. A. Bryan. Handbook of African Languages: Part 2, Languages of West Africa. New ed. London: Oxford University Press, 1970.
  82. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  83. A survey of the languages from the Atlantic coast in Senegal to the region of Lake Chad. If used in conjunction with more recent linguistic studies, it is still a useful reference for sorting through the complexities of, and relationships between, Mande dialects.
  84. Find this resource:
  85. The N’ko Writing System
  86. The N’ko alphabet, developed by Souleymane Kanté of Guinea, has become a major driver of Maninka-language research and publications in certain parts of the Mande world. Much work is still emerging. Oyler 2005 provides a useful history and overview; the Mande Studies articles in Special Section: Souleymane Kanté and the N’ko Alphabet address historic and linguistic aspects of the phenomenon.
  87. Oyler, Dianne. The History of the N’Ko Alphabet and Its Role in Mande Transnational Identity: Words as Weapons. Cherry Hill, NJ: Africana Homestead Legacy, 2005.
  88. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  89. A biography of Souleymane Kanté, with a description of his work and its influence.
  90. Find this resource:
  91. “Special Section: Souleymane Kanté and the N’ko Alphabet.” Mande Studies 3 (2001): 73–200.
  92. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  93. Essays by Dianne Oyler, David Conrad, Valentin Vydrin, and Joseph Lauer presenting the alphabet, its history and influence, its creator, and Kanté’s relationship with oral tradition.
  94. Find this resource:
  95. Historical Sources
  96. Documentation of Mande history goes back to the Middle Ages, in the reports of Arabic travelers and historians. Local historians have also provided accounts, such as those of al-Sa’di 1981 (cited under Arabic and Epigraphic Sources for Early Mande History) or Kamara 1975 (cited under Early Travel Accounts: European and African Interactions from the Slave Trade to Colonialism). Beginning in the 19th century, travelers and colonial administrators have provided their own versions of the cultures and history they encountered, and in the post-independence world African scholars have offered new perspectives and understanding. This later period is also marked by a new appreciation of the depth and value of the oral historical tradition in the region. The Cambridge History of Africa (Fage and Oliver 1975–1986) and the General History of Africa (UNESCO 1981–1993), both cited under General Overviews, are comprehensive introductions to the subject.
  97. Arabic and Epigraphic Sources for Early Mande History
  98. The earliest written accounts of the region come from Arabic travelers and historians, sometimes relying on fanciful tales of long-distance traders. The most important of these are Al-Bakri (d. 1094), al-Umari (1301–1349), Ibn Battuta (1304–1368), and Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406), and English translations of all relevant Arabic sources are available in Levtzion and Hopkins 1981. The Timbuktu chronicle written in Arabic by the Soninke scholar as-Sa’di and translated into French (al-Sa’di 1981) is revisited and enlarged upon by Hunwick 2003. Farias 2003 provides previously untapped perspectives via epigraphic evidence.
  99. al-Sa’di. Tarikh es-Sudan. Edited and translated by O. Houdas. Paris: Maisonneuve et Larose, 1981.
  100. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  101. An invaluable 17th-century regional history by a native of the region. Contains a French translation and an edition of the Arabic text. First published in 1913.
  102. Find this resource:
  103. Farias, Paulo F. de Moraes. Arabic Medieval Inscriptions from the Republic of Mali: Epigraphy, Chronicles and Songhay-Tuāreg History. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press for the British Academy, 2003.
  104. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  105. A monumental, definitive study of 11th- to 15th-century inscriptions from five archaeological sites, introducing a heretofore mostly overlooked body of evidence crucial to the history of the Western Sudan. Reveals the existence of previously unknown Songhay ruling dynasties and offers new interpretations of Tuāreg and Songhay oral traditions.
  106. Find this resource:
  107. Hunwick, John O., trans. and ed. Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire: Al-Sa’di’s Tarikh al-Sudan down to 1613 and Other Contemporary Documents. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2003.
  108. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  109. Al-Sa’di’s 17th-century Arabic-language history gives one of the first local accounts of the empire of Mali and its history, down to its fall. Hunwick offers a definitive English translation with extensive notes and annotations reflecting the advances in scholarship since the 1913–1914 French translation by Houdas (al-Sa’di 1981).
  110. Find this resource:
  111. Levtzion, Nehemia, and J. F. P. Hopkins. Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1981.
  112. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  113. Exemplary collection of translated and extensively annotated texts on West Africa written in Arabic between the 8th and 15th centuries. Offers accounts of visits to Mali.
  114. Find this resource:
  115. The Pre-colonial Centuries
  116. Still of great interest is Monteil 1968 (originally published in 1929), which studied the foundations of the Mali Empire. Essential among more recent studies of “medieval” period polities are Levtzion 1973 on Ghana and Mali, as well as Mauny 1961 who examined the archaeological, historical, and geographical sources on early states of the Western Sudan. For the same period, Niane 1975 offers the perspective of a scholar native to the region, and Niane 1989 addresses the history of Senegambian Mande. Innovative, fresh perspectives for the Mande region of the Western Sudan are introduced by Roberts 1987 on the economics, Brooks 1993 which takes ecology into account, and McIntosh 1998 on archaeology.
  117. Brooks, George. Landlords and Strangers: Ecology, Society, and Trade in Western Africa, 1000–1630. Boulder, CO: Westview, 1993.
  118. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  119. For a previously largely neglected period, the author brings together and masterfully integrates ecological, linguistic, oral, and Portuguese archival evidence. He recounts the historical development of trade in the context of climate shifts favoring the development of trade routes and providing impetus for the southward movement of Mande traders and Mandekan-speaking horse warriors.
  120. Find this resource:
  121. Levtzion, Nehemia. Ancient Ghana and Mali. London: Methuen, 1973.
  122. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  123. A comprehensive study using all sources (archaeological, Arabic, and oral) that were available at the time of writing. In the decades since its publication, this book remains the definitive study of the medieval states of West Africa.
  124. Find this resource:
  125. Mauny, Raymond. Tableau géographique de l’ouest africain au Moyen Age. Dakar, Senegal: IFAN, 1961.
  126. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  127. An encyclopedic, enduringly useful source in which the author drew on the colonial period reports on archaeology and history in the French colonies in West Africa as well as relevant Arabic texts.
  128. Find this resource:
  129. McIntosh, Roderick. The Peoples of the Middle Niger: The Island of Gold. Malden, MA: Blackwell. 1998.
  130. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  131. An archaeologist’s perspective on prehistory of the populations of the Middle Niger.
  132. Find this resource:
  133. Monteil, Charles. Les empires du Mali. Paris: G.-P. Maisonneuve et Larose, 1968.
  134. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  135. A comparative historical and anthropological study of the foundations of the Mali Empire, consulting oral tradition, the Arabic sources, and other available evidence of the time by one of the most reliable colonial-era scholars. Original edition published in 1929.
  136. Find this resource:
  137. Niane, Djibril Tamsir. Le Soudan occidental au temps des grands empires: XI-XVIe. Paris: Présence Africaine, 1975.
  138. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  139. A review of historical and legendary events in the medieval Sudan by a leading Guinean historian.
  140. Find this resource:
  141. Niane, Djibril Tamsir. Histoire des Mandingues de l’Ouest. Paris: Karthala, 1989.
  142. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  143. An account of the movement of the Mande peoples into Senegambia in the period after Sunjata.
  144. Find this resource:
  145. Roberts, Richard L. Warriors, Merchants, and Slaves: The State and the Economy in the Middle Niger Valley, 1700–1914. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1987.
  146. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  147. Recounts the history and political strategies responsible for the relationships between military power and economic production in three successive governments: the Bamana state of Segu, Islamic rule of the Umarian period, and French colonial administration.
  148. Find this resource:
  149. Early Travel Accounts
  150. In the 19th century, many travelers and explorers published reports about their experiences. Although much of their information must be carefully vetted in light of modern research, their observations still represent a contemporary vision conveyed by their reports on the peoples and events of the region. In 1795 the true direction of the Niger’s flow was finally determined (Park 1960, originally published in 1799 and 1815); as a primary natural route to the interior, that river and its environs became a central focus for other adventurers including the Timbuktu-bound Caillié in 1824–1828 (Caillié 1968). From the Atlantic coast eastward through the Senegal River Valley and on to the Middle Niger Delta, French imperial interests were informed by the reports of Mage 1868, describing travels in 1863–1866; Soleillet 1887, covering his visit to Segou in 1878–1879; Gallieni 1885, covering his trip to Segou; Binger 1892, describing his travels from the Niger south to the Atlantic and a visit with Samori in 1887–1889; and Tellier 1898, offering an ethnographic description of Kita, an important French base.
  151. Binger, Louis Gustave. Du Niger au Golfe de Guinée par le pays de Kong et le Mossi, 1887–1889. 2 vols. Paris: Librairie Hachette, 1892.
  152. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  153. An account of a trip from Bamako down through the lands affected by Samori’s wars and through the kingdom of Kong. Vivid descriptions of conditions and firsthand testimony of an encounter with Samori. Reprinted in 1980; digital copy available online.
  154. Find this resource:
  155. Caillié, René. Travels through Central Africa to Timbuctoo and across the Great Desert, to Morocco, Performed in the Years 1824–1828. 2 vols. London: Frank Cass, 1968.
  156. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  157. A classic account by the first European to reach fabled Timbuktu and to report on his visit. This French adventurer began describing “Mandingoes” while he was still on the Atlantic coast; as he traveled disguised as a Muslim into the savannah region of the Upper Niger, he continued to note details of his encounters with Mande peoples, including those in the areas of Kankan, Bouré, and Wasulu. French digitized in 4 volumes, volume 1 available online.
  158. Find this resource:
  159. Gallieni, Joseph. Voyage au Soudan français (Haut-Niger et pays de Ségou) 1879–1881. Paris: Librairie Hachette, 1885.
  160. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  161. A French military officer’s account of his expedition to Segou while playing a central role in France’s efforts to build forts, place steamboats on the river, and establish a protectorate over the Upper Niger. Digital copy available online.
  162. Find this resource:
  163. Mage, Eugène. Voyage dans le Soudan occidental (Sénégambie, Niger), 1863–1866. Paris: Librarie de L. Hachette, 1868.
  164. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  165. This French naval lieutenant in command of a river steamer cruised the Niger from Koulikoro near Bamako, northeast through Segou after the Umarian conquest and before French occupation, in the time of Sekou Ahmadu. Includes detailed descriptions of Bamana towns and personalities and eyewitness descriptions of wars between local polities. Digital copy available online.
  166. Find this resource:
  167. Park, Mungo. The Travels of Mungo Park. Edited by Ronald Miller. London: Dent, 1960.
  168. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  169. During two extremely hazardous journeys through the lands of Manden to the Niger River, this Scottish physician made many accurate observations of local sights and customs, with details of social attitudes and political events. Originally published in 1820 as Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa in 1775, 1796, and 1797 with Account of a Mission to That Country 1805 (digital copy available online).
  170. Find this resource:
  171. Soleillet, Paul. Voyage à Ségou 1878–1879. Paris: Challamel, 1887.
  172. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  173. Ghostwritten by G. Grevier from Soleillet’s notes of his journey from Dakar to Segou where he lived for over three months. One of the best eyewitness descriptions of daily life in Segou and the various characters who lived there between the Umarian and French conquests. Digital copy available online.
  174. Find this resource:
  175. Tellier, G. Autour de Kita: Étude soudanaise. Paris: Henri Charles-Lavauzelle, 1898.
  176. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  177. Another military officer on the move and following the French administrative agenda, this time in the Kita and Nioro areas of western Mali, recording impressions of social customs and collecting data meant to be useful for the colonial administration.
  178. Find this resource:
  179. Writings of Colonial Administrators
  180. French colonial strategy involved ongoing efforts to establish control over local populations by collecting as much information about them as possible, and administrators were encouraged to do so. Although some of the reports are flawed by varying degrees of distortion owing to racial attitudes of the day and premodern methodological standards, when taken as a whole and handled carefully, these sources offer a wealth of ethnographic and historical information. The manner in which the broad scope of French inquiry presents Mande peoples and culture as part of a vast Western Sudanic mosaic is evident in Desplagnes 1907 and the three-volume study by Delafosse 1972. Arcin 1907 and Arcin 1911 present ethnographic and historical details of French-occupied Guinea, Monteil 1977 focuses specifically on the Bamana polity and its culture, and Tauxier 1942 reviews the Bamana scholarship to that point.
  181. Arcin, André. La Guinée Française. Paris: Augustin Challamel, 1907.
  182. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  183. Remains an important, useful source for ethnography of 19th-century Guinea by a keen observer of daily life who recorded details of agricultural production, commerce, social customs, native government, indigenous belief, ritual practices, folklore, and Islamic and European impact, with important historical photographs. Digital copy available online.
  184. Find this resource:
  185. Arcin, André. Histoire de la Guinée Française. Paris: Augustin Challamel, 1911.
  186. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  187. Draws on other colonial sources with the main focus on the Atlantic coast up to Futa Jalon, but useful for what it reveals about French perceptions of major figures, such as Al-Hadj ‘Umar and Almami Samori, and 19th-century events that influenced Mande life. Digital copy available online.
  188. Find this resource:
  189. Delafosse, Maurice. Haut-Sénégal-Niger. 3 vols. Paris: G.-P. Maisonneuve et Larose, 1972.
  190. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  191. The most ambitious work of one of the most widely experienced and prolific of the French administrators presenting a vast amount of material including demographic and geographic data, ethnography, language classification, social organization, traditional religion, and histories of the earliest kingdoms and empires to those of the 19th century. Originally published in 1912.
  192. Find this resource:
  193. Desplagnes, Lieutenant Louis. Le Plateau Central Nigérien. Paris: Émile Larose, 1907.
  194. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  195. One of the early efforts to reveal everything the author could discover about Mande peoples and their neighbors, e.g., the Dogon. Refers to some contemporary sources, such as Charles Monteil, but presents a good deal of original observation, including ethnographic, archaeological, and architectural, with important historic photographs. Digital copy available online.
  196. Find this resource:
  197. Monteil, Charles. Les Bambara du Segou et du Kaarta. Paris: G.-P. Maisonneuve et Larose, 1977.
  198. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  199. Useful as one of the starting points for studying the history of the Bamana kingdoms because the author composed his narrative based on sources available at the time, and also apparently relied on oral tradition from local informants. Originally published in 1923.
  200. Find this resource:
  201. Tauxier, Louis. Histoire des Bambara. Paris: Librarie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 1942.
  202. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  203. Contains some original material from firsthand experience with northern Bamana communities of the Middle Niger in the first two decades of the 20th century, but mostly derived from written sources up to the 1940s. Particularly useful for its comprehensive review of previous scholarship.
  204. Find this resource:
  205. European and African Interactions from the Slave Trade to Colonialism
  206. For many Mande peoples, the 19th century was a period dominated by the imperial ambitions of two charismatic West African state-builders and one foreign invader. The standard work on Al-Hadj ‘Umar Tal (c. 1797–1864) is Robinson 1985, with an interesting supplementary perspective from the Arabic account by Kamara 1975. Relying heavily on oral sources, Person 1968–1975 accounts for the life and times of Almami Samori Touré (c. 1830–1900). Mande peoples are among those considered in the description of the nature and impact of the slave trade in Klein 1998. The process of French penetration and eventual colonization of the entire area is comprehensively described by Kanya-Forstner 1969, and a detailed study of a specific region is provided by Osborn 2011.
  207. Kamara, Cheikh Moussa. La vie d’El-Hadji Omar. Edited and translated by Amar Samb. Dakar, Senegal: Hilal, 1975.
  208. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  209. An account of the life of Umar Tal originally written in Arabic by a Senegalese historian in the early 20th century.
  210. Find this resource:
  211. Kanya-Forstner, A. S. The Conquest of the Western Sudan: A Study in French Military Imperialism. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1969.
  212. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  213. Endures as a particularly thorough, well-balanced, altogether excellent overview of the 19th-century French acquisition of its West African colonies.
  214. Find this resource:
  215. Klein, Martin. Slavery and Colonial Rule in French West Africa. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
  216. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511584138Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  217. Mainly addressing the period from 1876 to 1922, this history of slavery in the former French colonies describes the nature of servitude in local society and changes wrought by European conquest and administration that affected Mande peoples and their neighbors.
  218. Find this resource:
  219. Osborn, Emily Lynn. Our New Husbands Are Here: Households, Gender, and Politics in a West African State from the Slave Trade to Colonial Rule. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2011.
  220. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  221. Engagingly readable, insightful history of a previously neglected region of the Upper Niger known as Baté (now Kankan). Explores the critical role played by women, including many of Manden, coping with the slave trade and warfare in traditional society, under Islamic rule, and through changes introduced by French colonization.
  222. Find this resource:
  223. Person, Yves. Samori: Une révolution dyula. 3 vols. Dakar, Senegal: IFAN, 1968–1975.
  224. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  225. Monumental study of empire-builder Almami Samori Touré and his impact on Mande and neighboring peoples extending from the Guinea forest north to the Niger and south to northern Côte d’Ivoire. Unprecedented at the time for the use of oral historical sources. Original transcripts unavailable, but its usefulness is enhanced by the later publication of an index in Volume 3.
  226. Find this resource:
  227. Robinson, David. The Holy War of Umar Tal: The Western Sudan in the Mid-Nineteenth Century. Oxford: Clarendon, 1985.
  228. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  229. Definitive, comprehensive historical study of the life and times of Al-Hadj ‘Umar Tal, leader of an Islamic reform movement that swept from his base at Dinguiraye in Guinea east to cover the Bamana kingdom of Segou and the Fula dina of Macina.
  230. Find this resource:
  231. Politics since Independence
  232. The period of national politics is one of ideologies and interethnic movements. Foltz 1965 and Morgenthau 1964 document the movement toward independence and the creation of political institutions. Kaba 1976, Kaba 1977, and Rivière 1977 document the political movements in Guinea. The special issue of Mande Studies 5 (Lecocq and Mann 2003) considers the period of Mali’s first president, Modibo Keita; the special issue of Mande Studies 10 (Kühn 2008) documents more modern conditions and developments.
  233. Foltz, William J. From French West Africa to the Mali Federation. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1965.
  234. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  235. Focuses on the failed experiment to unify the former French Soudan and Senegal, essential to understanding the history of political organization and economic relations that led to modern-day political problems in the West African region populated by the Mande peoples and their neighbors.
  236. Find this resource:
  237. Kaba, Lansiné. “The Cultural Revolution, Artistic Creativity, and Freedom of Expression in Guinea.” Journal of Modern African Studies 14.2 (1976): 201–218.
  238. DOI: 10.1017/S0022278X00053258Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  239. An insider’s well-informed assessment of the reasons behind Sekou Touré’s cultural revolution and its impact on the country.
  240. Find this resource:
  241. Kaba, Lansiné. “Guinean Politics: A Critical Historical Overview.” Journal of Modern African Studies 15.1 (1977): 25–45.
  242. DOI: 10.1017/S0022278X00014464Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  243. Excellent analysis of Sekou Touré’s ideology, explaining the workings of his Parti démocratique de Guinée and the rise of his autocracy, as well as the relationship between socialism and development in Guinea in the 1960s and 1970s.
  244. Find this resource:
  245. Kühn, Esther, ed. Special Issue: Civil Society in the Mande World. Mande Studies 10 (2008).
  246. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  247. Articles by Esther Kühn, Walter van Beek, Paolo Gaibazzi, Jan Jansen, Nicholas Hopkins, and Fatoumata Keita.
  248. Find this resource:
  249. Lecocq, Baz, and Gregory Mann, eds. Special Issue: Modibo Keita’s Mali: 1960–1968. Mande Studies 5 (2003).
  250. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  251. Articles by Gregory Mann, Baz Lecocq, Seydou Camara, Daouda Gary-Tounkara, Catherine Bogosian, and Nicholas Hopkins on Malian politics under the first president.
  252. Find this resource:
  253. Morgenthau, Ruth Schachter. Political Parties in French-speaking West Africa. Oxford: Clarendon, 1964.
  254. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  255. Remains a basic source for details of nationalist movements, formation of political parties, and early attempts at stability in postcolonial states including Guinea, Mali, the Ivory Coast, and Senegal.
  256. Find this resource:
  257. Rivière, Claude. Guinea: The Mobilization of a People. Translated by Virginia Thompson and Richard Adloff. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1977.
  258. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  259. By one of the few Western scholars allowed to conduct research in Guinea during the rule of Sekou Touré, provides a useful overview of Guinea’s geography, demography, ethnography, and history introducing the author’s understandably noncritical effort to explain the political climate of the first twenty years of the Touré regime.
  260. Find this resource:
  261. Historical Materials from the Oral Tradition
  262. The Mande world is one of the central areas for the integration of oral tradition with other forms of historical documentation. Djibril Tamsir Niane (Niane 1960, cited under the Sunjata Tradition) and Amadou Hampate Bâ (Bâ 1980, cited under Studies and Analysis) have been perhaps the most prominent of West African spokespersons for the value of oral tradition in the study of history and culture. The use of oral tradition involves questions of methodology, discussed under Studies and Analysis, and the collection and publication of texts, presented under the Sunjata Tradition (for the origins of the empire) and Segou and Other Traditions (for later periods).
  263. Studies and Analysis
  264. Bâ 1980 and Niane 1960 (cited under the Sunjata Tradition) lay down the African perspective on the value of their oral traditions. Austen 1999, Jansen 2001, Zobel 1997, and Camara 1992 (cited under Mande Arts: Performing Arts: Musicians and Oral Artists) discuss the oral historical tradition with particular reference to the tradition of Sunjata, the foundational narrative. Diawara 1990 and Traoré 2000 offer insightful analysis on other aspects of Mande oral tradition, as does Conrad 1992 with specific reference to a historical figure. The influential essay by Bird and Kendall 1980 has influenced study of Mande epics since it appeared. Belcher 1999 (cited under Mande Arts: Oral and Written Forms of Literature: Folktales and Other Forms) offers general descriptions and references for the various epic traditions in the differing historical threads and oral genres.
  265. Austen, Ralph A., ed. In Search of Sunjata: The Mande Oral Epic as History, Literature, and Performance. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1999.
  266. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  267. A collection of essays from various perspectives on the Sunjata epic by fourteen specialists in Mande studies.
  268. Find this resource:
  269. Bâ, Amadou Hâmpate. “La tradition vivante.” In Histoire générale de l’Afrique. Vol. 1, Préhistoire et méthodologie. Edited by Joseph Ki-Zerbo, 191–230. Paris: UNESCO, 1980.
  270. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  271. An impassioned and influential statement on the value of the oral tradition by a leading Malianintellectual.
  272. Find this resource:
  273. Bird, Charles S., and Martha B. Kendall. “The Mande Hero: Text and Context.” In Explorations in African Systems of Thought. Edited by Ivan Karp and Charles Bird, 14–26. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1980.
  274. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  275. A seminal study of the cultural motivations underlying concepts of heroism and narrative structure in the Mande world, still cited and still valuable.
  276. Find this resource:
  277. Conrad, David C. “Searching for History in the Sunjata Epic: The Case of Fakoli.” History in Africa 19 (1992): 147–200.
  278. DOI: 10.2307/3171998Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  279. Confronts problems of seeking historical information from the Mande epic narrative, suggesting ways in which careful comparative analysis might reveal historical elements. Foregrounds the composite character Fakoli as an agent of both social and political change and as a central figure in the process of nascent Mali’s unification.
  280. Find this resource:
  281. Diawara, Mamadou. La graine de la parole. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1990.
  282. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  283. A study of oral tradition among the Soninke people of the Jarra Kingdom of the northern Mande cultural region. Taking into account the unique perspective of female informants, the distinguished author, who is of Soninke origin, reveals the complexities of a social hierarchy resulting from 16th-century political events.
  284. Find this resource:
  285. Jansen, Jan. Épopée, histoire société: Le cas de Soundjata, Mali et Guinée. Paris: Karthala, 2001.
  286. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  287. Starting with an ethnography of the Diabaté griots who can claim authority in their preservation of the tradition of Sunjata, the author also expresses skepticism on the historical value of what he sees as a social charter reflecting contemporary society.
  288. Find this resource:
  289. Traoré, Karim. Le jeu et le sérieux. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, 2000.
  290. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  291. An original critical study of Mande epic oral traditions, focusing particularly on the hunters’ epics.
  292. Find this resource:
  293. Zobel, Clement. Das Gewicht der Rede: Kulturelle Reinterpretation, Geschichte und Vermittlung bei den Mande Westafrikas. Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 1997.
  294. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  295. An informed and thoughtful study, based on extensive fieldwork with Malinke griots, of the importance and function of oral history and its performance in Mande society.
  296. Find this resource:
  297. The Sunjata Tradition
  298. The epic of Sunjata, the founding legend of the empire of Mali, has been documented over the centuries, and many more versions exist than are listed here; see Belcher 1999, cited under Mande Arts: Oral and Written Forms of Literature: Folktales and Other Forms. Frobenius 1925 offers an excellent early version, carefully recorded before modern technology allowed more accurate capture of oral performance. Niane 1960, based on the traditional repertoire of Djelibakoro in Guinea, has become canonical in Francophone areas, excerpted in schoolbooks and taught everywhere. Johnson 1986 offers a reliable text from the oral tradition recorded in the 1960s. Cissé and Kamissoko 1988–1991 represents testimony on the tradition from the 1970s. Durán and Furniss 1999 offers versions recorded in the Gambia, the western part of the Mande world. Ly-Tall, et al. 1987 and Jansen, et al. 1995 offer versions recorded in Kela, associated with the ritual of the Kamablon (see Religion: Rediscovered Traditions) that now have the sanction of Malian political authority. In addition to Niane 1960, Conrad 1999 and Conrad 2004 represent the Guinean side of the Mande Sunjata tradition.
  299. Cissé, Youssouf Tata, and Wâ Kamissoko. La grande geste du Mali. 2 vols. Paris: Karthala-Arsan, 1988–1991.
  300. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  301. Volume 1, Soundjata la gloire du Mali, was published in 1988; Volume 2, Soundjata la gloire du Mali, was published in 1991. The fruits of an extensive collaboration between a scholar (Cissé) and a traditionalist recognized for his masterful knowledge of past traditions that covers known ground and ventures into new questions and areas.
  302. Find this resource:
  303. Conrad, David C., ed. and trans. Epic Ancestors of the Sunjata Era: Oral Tradition from the Maninka of Guinea. Madison: University of Wisconsin, 1999.
  304. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  305. A unique collection of transcriptions from market cassette recordings of episodes and versions of the Epic of Sunjata assembled in Guinea. Besides their validation through popular local circulation, they also illustrate how the political isolation of Guinea until the 1990s may have helped preserve variant oral traditions.
  306. Find this resource:
  307. Conrad, David C., ed. and trans. Sunjata: A West African Epic of the Mande Peoples. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett, 2004.
  308. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  309. Northern Guinea variant from one of the most knowledgeable of bardic families tracing the adventures and achievements of charismatic Mande ancestors who were credited with establishing the foundations of the Mali Empire, in a translation formatted to approximate the original performance values of the narrator. Although abridged, this performance by Djanka Tassey Condé is essential for appreciation of the oral aspect of the Sunjata tradition. A sample of the recording is available online.
  310. Find this resource:
  311. Durán, Lucy, and Graham Furniss, eds. Sunjata, Gambian Versions of the Mande Epic by Bamba Suso and Banna Kanuteh. London and New York: Penguin Classics, 1999.
  312. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  313. Reprints the texts of two Gambian versions of Sunjata first published by Gordon Innes (Sunjata: Three Mandinka Versions. London: School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 1974) with a new introduction and additional notes based on additional research and extensive fieldwork by Furniss and Durán.
  314. Find this resource:
  315. Frobenius, Leo. Dichten und Denken im Sudan. Atlantis v. Jena, Germany: Eugen Diederichs, 1925.
  316. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  317. Offers a valuable and rich version of the story of Sunjata, along with supplementary historical, genealogical, and cultural material. One of the best versions collected at the start of the colonial period.
  318. Find this resource:
  319. Jansen, Jan, Esger Duintjer, and Boubacar Tamboura, eds. and trans. L’Épopée de Sunjata, d’après Lansine Diabate de Kela. Leiden, The Netherlands: Center of Non-Western Studies, 1995.
  320. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  321. A bilingual version from Kela, as performed by the Diabaté lineage and associated with the Kamablon ritual and now endowed with a certain official sanction through government participation. More accessible than the very similar version published by Madina Ly-Tall in 1987.
  322. Find this resource:
  323. Johnson, John W., ed. and trans. The Epic of Son-Jara. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986.
  324. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  325. A two-part volume consisting of a study of the Sunjata epic in the first section, with the second part presenting an English translation of a variant from the Kita region of Mali.
  326. Find this resource:
  327. Ly-Tall, Madina, Seydou Camara, and Bouna Diouara, eds. and trans. L’Histoire du Mandé d’après Jéli Kanku Madi Jabaté de Kéla. Paris: Association SCOA, 1987.
  328. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  329. A bilingual version performed by the Diabaté lineage, recorded in 1979 at Kela, very similar to the version published by Jansen, et al. 1995.
  330. Find this resource:
  331. Niane, Djibril Tamsir. Soundjata ou L’épopée mandingue. Paris: Présence africaine, 1960.
  332. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  333. A variant from Northern Guinea rendered in prose, historically significant in the overall corpus because it first presented the Sunjata epic in a popular format appropriate for broad distribution in the non–West African world. This is the standard version taught in classrooms across Francophone West Africa. The English translation by G. D. Pickett, Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali (London: Longmans, 1965) has also become very influential.
  334. Find this resource:
  335. Segou and Other Traditions
  336. Mande oral historical tradition is not limited to the epic of Sunjata. The Kingdom of Segou (18th–19th centuries) is also the subject of a rich cycle of performances forming a loose history of the two dynasties that founded and ruled it, but not covering its end. Dumestre 1979 and Kesteloot 1978 offer collections of episodes by various performers giving that history; Conrad 1990 offers a single narrative. Dumestre and Kesteloot 1975 is an extended version of a single episode; Frobenius 1978 provides an early and rich collection of narratives from a variety of traditions. Innes 1976, Innes 1978, and Wright 1979–1980 preserve representative texts from Gambia.
  337. Conrad, David C., ed. and trans. A State of Intrigue: The Epic of Bamana Segu According to Tayiru Banbera. Union Académique Internationale, Fontes Historiae Africanae 6. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press for the British Academy, 1990.
  338. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  339. A continuous narrative giving the history of Segou (c. 1700–1830) under the Kulibali and Diarra rulers by a master narrator.
  340. Find this resource:
  341. Dumestre, Gérard, ed. and trans. La Geste de Ségou. Paris: Armand Colin, 1979.
  342. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  343. A collection of performances by different artists giving a valuable bilingual selection of epics from the cycle of Segou; includes a sound recording.
  344. Find this resource:
  345. Dumestre, Gérard, and Lilyan Kesteloot, eds. and trans. La prise de Dionkoloni. Paris: Armand Colin, 1975.
  346. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  347. An extended narrative of one episode from the cycle of Segou embellished with heroic legendary materials.
  348. Find this resource:
  349. Frobenius, Leo. Spielmannsgeschichten der Sahel. Atlantis 6. Walluf, Germany: Martin Sändig, 1978.
  350. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  351. Originally published in 1921 (Jena, Germany: Eugen Diederichs). An excellent and underused collection of historical and legendary (epic) narratives in German translation; the texts match up well with modern versions based on recorded oral performances. Includes Soninke, Fula, and Bamana materials.
  352. Find this resource:
  353. Innes, Gordon, ed. and trans. Kaabu and Fuladu: Historical Narratives of the Gambian Mandinka. London: School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 1976.
  354. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  355. A set of narratives from the Gambia about the fall of the Mandinka kingdom of Kansala (c. 1843) and the exploits of the Muslim Fula conquerors, extending into the early colonial era.
  356. Find this resource:
  357. Innes, Gordon, ed. and trans. Kelefa Saane: His Career Recounted by Two Mandinka Bards. London: School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 1978.
  358. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  359. The story of a hero associated with the nyancho warrior caste that pillaged freely through Senegambia in the pre-colonial era.
  360. Find this resource:
  361. Kesteloot, Lilyan, ed. and trans. L’Épopée bambara de Segou. 2 vols. Paris: L’Harmattan, 1978.
  362. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  363. Originally published as Da Monzon de Segou in four volumes (Paris: Nathan, 1972). An early collection of transcribed performances and accounts that gives a complete picture of the epic cycle associated with the Kingdom of Segou.
  364. Find this resource:
  365. Wright, Donald R. Oral Traditions from the Gambia. 2 vols. Athens, OH: Ohio University Center for International Studies, 1979–1980.
  366. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  367. Preserving one collection of narrative texts from interviews with Mandinka professional bards in the first volume and another collection of oral histories from nonprofessional lineage elders in the second volume; extremely useful demonstration of rigorously applied methodology in coping with problems of trying to acquire reliable information from oral sources.
  368. Find this resource:
  369. Social Organization
  370. The abundant literature on this subject reflects the complexity of a Mande social structure infused with intricate kinship patterns, distinct occupational identities, and influences from a syncretic belief system. One of the best early studies from the colonial era is by Pâques 1954, which preceded general perspectives by local scholars, Cissé 1970 and Leynaud and Cissé 1978. Hopkins 1972 narrows the focus to a specific community. Contributions to Conrad and Frank 1995 address individual occupational groups, and those edited by Jansen 2004 provide a variety of topical studies. Family relationships are the focus of van Hoven 1995 and Jansen and Zobel 1996, and ethnic groups are the focus of Pollet and Winter 1971.
  371. Cissé, Django. Structures des Malinké de Kita. Bamako, Mali: Éditions Populaires, 1970.
  372. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  373. One of the first self-examinations of Mande society from within in the post-independence era; a study that helped to define the terms of analysis of the group.
  374. Find this resource:
  375. Conrad, David C., and Barbara E. Frank, eds. Status and Identity in West Africa: Nyamakalaw of Mande. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1995.
  376. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  377. A collection of twelve essays based on various interdisciplinary perspectives exploring the often-contradictory perceptions and attitudes regarding the identities and social histories of an endogamous, occupationally defined social group (nyamakala) that includes blacksmiths, potters, leatherworkers, and bards.
  378. Find this resource:
  379. Hopkins, Nicholas S. Popular Government in an African Town. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1972.
  380. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  381. An excellent study of the interplay of traditional and modern forces and national and local interests in the town of Kita, Mali, in the period soon after independence.
  382. Find this resource:
  383. Jansen, Jan, ed. Mande-Manding: Background Reading for Ethnographic Research in the Region South of Bamako (Mali). Leiden, The Netherlands: Leiden University, 2004.
  384. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  385. A useful collection of essays on topics ranging from village economics, demography, language issues, history and researcher–host relations to railroad history, education, and hunters’ funeral songs. Particularly interesting are the contributions by Stephen Wooten and Valentin Vydrin.
  386. Find this resource:
  387. Jansen, Jan, and Clemens Zobel, eds. The Younger Brother in Mande: Kinship and Politics in West Africa: Selected Papers from the Third International Conference on Mande Studies, Leiden, March 20–24, 1995. Leiden, The Netherlands: Research School CNWS, 1996.
  388. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  389. A collection of eight essays introducing new perspectives on the inner workings of Mande society, with emphasis on the phenomenon of stepbrother rivalry and junior/elder brother relations.
  390. Find this resource:
  391. Leynaud, Emile, and Yousssouf Cissé. Paysans malinké du Haut Niger. Bamako, Mali: Édition Imprimerie Populaire du Mali, 1978.
  392. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  393. A comprehensive introduction to Mande society covering history, demography, kinship and sociology, and agricultural practices, oriented to work in development.
  394. Find this resource:
  395. Pâques, Viviana. Les Bambara. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1954.
  396. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  397. A general ethnography for students; also one of the first written.
  398. Find this resource:
  399. Pollet, Eric, and Grace Winter. La société Soninké: Dyahunu, Mali. Brussels: Éditions de l’Université de Bruxelles, 1971.
  400. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  401. A thorough ethnography and history of a Soninke group in northwest Mali, in a region close to the Soninke homeland.
  402. Find this resource:
  403. van Hoven, Ed. L’oncle maternel est roi: La formation d’alliances hiérarchiques chez les Mandingues du Wuli (Sénégal). Leiden, The Netherlands: Research School CNWS, 1995.
  404. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  405. Based on extensive fieldwork in a Mande community of Senegal and providing background on the pre-colonial and colonial eras; a detailed study of social, economic, and family relationships with particular attention to marriage customs.
  406. Find this resource:
  407. Economics
  408. In addition to farming and fishing, the economic bases of rural and urban societies were local markets and long-distance trade and commerce. Studies collected by Wooten 2005 examine systems of exchange. Roberts 1996 details the history of a colonial economy based on a major export crop, whereas the economies of individual communities are the subject of studies by Amselle 1977, Launay 1982, Wooten 2009, and Wright 2010.
  409. Amselle, Jean-Loup. Les négociants de la savane: Histoire et organisation sociale des Kooroko (Mali). Paris: Anthropos, 1977.
  410. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  411. During the colonial era, the Kooroko, formerly a blacksmith group of Mali’s Wasulu region, moved to Bamako, Mali, and Bouaké, Côte d’Ivoire. This ethnographic study describes how they transformed their identity by becoming major players in the kola trade.
  412. Find this resource:
  413. Launay, Robert. Traders without Trade: Responses to Change in Two Dyula Communities. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1982.
  414. DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511558054Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  415. An ethnography of Dyula communities in northern Côte d’Ivoire analyzing the relationship of social organization to trade and Islam and describing the effects of 20th-century political and economic change, including the development of new forms of urban ethnicity.
  416. Find this resource:
  417. Roberts, Richard L. Two Worlds of Cotton: Colonialism and the Regional Economy in the French Soudan, 1800–1946. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1996.
  418. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  419. A study of the social and economic history of colonial French West Africa focusing on how an indigenous regional economy was developed and expanded into a vitally important commodity for an occupying European power.
  420. Find this resource:
  421. Wooten, Stephen, ed. Wari Matters: Ethnographic Explorations of Money in the Mande World. Münster, Germany: Lit Verlag, 2005.
  422. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  423. Essays by ten Mande culture specialists discussing local perspectives on currency and exchange through ethnographic studies of masking, music, and oral narrative.
  424. Find this resource:
  425. Wooten, Stephen. The Art of Livelihood: Creating Expressive Agri-Culture in Rural Mali. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic, 2009.
  426. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  427. A rich and detailed ethnographic study of the social dynamics, ritual processes, aesthetic concepts, and spirituality required for crop production in rural Mande society.
  428. Find this resource:
  429. Wright, Donald R. The World and a Very Small Place in Africa: A History of Globalization in Niumi, the Gambia. 3d ed. Armonk, NY, and London: M. E. Sharpe, 2010.
  430. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  431. Beginning with the 15th century and carrying through to the early 21st century, excellent economic history of a tiny Mandinka kingdom and its place in the worldwide economic system. Highlighting special interest topics in numerous sidebars and periodically updated, this has become a standard text in many university courses.
  432. Find this resource:
  433. Religion
  434. Documentation of Mande spiritual beliefs has until recently always been performed by outsiders: Muslim or French travelers and, later, ethnographers. Islam and traditional belief have coexisted since the start of that documentation, and unraveling their interrelations is a problematic task. This section starts with Indigenous Belief and continues with Islam. In recent years, Mande intellectuals have been redefining the traditional heritage in ways that bridge history and religion; this enterprise is covered under Rediscovered Traditions.
  435. Indigenous Belief
  436. To a significant though not entirely understood degree, the Mande peoples’ relationship with the spirit world involves a combination of Islam and non-Islamic beliefs and practices, although the literature has largely failed to separate the two. Henry 1910, Tauxier 1927, and Dieterlen 1951 are useful, informative examples of how earlier observers described ritual institutions. Zahan 1960, Dieterlen and Cissé 1972, and McNaughton 1979 focus on specific initiation societies that form an important part of the traditional religious framework. The function of traditional belief in the community was examined by Zahan 1963, and the study of religious esoterica in one society was vaulted to a new level by Højbjerg 2007. See also McNaughton 1988 on blacksmiths in Mande Arts: Material Arts: Architecture, Sculpture, Ironworking. Various exhibition catalogs also provide valuable descriptions of the belief systems behind the objects; e.g., Colleyn 2001 (cited under Mande Arts: Material Arts: Architecture, Sculpture, Ironworking) or Imperato 1983 (cited under Mande Arts: Performing Arts: Theater and Dance).
  437. Dieterlen, Germain. Essai sur la religion Bambara. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1951.
  438. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  439. Despite flawed methodology in early encounters with Mande cosmology, this anthropological study retains a place in the standard corpus of sources. Consulted on a comparative basis with a critical eye, it is still useful in laying the groundwork for serious in-depth research on initiation societies, divination, and other ritual practices devoted to communication with the spirit world.
  440. Find this resource:
  441. Dieterlen, Germain, and Youssouf Cissé. Les fondements de la société d’initiation du Komo. Paris: Mouton, 1972.
  442. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  443. A starting point for in-depth research on the fundamental ritual institution of the Bamana and Maninka system of belief, provided it is supplemented by thorough attention to the subsequent corpus of essential, more current literature on the subject, including McNaughton 1988, Brett-Smith 1994, and Colleyn 2001, all cited under Mande Arts: Material Arts: Architecture, Sculpture, Ironworking
  444. Find this resource:
  445. Henry, Abbé Joseph. L’ame d’un peuple africain: Les Bambara, leur vie psychique, éthique, sociale, religieuse. Münster, Germany: Aschendorffschen Buchhandlung, 1910.
  446. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  447. Flawed by evangelical zeal but an essential point of departure for serious in-depth research, for understanding development of methodology, and for continuing with comprehensive study of the subsequently produced corpus of detailed studies on the subject.
  448. Find this resource:
  449. Højbjerg, Christian. Resisting State Iconoclasm among the Loma of Guinea. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic, 2007.
  450. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  451. Carrying the study of traditional religion forward with fresh perspectives and brilliant insights on secret religious practices, the author explores and analyzes a neighboring ethnic group with many social, political, and cultural institutions overlapping with Mande culture. Invaluable as a comparative reference illuminating Bamana, Maninka, and other Mande spiritual practices.
  452. Find this resource:
  453. McNaughton, Patrick R. Secret Sculptures of Komo: Art and Power in Bamana (Bambara) Initiation Associations. Philadelphia: Institute for the Study of Human Issues, 1979.
  454. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  455. Provides readable, extremely well-informed access to understanding complexities in the role of the most important ritual institution in Mande society.
  456. Find this resource:
  457. Tauxier, Louis. La religion Bambara. Paris: Librarie Orientaliste Paul Geuthner, 1927.
  458. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  459. One of the earliest efforts to accumulate data on the role of occult practices in village life, describing deities, taboos, sorcery, magic, divination, healing, and initiation societies. A classic in the standard corpus laying the groundwork for serious in-depth research into Mande traditions centering on the spirit world.
  460. Find this resource:
  461. Zahan, Dominique. Sociétés d’initiation Bambara: Le N’Domo, Le Korè. Paris: Mouton et Cie, 1960.
  462. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  463. Important as a point of departure for in-depth study of two of the most prominent Bamana initiation societies, best used in conjunction with more recent work including the chapter “Ntomo and Koré” in Colleyn 2001 (pp. 95–129, cited under Mande Arts: Material Arts: Architecture, Sculpture, Ironworking).
  464. Find this resource:
  465. Zahan, Dominique. La dialectique du verbe chez les Bambara. Paris: Mouton, 1963.
  466. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  467. An early but still useful study exploring strategies for maintaining community order and negotiating social behavior via the power of the word and its relationship to the spirit world.
  468. Find this resource:
  469. Islam
  470. Studies on Islam in Mande and neighboring societies embrace a wide range of related topics. The early introductory study by Trimingham 1962 provides essential background based on a general knowledge of Islam and provides the starting point for the next generation of scholars with an increasingly Mande focus, spearheaded by Levtzion; see Levtzion 1979 and Levtzion 2000. The topical focus is greatly narrowed to specific communities by Sanneh 1989, Kaba 2004, Launay 2004, and Soares 2005. The influence of specialized Muslim oral performers on Mande identity is discussed by Conrad 1985.
  471. Conrad, David C. “Islam in the Oral Traditions of Mali: Bilali and Surakata.” Journal of African History 26 (1985): 33–49.
  472. DOI: 10.1017/S0021853700023070Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  473. Discusses the possible significance of oral narrative in which Mande bards (jeliw) evidently appropriated legendary figures from the literature of Arabia and claimed them as ancestors of distinguished Mande lineages.
  474. Find this resource:
  475. Kaba, Lansiné. Cheikh Mouhammad Chérif et son temps, ou Islam et société à Kankan, Guinée 1874–1955. Paris: Présence Africaine. 2004.
  476. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  477. A biography of a noted Muslim holy man in Kankan, a community that at the time was an influential religious center promoted by the French; includes discussion of the city in the colonial era.
  478. Find this resource:
  479. Launay, Robert. Beyond the Stream: Islam & Society in a West African Town. Long Grove, IL: Waveland, 2004.
  480. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  481. Explores the history and culture of Islam in a small Dyula (Mande) community in northern Côte d’Ivoire as a way of understanding the role of that religion in the modern political problems of the country, as well as its meaning and function in the broader worldwide context.
  482. Find this resource:
  483. Levtzion, Nehemia. “Patterns of Islamization in West Africa.” In Conversion to Islam. Edited by N. Levtzion, 207–216. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1979.
  484. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  485. A very informative discussion of the question of “Africanization” of Islam and the overlapping relationship of Islam with indigenous West African religion including aspects of the Mande belief system. Originally published in Aspects of West African Islam (Boston: Boston University Press, 1971, pp. 31–39).
  486. Find this resource:
  487. Levtzion, Nehemia. “Islam in the Bilad-al Sudan to 1800.” In The History of Islam in Africa. Edited by Nehemia Levtzion and R. L. Pouwels, 63–91. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 2000.
  488. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  489. Beginning with the 7th and 8th centuries, describes the circumstances, locations, and participants in the history of the spread of Islam from North Africa to the sub-Saharan sahel and savannah, including the impact on Mande populations in Sudanic states of the period.
  490. Find this resource:
  491. Sanneh, Lamin O. The Jakhanke Muslim Clerics: A Religious and Historical Study of Islam in Senegambia. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1989.
  492. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  493. A valuable study of an old and unique branch of Islam established in West Africa and influential in the diffusion of trading networks in the western Mande world; the group was particularly associated with the older Soninke traditions in the Mande.
  494. Find this resource:
  495. Soares, Benjamin. Islam and the Prayer Economy: History and Authority in a Malian Town. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2005.
  496. DOI: 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748622856.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  497. A study based in Nioro du Sahel covering the complex religious history of the town and the current dynamics of Islamic practice.
  498. Find this resource:
  499. Trimingham, J. Spencer. A History of Islam in West Africa. London and New York: Published for the University of Glasgow by Oxford University Press, 1962.
  500. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  501. At the time of political transition from colonial to postcolonial periods, an important general historical narrative for its broad scope addressing events in North Africa and the Western and Central Sudanic regions (including Mande in the West), setting a standard for the next generation of historians.
  502. Find this resource:
  503. Rediscovered Traditions
  504. In the years since independence, various elements of tradition have been advanced as manifestations of authentically Mande culture and its historical roots, as distinct from Islam, French education, and modernization that are seen as imported systems of belief and practice. Topics covered here include hunters’ lore, the ritual of the Kamablon in Kangaba, and the reconstructed Charter of Kurukan Fugan.
  505. Hunters
  506. Hunters’ associations are linked to equality among members, occult knowledge and power, and probity. Cashion 1982 provides a neutral description roughly contemporary with the first study published by Youssouf Tata Cissé in 1964. Subsequent works of Cissé (Cissé 1994 and Cissé and Kamissoko 1988–1991 (the latter cited under the Sunjata Tradition) have underpinned the valorization of hunters among the literati. Hellweg 2011 and Kedzierska-Manzon 2014 describe the intersection of hunters’ ideology and civil society during recent periods of trouble. Hunters’ music (especially that of the singer Salif Keita) has also become very popular beyond its original performance context. See Karim Traoré (Traoré 2000, cited under Historical Sources: Historical Materials from the Oral Tradition: Studies and Analysis) and Cherif Keita (Keita 1995 and Keita 2009, cited under Mande Arts: Performing Arts: Musicians and Oral Artists). Hunters appear in movies (Guimba le tyran), and hunters’ tales are a popular form of literature (see Mande Arts: Oral and Written Forms of Literature: Hunters’ Songs and Traditions).
  507. Cashion, Gerald. “Hunters of the Mande: A Behavioral Code and Worldview Derived from a Study of Their Folklore.” PhD diss., Indiana University, 1982.
  508. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  509. Despite not having been revised for publication, this remains an essential study on the role of hunters in Mande society, including details of their clothing, weapons, occupational skills, spiritual practices, and a second volume of collected oral traditions.
  510. Find this resource:
  511. Cissé, Youssouf Tata. La confrérie de chasseurs Malinké et Bambara: Mythes, rites et récits initiatiques. Paris: Association ARSAN, 1994.
  512. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  513. Building on work first published in 1964 (Notes sur les sociétés de chasseurs malinké, Journal des la société des africanistes, volume 34, pp. 175–226) and continued in Cissé and Kamissoko 1988–1991 (cited under the Sunjata Tradition), this study of hunters in the Mande world is a cornerstone of the current valorization of hunters as embodying authentic Mande culture and ideals (rather than imported Muslim or French principles).
  514. Find this resource:
  515. Hellweg, Joseph. Hunting the Ethical State: The Benkadi Movement of Côte d’Ivoire. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2011.
  516. DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226326559.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  517. A study of the effects of the hunter ideology among Mande groups, as expressed in Côte d’Ivoire during a time of great unrest.
  518. Find this resource:
  519. Kedzierska-Manzon, Agnieszka. Chasseurs mandingues: Violence, pouvoir et religion en Afrique de l’Ouest. Paris: Éditions Karthala, 2014.
  520. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  521. Advances the study of hunters with special attention to the ideological and political dimensions of their role in society.
  522. Find this resource:
  523. The Ritual of the Kamablon
  524. The reroofing ceremony of the Kamablon, held every seven years in the town of Kangaba, has been linked to the origins of Mande society and to the preservation and transmission of its history. The description in Dieterlen 1955, together with Ganay 1995, offers an interpretation grounded in regional mythology from the perspective of the Griaule school; the approaches and conclusions of this school have been challenged by Jansen 2002 and others. See also the contributions of Jansen, et al. 1995 and Ly-Tall, et al. 1987, cited under the Sunjata Tradition.
  525. Dieterlen, Germaine. “Mythe et organisation sociale au Soudan français.” Journal de la Société des Africanistes 25 (1955): 39–76.
  526. DOI: 10.3406/jafr.1955.1873Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  527. The first set of essays describing the myths and rituals of the Kamabolon and positing their importance for Mande culture. Dieterlen’s conclusions have been both supported and contested in later scholarship. See also Volume 29 (1959), pp. 119–138.
  528. Find this resource:
  529. Ganay, Solange de. Le sanctuaire Kama blon de Kangaba. [France]: Editions Nouvelles du Sud, 1995.
  530. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  531. A report on fieldwork performed in the 1950s, supporting Dieterlen.
  532. Find this resource:
  533. Jansen, Jan. Les secrets du Manding: Les récits du sanctuaire Kamabolon de Kangaba (Mali). Leiden, The Netherlands: CNWS, 2002.
  534. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  535. A challenge to the viewpoint and reports of Dieterlen 1955 and Ganay 1995 based on more recent ethnography and reanalysis of original sources.
  536. Find this resource:
  537. The Charter of Kurukan Fugan
  538. Kurukan Fugan is alleged to have been the meeting place of Sunjata with his military leaders and councilors after the victory of Manden over Sosso. Since the 1980s, the results of that meeting have been interpreted as a charter (code of laws and conduct) governing Mande society, despite the lack of any evidence for earlier forms of this charter. There are now competing versions of the charter. One is derived from the work of Souleymane Kanté, represented in Kanté n.d. and the Niang 2006; see also Language and Linguistics: N’ko Writing System (information exists mainly on the web). The other version derives from hunters’ mythology through the work of Cissé 1994 (cited under Hunters), published with illustrations in Cissé and Sagot-Duvauroux 2003. Belcher 2008 offers a critical appraisal. The resources and scholarship on the topic are still emerging, and there may be more information available online than in print.
  539. Belcher, Stephen. “Some Observations on the Textualization of the ‘Charte de Kouroukan Fougan.’” In Mande Mansa: Essays in Honor of David C. Conrad. Edited by Stephen Belcher, Jan Jansen, and Mohamed N’Daou, 48–54. Berlin and Vienna: Lit Verlag, 2008.
  540. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  541. Reviews the available evidence for the gathering at Kurukan Fugan in the time of Sunjata and argues that current versions of the charter are largely inspired by the work of Souleymane Kante of the N’Ko alphabet.
  542. Find this resource:
  543. Cissé, Youssouf Tata and Jean-Louis Sagot-Duvauroux. La Charte du Mandé et autres traditions du Mali. Illustrated by Aboubacar Fofana. Paris: Albin Michel, 2003.
  544. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  545. Fofana’s illustrated version of Cissé’s text; this version comes from the hunters’ tradition and differs significantly from the version reconstructed in Kankan.
  546. Find this resource:
  547. Kanté, Sùlemáana. Màndén dàfa kàfa 3: Kùrukanfúwa-Gbàrá kùrundú lù, àní kàfa 4.: Mἐn` kἐ dá Sònjáda tàminnἐn` kò. [L’Histoire du Manding. Livre 3/4: Les lois de l’Assemblée de Kouroukan-Fouwa. Ce qui a passé après Sondiada]. Egypte. n.d.
  548. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  549. A study completed in the 1970s in which Kanté reconstructs the contents of the charter from oral tradition and his observations of Mande society.
  550. Find this resource:
  551. Niang, Mangoné. “The Kurukan Fuga Charter: An Example of an Endogenous Governance Mechanism for Conflict Prevention.” Paper presented at the Inter-generational Forum on Endogenous Governance in West Africa, Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) 26–28 June 2006. 71–82, 2006.
  552. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  553. A description of the Charter of Kurukan Fuga based upon the reconstruction performed in Kankan at a conference in 1998, offering the conference’s enumeration of the articles in the charter and some discussion of their significance. The list of articles corresponds closely with the contents of Kanté n.d.
  554. Find this resource:
  555. Mande Arts
  556. Mande culture is defined and distinguished by both material and performing arts, from handmade objects to genres of expression in sound and movement. Craft products are produced by occupationally defined specialists who are obliged by ancient tradition to work in the context of their spiritual beliefs, whereas oral and instrumental artists have created and preserved Mande identity through a wide range of internationally recognized performance genres. This section addresses Material Arts, including architecture, sculpture, and ironworking; Performing Arts, including music and dance; and Oral and Written Forms of Literature, including oral and written forms.
  557. Material Arts
  558. The great variety of masterfully rendered genres of Mande material culture reflects appreciation of beauty and craftsmanship applied to shelter, implements, and apparel of daily life, as well as that of the profound spirituality and mysterious symbolism expressed through consummate artistry and age-old ritual processes that often overlap with and enhance the sociological significance and dramatic impact of performing arts. Many of the producers of material arts in the Mande world belong to status groups known as nyamakala, discussed in Conrad and Frank 1995 (cited under Social Organization). Blacksmiths, leatherworkers, potters, and sculptors come from these groups; masons are perhaps a more fluid group. The quality of the products has long been known and appreciated. Ritual masks from the Mande world are a staple of museum exhibits, as illustrated by Colleyn 2001 (cited under Architecture, Sculpture, Ironworking) and many other catalogs not listed here. The producers of the artwork in various media have also been carefully studied and well described, and the references below include ethnographic accounts that illuminate the world of the artisans.
  559. Architecture, Sculpture, Ironworking
  560. Two of the most sociologically important and therefore intensely studied crafts are blacksmithing and wood sculpture, both of which are discussed and lavishly illustrated in Colleyn 2001. McNaughton 1988 studies blacksmiths, and Brett-Smith 1994 provides an excellent view of the wood-sculptor’s practice. Mud-brick construction of beautiful buildings, including mosques such as the one at Djenné, define many Mande communities. They are among the most dramatic architectural styles presented by Prussin 1986, and the traditional organizations of masons who are responsible for the expert construction have been studied by LaViolette 2000 and Marchand 2009.
  561. Brett-Smith, Sarah C. The Making of Bamana Sculpture: Creativity and Gender. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
  562. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  563. Framed within the seemingly modest craft of woodcarving and foregrounding the voices of local informants, a penetrating study of gender roles and the supernatural world as they influence the Bamana creative process. Unusually well documented because it includes transcripts of interviews.
  564. Find this resource:
  565. Colleyn, Jean-Paul, ed. Bamana: The Art of Existence in Mali. New York: Museum for African Art, 2001.
  566. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  567. Combines a magnificent collection of illustrations of carved masks, figures, puppets, stools, door locks, and some iron sculpture with scholarly essays by ten specialists. A wide-ranging presentation and explanation of Mande culture viewed through its oral tradition, belief system, performance, and material arts.
  568. Find this resource:
  569. LaViolette, Adria. Ethno-Archaeology in Jenné, Mali: Craft and Status among Smiths, Potters, and Masons. BAR International Series 838. Oxford, UK: British Archaeological Reports, 2000.
  570. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  571. An ethnographic study of the Mande occupational specialists responsible for construction of the famous Western Sudanic style of architecture, including the great mosque of Djenné, Mali.
  572. Find this resource:
  573. Marchand, Trevor H. J. The Masons of Djenné. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2009.
  574. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  575. From an insider’s view acquired by serving as a builder’s apprentice with the masons of Djenné, the author reports on every aspect of the professional association of masons, including details of construction techniques and the social and spiritual processes involved.
  576. Find this resource:
  577. McNaughton, Patrick R. The Mande Blacksmiths: Knowledge, Power, and Art in West Africa. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1988.
  578. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  579. Definitive, insightful, and deeply revealing study of the technological, artistic, and spiritual lives of craft specialists at the center of one of sub-Saharan Africa’s most complex cultures.
  580. Find this resource:
  581. Prussin, Labelle. Hatumere: Islamic Design in West Africa. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986.
  582. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  583. The definitive work on the history of the Islamic style of mud-brick design and construction of palaces and mosques in the West African savannah and sahel, including many examples from Mande culture.
  584. Find this resource:
  585. Textiles, Pottery, and Leatherworking
  586. The ancient crafts of weaving and dying that produce bogolanfini or “mud cloth” have been fairly well represented in museum exhibits, as in Ahern 1992, and art books, as in Imperato 2006. The production, use, and symbolism of mud cloth in modern times is treated by Rovine 2001. Mud cloth art is intertwined with ritual process and the spirit world via decorated symbols of profound ritual significance, described by Brett-Smith 1982 and Brett-Smith 1984. The production, use, and symbolism, equal to ironworking and sculpture in sociological importance, of pottery made by wives of Mande blacksmiths (numuw), and Frank 1998 discovered that some “griots” (bards of Manden) (discussed in Performing Arts) are involved in production of leatherwork.
  587. Ahern, Tavy. Nakunte Diarra: Bògòlanfini Artist of the Beledougou. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Art Museum, 1992.
  588. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  589. Places the art in its social context and describes the creative process. Introduces one of the greatest of Bamana mud cloth artists and a show of her work from several collections, with full-page photos of twenty-five magnificent pieces and explanations of individual design symbols.
  590. Find this resource:
  591. Brett-Smith, Sarah C. “Symbolic Blood: Cloths for Excised Women.” RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics 3 (1982): 15–31.
  592. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  593. Reveals the special significance and use of mud cloth types called Basiae and N’Gale, which are employed in female initiation rituals.
  594. Find this resource:
  595. Brett-Smith, Sarah C. “Speech Made Visible: The Irregular as a System of Meaning.” Empirical Studies of the Arts 2.2 (1984): 127–147.
  596. DOI: 10.2190/UQHH-YLJD-KYQG-LU5XSave Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  597. A study of design elements in bogolanfini, arguing that irregularities in symbolic patterns are intentional in order to conceal the coded meaning from the uninitiated.
  598. Find this resource:
  599. Frank, Barbara E. Mande Potters & Leatherworkers: Art and Heritage in West Africa. Washington, DC, and London: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998.
  600. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  601. An art historian’s erudite exploration of the social and historical significance of gender-determined craft specialization by female potters whose vocations include spiritual healing practices and male leatherworkers who sometimes function as jeliw, the bards of Mande society.
  602. Find this resource:
  603. Imperato, Pascal James. African Mud Cloth: The Bogolanfini Art Tradition of Gneli Traoré of Mali. New York: Kilima, 2006.
  604. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  605. In addition to explaining the complex creative process, presents a detailed illustrated history of the craft with an all-inclusive discussion of the mud cloth literature including obscure sources that are annotated. An excellent starting point for a study of this unique Bamana art form.
  606. Find this resource:
  607. Rovine, Victoria. Bogolan: Shaping Culture through Cloth in Contemporary Mali. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 2001.
  608. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  609. Focuses on the production and use of bogolan textiles in the contemporary period with attention to new modes of production and use. Examines how this textile has become a national symbol in contemporary Mali and an international symbol for a pan-Africanist identity. (Reprinted in paperback, Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2008).
  610. Find this resource:
  611. Performing Arts
  612. Mande culture is internationally renowned for the music produced by its oral and instrumental artists and its wide range of performance genres. Durán 1995, Durán 2013, and Conrad 2002 (all cited under Music) provide ethno-historical perspectives on Mande music and performers. The history and ethnography of Mande stringed instruments and their music is presented by Charry 1996 and Charry 2000 (both cited under Music), and the contemporary nightlife of Malian musicians is described by Eyre 2000 (cited under Music). The bards of Manden, popularly called “griots” but more accurately known as jeliw (sing. jeli; alt. djeli, jali, etc.), are no doubt the most thoroughly studied occupational specialists of Mande society, having been especially conspicuous in the eyes of both pre-colonial travelers and colonial observers, and later the subjects of dozens of dissertations, articles, and monographs. Among the best of the more general studies are Camara 1992 and Hale 1998 (both cited under Musicians and Oral Artists). Studies limited to specific communities include Hopkins 1997, Hoffman 2000, Janson 2002, and Roth 2008 (all cited under Musicians and Oral Artists). Individual bards are highlighted by Keita 1995 and Keita 2009 (both cited under Musicians and Oral Artists), and the unique role of musicians in Mande society is addressed by Durán 2007 (cited under Music). Ritual processes including dance are emphasized by Colleyn and Clippel 1998 (cited under Theater and Dance), and specific dance motifs are described by Pâques 1954 and Hyacinthe 2008 (also cited under Theater and Dance). The colorful ceremonial art and ritual of Bamana puppetry is described by Arnoldi 1995 and Arnoldi 2014 (both cited under Theater and Dance).
  613. Music
  614. Mande culture is internationally renowned for the music produced by its oral and instrumental artists and its wide range of performance genres. Durán 1995, Durán 2007, Durán 2013, and Conrad 2002 provide ethno-historical perspectives on Mande music and performers. The history and ethnography of Mande stringed instruments and their music is presented by Charry 1996 and Charry 2000, and the contemporary nightlife of Malian musicians is described by Eyre 2000.
  615. Charry, Eric. “Plucked Lutes in West Africa: An Historical Overview.” The Galpin Society Journal 49 (1996): 3–37.
  616. DOI: 10.2307/842390Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  617. Comprehensive, detailed study and historical background of many and diverse stringed instruments which, unlike the calabash harps, most often have carved bodies of hollowed-out wood with variants to be found throughout West and North Africa.
  618. Find this resource:
  619. Charry, Eric. Mande Music: Traditional and Modern Music of the Maninka and Mandinka of Western Africa. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2000.
  620. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  621. The definitive work on the history, society, and performance of Mande musicians who produce music from a wide variety of percussion and stringed instruments.
  622. Find this resource:
  623. Conrad, David C., ed. Somono Bala of the Upper Niger: River People, Charismatic Bards, and Mischievous Music in a West African Culture. Leiden, The Netherlands, and Boston: Brill, 2002.
  624. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  625. Focusing on fishing and boating specialists called Somono, a blacksmith bard of the Wasulu region and his narrative of a Somono hero who defied French colonial authority, with chapters on a little-known stringed instrument called a dan and its possible relationship to the youth harp called a kamalen ngoni.
  626. Find this resource:
  627. Durán, Lucy. “Birds of Wasulu: Freedom of Expression and Expressions of Freedom in the Popular Music of Southern Mali.” British Journal of Ethnomusicology 4 (1995): 101–134.
  628. DOI: 10.1080/09681229508567240Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  629. An ethnographic study of popular Malian music called wassoulou named after its region of origin and sung by female artists described as konow (“birds”), who are distinct from the dominant group of female Mande professional singers called jelimusow.
  630. Find this resource:
  631. Durán, Lucy. “Ngaraya: Women and Musical Mastery in Mali.” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 70.3 (2007): 569–602.
  632. DOI: 10.1017/S0041977X07000845Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  633. Discusses musical and social values in Mande society, focusing on concepts of musical greatness (ngaraya) among the male musicians called jeliw (sing. jeli) or female singers jelimusow (sing. jelimuso), but more widely known as “griots.”
  634. Find this resource:
  635. Durán, Lucy. “Poyi! Bamana jeli Music, Mali and the Blues.” Journal of African Cultural Studies 25.2 (2013): 211–246.
  636. DOI: 10.1080/13696815.2013.792725Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  637. Offers a new avenue of inquiry regarding the contribution of Mande traditional music as a major influence in West African origins of the blues, focusing on a previously ignored instrument, the Bamana lute called a ngóniba.
  638. Find this resource:
  639. Eyre, Banning. In Griot Time: An American Guitarist in Mali. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2000.
  640. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  641. A visiting American musician’s description of the vibrant and colorful nightlife of the modern music scene in Bamako, Mali, with interesting insights into the lives of local musicians.
  642. Find this resource:
  643. Musicians and Oral Artists
  644. The bards of Manden, popularly called “griots” but more accurately known as jeliw (sing. jeli, alt. djeli, jali, etc.), are no doubt the most thoroughly studied occupational specialists of Mande society, having been especially conspicuous in the eyes of both pre-colonial travelers and colonial observers and, later, the subjects of dozens of dissertations, articles, and monographs. Among the best of the more general studies are Camara 1992 and Hale 1998. Studies focusing on specific communities include Hopkins 1997, Hoffman 2000, Janson 2002, and Roth 2008. Individual bards are highlighted by Keita 1995 and Keita 2009.
  645. Camara, Sory. Gens de la parole: Essai sur la condition et le rôle des griots dans la société malinké. Paris: Karthala, 1992.
  646. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  647. First published in 1975, a general study of the history and culture of the Mande bardic occupation by a distinguished Maninka scholar from the Mande community of Kankan in northeastern Guinea. Includes examples of oral performance.
  648. Find this resource:
  649. Hale, Thomas A. Griots and Griottes: Masters of Words and Music. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1998.
  650. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  651. A comprehensive introductory overview of the history, daily lives, and professional activities of the famous institution of bards (jeliw) of the Mande world. Notable also for its attention to female performers and their social importance.
  652. Find this resource:
  653. Hoffman, Barbara G. Griots at War: Conflict, Conciliation, and Caste in Mande. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2000.
  654. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  655. A study of the social dynamics of jeliya at a moment of crisis in the institution (the succession of a leader). Combines extremely well informed and insightful analysis with an insider’s perspective while providing full exposure of indigenous performance values and techniques.
  656. Find this resource:
  657. Hopkins, Nicholas S. “Memories of Griots.” In Special Issue: Literature and Anthropology in Africa. Alif: Journal of Comparative Poetics 17 (1997): 43–72. Cairo, Egypt: American University in Cairo Press.
  658. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  659. Based on field notes made in the 1960s in the historic town of Kita, an engaging memoir by one of the earliest scholars to conduct research on the organization and dynamics of jeliw culture. Includes samples of narratives and seven excellent vintage black-and-white photographs.
  660. Find this resource:
  661. Janson, Marloes. The Best Hand Is the Hand That Always Gives: Griottes and Their Profession in Eastern Gambia. Leiden, The Netherlands: Research School CNWS, 2002.
  662. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  663. An anthropologist who became an apprentice griotte and lived for over a year with her villagers provides an insider’s view of the daily lives, practices, and social responsibilities of traditional female bards among the Mandinka people of Gambia.
  664. Find this resource:
  665. Keita, Cheick M. Chérif. Massa Makan Diabaté: Un Griot mandingue à la rencontre de l’écriture. Paris: Editions L’Harmattan, 1995.
  666. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  667. A study of the life and work of a literate descendant of an ancient lineage of nonliterate professional oral performers and musicians (jeliw) who became one of Mali’s best-known writers, basing his works on traditional narrative.
  668. Find this resource:
  669. Keita, Cheick M. Cherif. Salif Keita: L’ambassadeur de la musique du Mali. Brinon-sur-Sauldre, France: Éditions Grandvaux, 2009.
  670. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  671. From earliest performances with the famous Rail Band at the Buffet-Hôtel de la Gare in Bamako, Mali, where many of Mali’s most famous musical careers began, this is the story of the life and times of one of the greatest modern-day West African singers.
  672. Find this resource:
  673. Roth, Molly. Ma parole s’achète: Money, Identity and Meaning in Malian Jeliya. Berlin and Münster, Germany: Lit Verlag, 2008.
  674. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  675. Focusing on the complexities of the Mande bards’ compensatory relationships with their patrons and communities, a well-organized and insightful contribution to understanding the historical background and sociological significance of unique customs surrounding jeli performance.
  676. Find this resource:
  677. Theater and Dance
  678. The colorful ceremonial art and ritual of Bamana puppetry, including the involvement of youth associations, is described by Arnoldi 1995 and Arnoldi 2014, and additional perspectives on the participation of youth (among others) are presented in Brink 1982a and Brink 1982b. Ritual processes including dance are emphasized by Colleyn and Clippel 1998 and Imperato 1983, and specific dance motifs are described by Pâques 1954 and Hyacinthe 2008.
  679. Arnoldi, Mary Jo. Playing with Time: Art and Performance in Central Mali. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1995.
  680. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  681. The first in-depth study of one of the principal Mande masking genres, Sogobò. Using a performance-centered approach, this is a lavishly illustrated treatment of youth association puppet masquerade theatre addressing performance genres, production values, forms of expression, and the genre’s historical significance in offering representations of the past.
  682. Find this resource:
  683. Arnoldi, Mary Jo. Masks and Puppets from Mali: Artistry, Imagination and Knowledge. Lisbon, Portugal: Museu Nacionale de Etnologia, 2014.
  684. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  685. Excellent sources for full-color plates of the many kinds of carved figures employed in puppet masquerade theatre of Mali. Originally published in Portuguese and French, “Création, Imagination et Connaissance à travers les Masques et Marionnettes du Mali/Criaçâo, Imaginaçâo e Conhecimento nas Máscaras et Marionetas do Mali.” In Sogobò: Máscaras et Marionetas do Mali/Masques et Marionettes du Mali (Lisbon: Instituto Português de Museus, 2004), pp. 22–75.
  686. Find this resource:
  687. Brink, James. “Speech, Play and Blasphemy: Managing Power and Shame in Bamana Theatre.” Anthropological Linguistics 24.4 (1982a): 423–431.
  688. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  689. One of two articles by Brink published in 1982 (see also Brink 1982b), especially useful if consulted together. This one focuses on Bamana youth theater, providing details of dramatic techniques such as farce and satire, and performance values affecting communication skills and social relations.
  690. Find this resource:
  691. Brink, James. “Time Consciousness and Growing Up in Bamana Folk Drama.” Journal of American Folklore 95 (1982b): 415–434.
  692. DOI: 10.2307/540749Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  693. One of two 1982 articles elaborating on topics mentioned in the author’s dissertation, “Organizing Satirical Comedy in Kote-Tlon: Drama as a Communication Strategy among the Bamana of Mali” (Ph.D. diss., Indiana University, 1980). This one describes circumstances and occasions of local village celebrations featuring dramatic performances by youth associations.
  694. Find this resource:
  695. Colleyn, Jean-Paul, and Catherine de Clippel. Bamanaya: Un’art di vivere au Mali. Milan: Centro Studi Archeologia Africana, 1998.
  696. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  697. In both French and Italian, an overview of ritual institutions extending over an unusually broad Mande landscape, providing a useful complement to locally focused, in-depth studies. Confronts questions involving intervillage relationships of ritual institutions and surveys essential ritual components of Bamana society emphasizing methods of communication with the spirit world, including the dancing of various masks.
  698. Find this resource:
  699. Hyacinthe, Genevieve. “Traditional Rhythms and Global Remixes: Translating Form in Contemporary Mali Dance Collectives.” PhD diss., Harvard University, 2008.
  700. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  701. Examines complexities of dancers’ movement and self-presentation strategies through studies of four Malian dance collectives including Sounou, a dance of Malian womanhood; Ciwara, the agricultural masked dance (see also Wooten 2009, cited under Economics); and choreographed themes involving politics, youth, and fashion.
  702. Find this resource:
  703. Imperato, Pascal James. Buffoons, Queens, and Wooden Horsemen: The Dyo and Gouan Societies of the Bambara of Mali. New York: Kilima, 1983.
  704. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  705. Erudite introduction of ritual, ceremony, and art in Bamana institutions not previously well explored at the time of its writing.
  706. Find this resource:
  707. Pâques, Viviana. “Bouffons sacrés du cercle de Bougouni (Soudan français).” Journal de la société des Africanistes 24 (1954): 63–110.
  708. DOI: 10.3406/jafr.1954.1862Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  709. An excellent example of colonial-era documentation of a ribald dance performance tradition. See also Imperato 1983.
  710. Find this resource:
  711. Oral and Written Forms of Literature
  712. Mande oral tradition is rich and well documented, although texts are not always accessible. Pfeiffer 1997 (cited under Folktales and Other Forms) offers a good anthology of the various genres, including folktales and narratives by bards. Belcher 1999 (cited under Folktales and Other Forms) offers description and guidance for the various forms of epic recitation (hunters and histories). Hunters’ songs have become a significant popular genre (see also Religion: Rediscovered Traditions: Hunters). Modern literature is growing; the works by Laye Camara, Ahmadou Kourouma, and Massa Diabaté can be considered fundamental. Readers should also consult the section on Historical Sources: Historical Materials from the Oral Tradition.
  713. Folktales and Other Forms
  714. Although there are many anthologies of Mande folktales, old and new, some in bilingual format, some collected by travelers such as Frobenius 1925 (cited under Historical Sources: Historical Materials from the Oral Tradition: Sunjata Tradition or Frobenius 1978 (cited under Historical Sources: Historical Materials from the Oral Tradition: Segou and Other Traditions), Pfeiffer 1997 offers the best representative collection. Belcher 1999 covers epics, historical and otherwise.
  715. Belcher, Stephen. Epic Traditions of Africa. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1999.
  716. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  717. A descriptive work on epic performances with chapters covering hunters, the Sunjata tradition (Maninka), and the traditions centered on Segou (Bamana); useful for its bibliographic references.
  718. Find this resource:
  719. Pfeiffer, Katrin, ed. and trans. Mandinka Spoken Art: Folk-tales, Griot Accounts, and Songs. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, 1997.
  720. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  721. An excellent anthology of Mande folklore, presented in bilingual format (Mandinka and English). The material collected in the Gambia is representative of Mande folklore in general.
  722. Find this resource:
  723. Hunters’ Songs and Traditions
  724. The notion of hunting has become linked to modern Mande self-identity, despite the depletion of game throughout the territory (see Religion: Rediscovered Traditions: Hunters). Collections of hunters’ songs have proliferated. Bird, et al. 1975 offers a magnificent example of the genre, and the Thoyer 1995 collection is extensive and varied. Derive and Dumestre 1999 provides a more scholarly presentation of texts from Côte d’Ivoire in bilingual format. Coulibaly 1985, Hayidara 1987, and Innes and Sidibé 1990 offer interesting regional variants.
  725. Bird, Charles, Mamadou Koita, and Bourama Soumaouro, eds. and trans. The Songs of Seydou Camara. Vol. 1, Kambili. Bloomington: Indiana University African Studies Center, 1975.
  726. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  727. This publication introduced the genre of hunters’ praise poetry to what had previously been a largely unfamiliar foreign audience. Sung by one of the most famous donso ngoni folaw (players of the hunters’ harp) of the 1970s, a blacksmith of Mali’s Wasulu region.
  728. Find this resource:
  729. Coulibaly, Dosseh Joseph, ed. and trans. Recít des chasseurs du Mali: Dingo Kanbili. Paris: Conseil International de la langue française, 1985.
  730. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  731. Translations into French of four hunters’ traditions played and sung by one of the greatest and most famous of Bamana hunters’ singers, Bala Jinba Diakité.
  732. Find this resource:
  733. Derive, Jean, and Gérard Dumestre, eds. Des hommes et des bêtes. Paris: Classiques Africains, 1999.
  734. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  735. An excellent bilingual edition (Bamana/Dyula and French on facing pages) of Mande hunters’ songs from northern Côte d’Ivoire; a good illustration of their repertoire.
  736. Find this resource:
  737. Hayidara, Shekh Tijaan, ed. and trans. La geste de Fanta Maa: Archétype du chasseur dans la culture des Bozo. Niamey, Niger: CELHTO, 1987.
  738. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  739. Translation into French with original Bamana text, of a myth of the Bozo fishing people of the Middle Niger about their archetypal hero born fully armed and initiated as a master hunter, narrated by Myeru Baa and Mahamadu Lamini Sunbunu.
  740. Find this resource:
  741. Innes, Gordon, and Bakari Sidibé, eds. and trans. Hunters and Crocodiles: Narratives of a Hunters’ Bard. Folkestone, UK: Paul Norbury, 1990.
  742. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  743. Translation into English of two hunters’ traditions sung by Bakari Kamara, a Mandinka hunters’ singer of Gambia, accompanying himself on the simbingo, a calabash stringed instrument similar to the Malian donso ngoni (hunters’ harp).
  744. Find this resource:
  745. Thoyer, Annik. Récits épiques des chasseurs Bamanan du Mali. Paris: L’Harmattan, 1995.
  746. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  747. A reissued collection of Mande hunters’ songs and narratives recorded in the 1960s and early 1970s, published in bilingual format (Bamana and French on facing pages). Useful and interesting for its diversity. The 1978 edition was published under the last name of Thoyer-Rozat.
  748. Find this resource:
  749. Novels
  750. The first generation of novelists began in the colonial era and includes the work by Camara 1954 and Camara 1971 (Guinea); the post-independence era includes Kourouma 1970 (Côte d’Ivoire) and Diabaté 1983 and Diabaté 1985 (Mali). Kourouma 1990 reconsiders the traditional past.
  751. Camara, Laye. The Dark Child. Translated by James Kirkup. New York: Noonday, 1954.
  752. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  753. Original publication in French: L’enfant noir (Paris: Plon, 1953). A classic semiautobiographical novel about a young man who grows up in the traditional world of Koroussa, Guinea, and then travels to Europe; a paradigm of the conflict between the old and the new.
  754. Find this resource:
  755. Camara, Laye. The Radiance of the King. Translated by James Kirkup. New York: Collier, 1971.
  756. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  757. Original publication in French: Le Regard du roi (Paris: Plon, 1954). An allegorical novel describing a white man’s mystical passage into the world of a traditional African king.
  758. Find this resource:
  759. Diabaté, Massa Makan. Le Lieutenant de Kouta. Paris: Hatier, 1983.
  760. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  761. A post-independence work focused on everyday life in an African town.
  762. Find this resource:
  763. Diabaté, Massa Makan. L’Assemblée des Djinns. Paris: Présence Africaine, 1985.
  764. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  765. A novel describing the conflict over succession in an influential clan of griots in Kita (see also Hoffman 2000, cited under Performing Arts: Musicians and Oral Artists).
  766. Find this resource:
  767. Kourouma, Ahmadou. Les Soleils des indépendences. Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1970.
  768. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  769. A novel describing the collapse of the world of a traditional chief following the independence of the colonies.
  770. Find this resource:
  771. Kourouma, Amadou. Monné, outrages et défis. Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1990.
  772. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  773. A novel set at the start of the colonial era, when a traditional chief whose power has survived Samori Touré seeks influence with the new colonizers.
  774. Find this resource:
Advertisement
Add Comment
Please, Sign In to add comment
Advertisement
Public Pastes
Advertisement
We use cookies for various purposes including analytics. By continuing to use Pastebin, you agree to our use of cookies as described in the Cookies Policy.  OK, I Understand
Not a member of Pastebin yet?
Sign Up, it unlocks many cool features!