Askia Mohammed is the most famous leader in the history of the Songhay Empire, which reached its apogee during his reign in 1493-1528. Songhay, approximately halfway between the present-day cities of Timbuktu in Mali and Niamey in Niger, became a political force beginning in 1463, under the leadership of Sonni Ali Ber. By the time of his death in 1492, the foundation had been laid for the development under Askia Mohammed of a complex system of administration, a well-equipped army and navy, and a network of large government-owned farms. The present rendition of the epic was narrated by the griot (or jeser ) Nouhou Malio over two evenings in Saga, a small town on the Niger River, two miles downstream from Niamey. The text is a word-for-word translation from Nouhou Malio's oral performance.
| |||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
About the Author
THOMAS A. HALE is Professor of African, French, and Comparative Literature at The Pennsylvania State University.
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Askia Mohammed: Tyrant or Hero?,
By Tichaona M. Chinyelu (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Epic of Askia Mohammed (African Epic Series) (Hardcover)
I came across this epic piece of orature while looking for the epic about Sundjata. Askia Mohammed is one of those giants of African history routinely referred as worthy of emulation and/or respect. However, upon concluding the read, I had the opinion that he was very hawk-like in his promotion of Islam. There is repeated mention of "Every village that follows his orders, that accepts his wishes, he conquers them, he moves on. Every village that refuses his demand, he conquers it, he burns it, he moves on. Until the day-Mamar [Askia] did that until, until, until, until the day he arrived at the Red Sea." (298-302) I interpret the consecutive "untils" to signify that it was a repeated event that happened over time. Considering how long it took for caravans to traverse the distance from West Africa to Mecca, undoubtedly it happened not only over an extended period of time but also over an extended expanse of land. The devastation left in the wake of such excursions in arson leads me to question the respect paid to this historical figure.
The above statement notwithstanding, I did find the epic interesting in the view it provided of West Africa. It provided me with a basis for doing further research into the era and times and for that and the new perspective, it is appreciated.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Historically important, but......,
By Andre M. "brnn64" (Mt. Pleasant, SC United States) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Epic of Askia Mohammed (African Epic) (Paperback)
African history fans will water at the mouth over the idea of learning more about Askia Muhammad, the last of the great West African Kings before the fall of their empires in 1591 and the ruination of the transatlatic slave trade. Thomas Hale translates a griot's five-century old version of his story, but with middling results. The author and his students had considerable difficulty with the griot because of his use of an obscure Songhay dialect that is rarely spoken today and his non-linear and non-sequential style of storytelling. Hale worked hard to make a readable narrative of the resulting tapes of the griot's tale, but it will be very stilted and confusing to the Western reader. There is a lot of repitition and it requires much rereading before it all makes sense. For a better translation and example of a griot's tale of the precolonial West African empires, I would recommend "Sundiata-An Epic of Old Mali" by D. T. Niane. However, there is value to the book because it preserves an important story that is largely lost to history.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
very old story,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Epic of Askia Mohammed (African Epic) (Paperback)
Recorded, translated, edited and annotated by African epic scholar Thomas Hale, who has, by the way, done extremely detailed work. "The Epic of Askia Mohammed" is recounted by a griot (the keeper of the spoken word)--a form of storytelling indigenous to Africa, unlike the novel, which is a European creation. A large part of the African epic poem is devoted to prayer. Another large part of the poem is recounting genealogies, as one of the griot's main jobs is linking people of the present to their past. Not a very exciting read (unless, of course, you found "Beowulf" exciting), but if you're interested in learning more about African epic poetry, this is definitely a good start.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
