Customer Reviews

Sunjata: A West African Epic of the Mande Peoples

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This is a great addition to the English versions available for fans of the "lion king" epic. It is especially fun for readers who are already familiar with the basic outline of the story -- from sources like the children's picture book by David Wisniewesk, Sundiata: Lion King of Mali or the adult reconstruction by D.T. Niane, Sundiata and Epic of Old Mali. Conrad's edition reads well on its own, but much of the fun is in the new background stories for characters surrounding Sunjata -- especially the women.

Conrad provides a "reader-friendly" text specifically targeted to the non-specialist (he says in his introduction that he is working on a more exhaustive, scholarly version as well). It is well-annotated with introductory material, indexed contents, good notes, maps, a helpful character summary and glossary of common Mande terms. The plot has fewer gaps than many other versions and a lot of attention is paid to explaining character motivation. Tassey Condé, the jeli ngara (master bard) recorded by Conrad is the last of a famous family of bards in Fadama, northeastern Guinea. Even in translation, Tassey Condé is a splendid storyteller and Conrad includes the running responses of "naamu-sayers" who encourage and accompany Tassey's performance with short comments. The effect is almost like having a rhythm back-up to drive the performance.

Perhaps because Tassey's family of bards trace their heritage to kingdom of Do, home of Sujata's mother Sogolon Condé, this version of the epic spins out the story of Sogolon and her two sisters - the three great sorceresses of Do. In addition to many details about Sogolon's story, we hear about the politics and magic behind her elder sister's rampage as a buffalo wraith and second sister's role as foster mother to Sunjata's great general Fakoli.

The much-expanded role of Fakoli in this version of the epic is my favorite part of the story. Fakoli is surrounded from birth by the most powerful heroines of the epic. His mother, Kosiya Kante, is the sister of Sunjata's great enemy, the Soso king Sumaworo. His step-mother is Sunjata's aunt, one of the Sogolon's powerful sisters. Fakoli loses his birth mother as a young child when she sacrifices herself to the genie chief so that her brother Sumaworo can acquire a magical instrument and arrows. His step-mother, Teneba Condé, assumes resposibility for Fakoli's upbringing, protecting him with magical medicines and providing for an education as a hunter and sorceror. She takes him on a tour of the same sacred sites where her sister took the exiled Sunjata where Fakoli gathers his magical skills. Thus Fakoli grows up to be a powerful sorceror with ties to both rival Manden and Soso armies before the climactic battle between Sundiata and Sumaworo. Finally he is caught between loyalty to both sides on the eve of the battle. Sunjata agrees with Fakoli that his loyalty belongs to his birth mother's family and he joins the Soso side of the battle. The story of political intrigue, misunderstanding, pride and fall that follows resembles in many ways a Greek tragedy. Finally it is Fakoli who actually kills his uncle Sumaworo in the battle between Soso and the Manden forces under Sunjata.