The unusually long version of West African Mande epic transcribed and translated for this book is an extravagant demonstration of the extremes to which Mande bardic artistry can be carried. The text presented here is the result of multiple recording sessions with an extraordinarily creative oral artist who augmented key episodes of the Sunjata epic that devolved to him from his own father, as well as previous generations of Maninka and Bamana griots of north-eastern Guinea and southern Mali. In marked contrast to versions of the Sunjata epic recounted by other griots, an essential part of this narrator’s performance-style is to season familiar episodes with cultural details and digress into explanations not usually offered by other bards.

The unusually long version of West African Mande epic transcribed and translated for this book is an extravagant demonstration of the extremes to which Mande bardic artistry can be carried. The text presented here is the result of multiple recording sessions with an extraordinarily creative oral artist who augmented key episodes of the Sunjata epic that devolved to him from his own father, as well as previous generations of Maninka and Bamana griots of north-eastern Guinea and southern Mali. In marked contrast to versions of the Sunjata epic recounted by other griots, an essential part of this narrator’s performance-style is to season familiar episodes with cultural details and digress into explanations not usually offered by other bards.