Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali - Book Report/Review Example

Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali All societies are based on some organizing principles that are essential to their functioning and to the maintenance of the social order instead of chaos, and many of those principles are grounded on myths which exist in every culture. We often tend to perceive myths in their narrow definition as fables or legends, but in their wider sense myths are a kind of verbal containers in which worldviews of the whole cultures are encoded. From this point of view, mythical accounts of certain events and deeds of men and supernatural beings that seemingly go beyond usual human experiences in reality serve as a collective memory of any given culture, and therefore constitute the basis for social integrity. Therefore, the study of myths and their interrelationship with the real-life is of the paramount importance for the deeper understanding of the very nature of any human society. As a perfect example for this purpose we may investigate the book written by D. T. Niane "Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali", which is one of the most well-known traditional narratives of West Africa that provides an account of Sundiata Keita, a historical heroic figure renowned as the founder of the Mali Empire. This book contains important insights into the mythical component of the human perception of history, and exposes the intimate connection that the present always has with the past. Let us take a closer look at this narrative and examine the function of memory as the bridge connecting heroes of the book with the world they live in. Among the numerous personages of the epic, the story of the relationship between the great king of Mali Sundiata and his griot Balla Fasseke takes perhaps the central place in terms of its importance for the whole narrative. Griots can be seen as professional storytellers and public speakers, but the significance of their social role was much deeper in the African societies than it could seem from this superficial description. On the most fundamental level, a griot was perceived as the vessel of historical memory of a social group. Every king had a griot beside him whose task was to instruct his patron in such a way as to procure the inheritance of traditions of ancestors. Therefore, griots` role was naturally wide-ranging, as they were speaking for their kings, were tutoring their children, and in this way aimed to ". . . bring to life the deeds and exploits of kings for younger generations" (Niane, 1995, p.1). By the way, to prove that griots could rely on orally transmitted traditions we may for instance consider such a stable phenomenon as proverbs, which are referred to in the narrative in the following way: "Men`s wisdom is contained in proverbs, and when children wield proverbs it is a sign that they have profited from adult company" (Niane, 1995, p.29). In the full accordance with the elevated status of griots, Balla Fasseke becomes a close tutor of the prospective king Sundiata yet from his early childhood. Balla educates and instructs Sundiata on the rules of behavior, so that ". . . between his mother and the griot, the child got to know all that needed to be known" (Niane, 1995, p.23). Thus, from the very beginning of the story of Sundiata the role of his guardian angel is assigned to Balla. In his turn, Balla was very devoted to his patron, which can be seen from his faithfulness to Sundiata even during his exile at the court of a powerful sorcerer king Soumaoro. But for Sundiata the absence of the griot does not simply mean the loss of a counselor, but in essence signifies the disconnection of Sundiata from the memory of his ancestors. Such a deprivation of him of the link with the mythical ancestors is the sufficient reason even for war, and in the narrative one of the first signs of the imminent war between Sundiata and Soumaoro is symbolized by the proclamation of Balla Fasseke by Soumaoro as of his new griot. At the same time, the respect that Soumaoro had for Balla proves that the memory of the past is indispensable for all, including such a seemingly powerful personage as the sorcerer king Soumaoro. Therefore, for Sundiata, Soumaoro, and other heroes of the story memory functions as a substitute for historical archives or written constitution. Also, it is probably quite symbolic that Balla, even with the prospect of good life at the Soumaoro`s palace, escapes and returns to Sundiata. This fact may suggest that, if we view Sundiata as the representation of the present and Balla as the representation of the past, the past and the present equally need each other. Indeed, the reunion means for Sundiata that he again has "the singer who would perpetuate his memory by his words" (Niane, 1995, p.58). And Balla says to Sundiata: "I am the word and you are the deed, now your destiny begins" (Niane, 1995, p.58). Actually, considering the close connection between Balla and Sundiata we may believe on solid grounds that the griot views the destiny of Sundiata as also his own, even though he may not say that directly. However, his observation that "There would not be any heroes if deeds were condemned to man`s forgetfulness" (Niane, 1995, p.58) bespeaks his understanding of the mentioned interconnectedness between them. On ground of what we have discussed, we may conclude that even such prominent figures as king Sundiata and other heroes depend on memory as a mythical background only through which they may define themselves. And, interestingly, the very text of "Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali" is itself a beautiful example of the oral form of the communication between epochs that has been used for centuries for the preservation of historical memory. Indeed, the narrative offers a completely meaningful semi-historical account of the life of king of Mali Sundiata, while the added mythical elements of the text, like descriptions of magical powers and exaggeration of the power of the heroes, only increase our impression of the text in a harmonious way. Sources Niane, D., T. (1995). Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali. Longman. Read More