Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction / Stephen P.D. Bulman -- A note on the language and transcription of the Bamana text / Valentin F. Vydrine -- Glossary of Manding words -- Transcriptions of the major musical themes that Abdulaye Sako played on the ngoni to accompany his performance of the Epic of Sumanguru / Sam Dickey -- Summary of contents of the Epic of Sumanguru -- Banama text and English translation of the Epic of Sumanguru by Abdulaye Sako / Valentin F. Vydrine, Amadou Togo and Stephen P.D. Bulman.

Available to subscribing member institutions only.

The Epic of Sumanguru Kante contains the Bamana text and English translation of griot Abdoulaye Sako’s oral narrative of the life of Sumanguru, recorded in 1997 in Koulikoro (Mali), together with explanatory notes, a scholarly introduction, and sections on the Bamana language and musical accompaniment. Sumanguru is a familiar figure within Manding epic oral traditions about ancient Mali. But while these narratives generally focus on Sunjata Keita, Sako’s oral poem is rare in according Sumanguru the central role. In so doing he includes hitherto undocumented episodes relating to Sumanguru’s life and role as the ruler of Soso, the little known state said to have flourished in the western Sudan between the fall of ancient Ghana and rise of ancient Mali.

Text of epic in original Bamana and English translation; notes and critical material in English.