Great Sogolon's House
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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.
David Conrad received his Ph.D. in African History from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London in 1981. He is Emeritus Professor of History, State University of New York at Oswego, and was President of the Mande Studies Association 1986-2008. His research is on oral tradition, indigenous religion, and early kingdoms of the Western Sudan. Among his books are A State of Intrigue, Epic Ancestors of the Sunjata Era, Somono Bala of the Upper Niger, Sunjata: A West African Epic, and the prize-winning Empires of Medieval West Africa.