Sundiata Sparknotes

Mali may not be a location individuals typically think about or have a vast knowledge of, especially if it is knowledge on ancient Mali. Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali by D.T. Niane is a fascinating collection of history and stories of ancient Mali told by a griot, which is a history keeper and storyteller. This book is centered around Sundiata, the son of Maghan Kon Fatta and Sogolom Kedjou. The compilation of tales shows the growth and evolution of himself, from being a small crippled boy who could not walk, to a strong successful king who rules over much land. These stories would typically would not have been known to people outside of Malian culture, stories from griots are only given orally and only if the griot agrees to tell them in the
Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali has a very precise audience; people who are interested in ancient cultures, people of Malian decent, people who enjoy folklore and old tales, or people who just appreciate world history. This book comes from oral history and storytelling that has been repeated for generations. However, some historians, mostly westerners, may not regard oral history as credited genuine history. This can make many historians skeptical as to how much, or if any, of what they are being told is legitimate history. Determining what is true and false from strictly something that was formed by word of mouth its incredibly difficult. There is no proof of this event, it would have to of been a first-person account, which only one person, or many, could have seen. Some stories within the book seem to have parts that are slightly far-fetched. An example of this would be the tale of how Sundiata was born crippled and could not move his legs. One day the wicked queen Sassouma was insulting Sogolon that Sunditat would never walk, so he would never be fit to rule. (Sundiata,19) To stop the rude insults directed towards him and his mother, he became extremely determined to walk, thus, he took a heavy iron rod, and used it to help him stand and was somehow able to walk. (Sundiata,21) Some may believe this story was an exaggeration of what may have happened,
On one hand, they are all but oral stories, however, they have been passed down for generations and only trusted to the griots. The griots hold a high status because they work with the kings and queens to tell stories of their past. With how highly griots are regarded, and how much knowledge they possess they are trusted by all, “my word is pure and free of all untruth; it is the word of my father; it is the world of my father’s father.” (Sundiata,1) One may be able to take the word of a griot for the actually truth, but when it is then translated and published no one know what was changed or taken out. However, we do not know what the extent the editing that Niane went thought to produce this book. In addition to colonizers who could affect some of the stories or tampered with them. One may not want to take all the stories as the written truth, but understand that there may be a hint of truth to all the stories. With no knowledge of how the book was produced and the exacted editing processes that happened, maybe the stories are paraphrased or even exaggerated. One may never know the full truth of the creation of the book but Niane, so the book should be taken