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| Semester | fall semester 2009 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers |
Veit Arlt (veit.arlt@unibas.ch, Assessor)
Mohomodou Houssouba (mohomodou.houssouba@unibas.ch) |
| Content | In this course we analyze one of the great African epics that are not only important sources for precolonial African history but continue to be relevant for contemporary African societies. Sunjata Keita founded the Mande kingdom in the borderland between present-day Mali and Guinea. Through conquests and strategic deals, he expanded it beyond the Mande heartland into the Mali Empire, which would shape West African history between the mid-13th and the early 15th centuries. The rise of Mali is closely associated with the destiny of its legendary founder. Sunjata is said to have overcome physical handicap and familial hostility to become the supreme Mande chief. Moreover, he is credited with an ethic of ruling that has positive echoes even today, in contemporary discourse on good governance in Africa. The accounts of Sunjatas life and deeds are varied in focus and detail, but a core element persists; it is a narrative that is universally known among the Mande peoples and widely recognized throughout West Africa. This hold on the collective consciousness has been perpetuated by the jeliw or griots, the traditional vessels of speech, who learn oral history and musical accompaniment in long apprenticeship, and transmit them from generation to generation through court and popular performances. The appeal of the narrative can be seen in its ongoing invocation with reference to African statecraft, but its most durable legacy lives in the material culture of everyday life: music, sculpture, ecological and medical knowledge. The continuity of the story in space and time makes it an epic; that is, a narrative that conveys the idea that a people or a group of people makes of its past (glory) and its implications for the present and the future. The participants will discover Sunjata through a readable text: Djanka Tassey Condés account rendered in free verse by David C. Conrad. After the initial introductory lectures, the 5446 lines of the narrative are divided into reading sequences. The participants are invited to excursions through collections featuring related material culture, among which the textile and postcard collections at the Museum der Kulturen Basel and the reserves of Mande sculpture at the Rietberg Museum in Zurich. |
| Bibliography | Ralph A. Austen, ed. In Search of Sunjata: The Mande Oral Epic As History, Literature, and Performance. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1999. Youssouf Tata Cissé/Wâ Kamissoko. Soundjata: La gloire du Mali. Paris: Karthala/ARSAN, 1991. David C. Conrad. Sunjata: A West African Epic of the Mande Peoples. Narrated by Djanka Tassey Condé. Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett, 2004. Manthia Diawara. In Search of Africa. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1998. Samaké Youssouf Kourouma: Le Mandé de nos Ancêtres:. Selon Gbélin ou tradition orale. Paris: LHarmattan, 2004. Nehemia, Levtzion. Ancient Ghana and Mali. London: Methuen, 1973. Christoph L. Miller. Theories of Africans: Francophone Literature and Anthropology in Africa. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1990. Djibril Tamsir Niane: Sunjata: An Epic of Old Mali. Narrated by Mamadou Kouyaté. London: Longman Drumbeat, 1965. |
| Admission requirements | Proficiency in English (French highly desirable). Active participation involves weekly readings (required and optional texts), position papers, and engagement in class discussions. Each week, a participant or a group will present a close reading of a sequence from Sunjata, in light of a critical text. Position papers are public contributions and as such will be shared through a moderated mailing list. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|
No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
Modul Culture and Society (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul English & American Literature (Master's degree subject: English) Modul Extending the View (Literary and Cultural Studies) (Bachelor's degree subject: Englisch) Modul History (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul Refining Skills in Literature and Culture (Bachelor's degree subject: Englisch) Modul Research Skills in English Linguistics or Literature (Master's degree subject: English) Modul Sachthematische Fragestellungen der Ethnologie (Bachelor's degree subject: Ethnologie) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Afrika |