Corpus of Early Accounts of the Sunjata Epic, 1889-1959

Stephen Bulman wrote a Ph.D. at the University of Birmingham on written versions of the Sunjata oral tradition and has researched and published on Manding oral traditions, including (with Valentin Vydrine), The Epic of Sumanguru Kante (Brill, 2017) based on fieldwork in Mali. He works in administration at Lancaster University.Stephen Belcher graduated from Brown University in 1985. He was a member of the Peace Corps in Mauritania, and taught at Penn State. He was the editor of Mande Studies until 2010. He is now retired and mixing family history with African studies.Valentin Vydrin wrote a Ph.D. at the Leningrad State University on Looma language (Southwestern Mande group) in 1987, and a habilitation thesis at the St. Petersburg State University (Russia) on comparative studies of Mande in 2001. He has worked at the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography in St. Petersburg and taught Manding languages at the St. Petersburg State University. Since 2010, he is professor of Manding at INALCO, Paris.

• List of maps and figuresAcknowledgementsNote on translationsForeword: A Platform for Re-Examining History and Praise, the Public and the Personal, in the Sunjata CorpusMapsIntroduction: Towards a history of the Sunjata epic1: Emile Hourst: The legend of Somangoro and Sundiata from Kulikoro2: Jean-Gilbert Jaime: The legend of Sumanguru from Kulikoro3: Fernand Quiquandon: 'The history of Manding power according to legend and tradition' - Sunjata's epic from the griots of Kenedugu fàama Tieba Traore, ruler of Sikasso4: Charles Monteil: Two Khasonka versions of the legend of 'Simanguru and Sun-Jata'5: The history of Sundiata from a Kita chronicle6: Mamadou Diakite: Genealogy of the Keïta - an Umarian account of Sunjata7: Mamadou Diakite: Historical legends of the Nioro region8: Bathily: An oral performance of the Sunjata epic from Nioro's Western Sudanese chronicle9: Mamadi Aïssa Kaba Diakite: The history of the war between the empires of Sosso and Mande10: Kande Kanote: The legend of Sundiata11: Habibou Sissoko: Additional material on the legend of Sundiata12: Kieba Koate 'Korongo': The Sunjatta legend of the Malinke people13: Jules Vidal: The 'official' legend of Sundiata, founder of the Mali empire14: Bakary Diabate: Sundiata - Abdoulaye Sadji's hero for the Negritude movement15: Mamby Sidibé: Sundiata Keita, historical and legendary hero, emperor of the Manding16: Théatre dahoméen: The Tricks of Jegue17: Maximilien Quénum: The legend of Fama-Sundiata18: René Guillot: The Magic Arrow19: Paul Humblot: Episodes from the legend of Sondiata20: Ali Sawse: A Wolof version of SunjataGlossaryTable of episodesIndex of common namesBibliographyIndex