Sunjata – College Essay Example

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The difference between the local African point of view and that of foreign academics is that the African point of view is a primary source whereas that of the foreign academic is a secondary or even tertiary source. Europeans usually get their written information about Mali from primary sources from people living in that time; primarily the griots. It would be shortsighted to ignore the voices of the Manding people even if we had other sources because the Manding people were actually there and know the order of events of what happened.

A few of the ways in which the Manding people’s ideas of what is important in the past differs from the kind of history studied by people who adhere to European standards of scholarship include the point of view that they look at it. Most of the Manding people wrote in terms of their lower-class view and when scholars read this, they look at the empire as a whole instead of putting themselves in the shoes of a lower-class citizen. Another way that the ideas of the Manding people are different is that they understand the culture more because they are a part of it and the scholars only know what they hear and read.

It is impossible to know if any genuine historical facts survived the Sunjata epic because the story was fiction. The Keita jamu carries special distinction even today in Manding societies because they were a very important part of the culture of Mali and are still a large part of the culture. The image of Sumaworo as a bloodthirsty ‘evil demon’ conveys a false impression because

all he did was plan ahead well in battle and overtook Mali the way other leaders would have liked to.

Sunjata’s father is a relatively minor character compared to Sunjata’s mother because he dies when Sunjata is young and his mother has special powers which his father does not. Mande epic tradition often describes its heroes and their mothers as suffering great adversity because it is a cultural issue and most of the stories were always told that way because it was tradition. Sogolon’s sorcery helps her through difficulties but initiates trouble for her simultaneously because the people of Mali believed in karma and when something good happened to someone, then something bad was bound to happen as well.

It also caused problems for other people which, ultimately, caused problems for her son. The sorcery exploits of some women are significant politically because it shows that women could have an influence on society just as much as men could. Charismatic ancestors described in Sunjata contribute to the Manding society framework of modern times by setting up the basis for what the culture is supposed to live by. The two major themes that are stressed by the best of the Mande bards who narrate the epic are honor and trust.