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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Re-inventing oral tradition: the modern epic of Souleymane Kanté |
Author: | Oyler, Dianne W. |
Year: | 2002 |
Periodical: | Research in African Literatures |
Volume: | 33 |
Issue: | 1 |
Pages: | 75-93 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | West Africa |
Subjects: | alphabets writing systems Manding oral traditions Mande languages |
About person: | Souleymane Kanté |
External link: | http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/research_in_african_literatures/v033/33.1oyler.pdf |
Abstract: | During the late colonial period African intellectuals began questioning the practice of writing in European languages, thereby impoverishing the autochthonous ones. Insinuating itself into this debate about language usage has been the little-known phenomenon of writing African literature in indigenous African scripts. This article examines the case of N'ko, an alphabet created in 1949 by the Guinean Souleymane Kanté. It shows that N'ko inspired a heightened sense of cultural identity among Mande-speakers across West Africa. Paradoxically, the N'ko phenomenon, a grassroots movement towards literacy, has also generated a new, written oral tradition surrounding its creator, Souleymane Kanté. His actions within this new tradition emerge as the centre of a heroic tale that elevates Kanté to the status of a Mande cultural hero. The article uses the case of N'ko to examine the impact of literacy upon orality by examining the following questions: Who was Souleymane Kanté? Why is he considered a cultural hero? What is his contribution to the debate about writing in African languages? What were his intentions in creating an alphabet? How has a literature in that alphabet been generated and disseminated? The paper is based on research undertaken in Kankan, Republic of Guinea, in 1992-1994. App. (English translation of the Souleymane Kanté epic), bibliogr., notes. |