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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Sangalan Oral Traditions as Philosophy and Ideologies |
Author: | N'Daou, Mohamed Saidou |
Year: | 1999 |
Periodical: | History in Africa |
Volume: | 26 |
Pages: | 239-267 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Guinea |
Subjects: | Yalunka oral traditions Education and Oral Traditions History and Exploration Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) |
External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/3172143 |
Abstract: | Sangalan is located in northeast Guinea in the 'région' of MaliYambering. The people of Sangalan are Dialonka, Sangalan became an independent federation of groups of villages ('taane') in the 1850s, and consequently the Dialonka constructed a new social identity as 'Sangalanka'. Since that time, the Sangalanka have managed to maintain relative autonomy from all dominant powers in the Futa Jallon area. This paper interprets Sangalanka oral traditions as both the vehicle of a precolonial world view and an instrument of the ideological struggle in which individuals and groups engaged in order to gain access to power, land and labour. The scope of the paper is limited to precolonial Sangalan between 1850 and 1920. The analysis of Sangalanka struggles over the meaning of their precolonial past focuses on a single example - the 1871 Foton war between Manga Hammoro and Alpha Mo Labe. Starting from an account of the war as told by Alpha Bacar Keita, representing the Keita elite perspective, the author also pays attention to other versions, notably those of the Uyukha and the Kolissoko, which emphasize different places, events, and figures. Bibliogr., notes, ref. |