Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2006

Abstract

Knowledge of the West African griot epic has advanced enormously in the last fifteen years with the publication of volumes by Thomas Hale, Scribe, Griot, Novelist: Narrative Interpreters of the Songhay Empire1 and Griots and Griottes: Masters of Words and Music,2 Stephen Belcher, Epic Traditions of Africa',3 and Barbara G. Hoffman, Griots At War: Conflict, Conciliation, and Caste in Mande.4 Despite the richness of these studies, the concept of nyama, the Mande word for occult "power" or "means," has remained a secondary concern of African cultural criticism.

Publication Title

Comparative Literature Studies

Volume

43

Issue

1-2

First Page

19

Last Page

38

Comments

© 2006, Johns Hopkins University Press.

Subjects - Topical (LCSH)

Storytelling--Africa, West--Technique; Spirituality; Language and culture

Geographic Coverage

Africa, West

Genre/Form

articles

Type

Text

Language

English

Format

application/pdf

Download

Share

COinS