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
Recommended Citation
Wise, Christopher, "Nyama and Heka: African Concepts of the Word" (2006). English Faculty and Staff Publications. 1.
https://cedar.wwu.edu/english_facpubs/1
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
Comments
© 2006, Johns Hopkins University Press.