Son-Jara

I. The Manding Culture of West Africa

A. The pre-colonial empire of Mali (1200-1400 A.D.) encompassed

• Sahara Desert
• Mali
• Senegal
• Gambia
• Guinea (look at the map on p. 2408).

B. The founding of the Mali Empire is attributed to Son-Jara Keita

1. Sometimes called "Sunjata"

2. Probably a historical figure as well as an epic legend (not unlike Gilgamesh)

3. Oral narratives of Son-Jara's life are still common in the former Mali Empire.

C. Son-Jara-- a very interesting mix of Islamic and Native African motifs.

1. Islam began to spread across Africa in the seventh century

2. African converts often grafted Islam onto their native traditions

• The same thing happened with Christianity in those portions of Africa "converted" by Christian missionaries.

• An account of these processes is Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart.

3. Islam created a literate aristocracy that made a multi-ethnic empire possible.

• Arabic = a lingua franca that could unite various linguistic groups

• Islam = a set of beliefs that could unite various factions with different religious tenets.

D. Son-Jara is about the founding of a nation comprised of different cultural, ethnic, and linguistic groups.

1. "Nation" is actually a fairly new concept

2. Nations need shared customs, traditions, images, and narratives.

3. Son-Jara was an epic poem that was capable of binding these groups together into a nation--it gave them a shared heritage.

4. Poem is in Mande language and is 3085 lines long.

II. The role of the bard in Manding culture

A. The bard (jeli) was one of the protected castes of Manding society

1. Manding castes were not like Hindu castes

2. Caste-- "Protected monopoly"--only people of a certain birth were allowed to practice the trade, but they did not have to if they did not want to. (Blacksmith, leather worker, bard, etc.)

3. Caste members married married each other.

4. The French word for jeli is griot--this is the word that is usually used.

B. The griot was charged with recounting the narratives of the culture.

1. Most bards were attached to wealthy patrons--and the bards often had to modify their stories to please their patrons.

• Wealthy people wanted their ancestors to be part of the story.

• Each time the story was told it became a bit different.

2. The bards survived colonialism and remain an active part of Mali society today--some are state supported and have radio shows.

C. Traditionally, the power of a bard's words has been associated with magic powers--a bard actually invokes this power by singing the stories. The bards did more than just retell set narratives.

1. They were expected to reinterpret the text with each telling

2. Certain elements were always present, but each retelling added to the whole of the story.

3. In this way, the story is alive and dynamic--each generation, and each individual griot contributes a portion to the narrative.

4. There are, as a result, many different versions of the narrative--no one is more "authentic" than any other.

III. Episode #1

A. Invocation (first two stanzas on 2415)

1. Nare Magan konate

• Nare = Son-Jara's birthplace

• Magan = King
• Konate = His Clan

2. Sorcerer-seizing-sorcerer = His claim to supremacy as a chief magician.

3. Kala Jula Sangoyi = The First Bard and "creator" of the story.

4. Adam Ben Adam

• This gives Son-Jara's lineage (the "tenth Adam" 2416)

• This is part of the Islamic tradition in the poem (2416)

5. The epic narrates the deeds of Son-Jara and their relationship to the Mali empire (2415-16)

• This makes it clear that we are dealing with a foundational poem.

• There are specific allusions to the ethnic diversity of the empire.

B. The narrative is set up in a call-and-response fashion.

1. Many Christian worship services use the same set up.

• Sometimes it is formalized--there are things that the Priest says and things that the congregation responds.

• Sometimes it is a spontaneous "hallelujah."

2. This format is very important to community building

• It makes the listeners part of the story.

• It is active, rather than passive.

IV. Episode #2: The Islamic Ancestry of Son-Jara

A. Traces Son-Jara's ancestry to Bilal, a companion of Muhammad (2417)

B. Attempts to give the "races of man" (2417)

C. Tracing the genealogy of the hero (Matthew and Luke do the same with Christ's ancestry)

1. To establish royal legitimacy

2. Very much part of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition.

D. Introduces Son-Jara's father and stepmother (2419)

1. Fata Magan the Handsome = Father

2. Saman Berete = stepmother

• The first wife of his father

• The mother of Dankaran Tuman, his arch rival.

V. Episode #3: The introduction of Son-Jara's African/Magical ancestor--his mother.

A. This is a story that is tangential to the main narrative--its sole purpose is to explain how Son-Jara's mother, Sulugun Konde (the ugly), becomes the wife of Fata Magan (the handsome)

B. Summary of the basic plot line.

1. A King named Fata Magan Konde of Du is born.

2. He grew up to rule "twelve towns" (sense of irony--this would seem very small to the audience of the epic--the immense Mali Empire).

3. He does not invite his aunt (Du Kamisa) to an important sacrifice.

• This is the aunt that raised him

• In failing to invite her to the sacrifice, he labels her an outsider--as someone who is not part of his family and has no claim on him for anything.

4. In a confrontation, the King punishes her severely. (2421)

5. She turns into a buffalo and begins killing the men of the town.

6. Two brothers visiting from The Manden set out to try to kill the Buffalo.

• Dan Mansa Wulanba

• Dan Mansa Wulandin

7. They come upon a jinn (genie) who sends them to the old lady

8. The old lady (who actually is the buffalo) instructs them and gives them a weapon to kill the buffalo.

9. They use the magic weapon to kill the Buffalo.

10. Dan Mansa Wulanba leaves his slippers at the scene (2426, l. 778)

11. This sets up a Cinderella competition to find the heroes who saved the town (2427)

12. A talking dog tells the men that when they are offered half of the kingdom, they should refuse it. When they are offered a choice of women, they should choose the ugly one. (2428)

13. They follow these instructions to the letter and, as a result, come back to the Manden with Sugulun Konde (who will become Son-Jara's mother).

C. These first three episodes set Son-Jara up to be a perfect unifier of Islam and African spiritualism.

1. His father is the direct descendent of one of the greatest heroes of Islam

2. His mother is the product of a magical adventure with a buffalo woman, a genie, and a talking dog.

VI. Son-Jara as national epic

A. Son-Jara differs from The Iliad in two key areas

1. The Iliad tells the story of a group of nations who share the same culture, religion, and language come together but never actually become a single national entity.

2. The Epic of Son-Jara tells the story of how widely different linguistic, cultural, and religious groups come together and form a nation.

3. Much of Son-Jara is dedicated to reenforcing feelings of nationalism.

• The Tarawere brothers are told to reject "half of 12 cities" because they come "from the Manden and to the Manden they must return."

• Doka the Cat (The Bard) repeats the same phrase when Sumamuru tries to hire him away.

• Specific praises to Son-Jara's leadership are included in final episode (2460)

B. Son-Jara is, himself, a mixture of the two Manding cultures.

1. His father is descended from Bilal, a great Islamic hero.

2. His mother is an African native and the product of a magical, spiritual journey.

3. Son-Jara himself is "the best of both worlds."

4. In this and many other instances, Son-Jara is a metaphor/symbol for his culture.

• Compare: Superman, the ultra successful immigrant who succeeds in the American melting pot.

• Son-Jara, the ultra-successful fusion of Islam and native African magic.

C. Epic vs Folklore

• An epic is a heroic tale; a folktale is a magical story
• Son-Jara has elements of both

D. Folk elements, or mythemes that you see throughout the story.

• Cinderella (2427)

• Hansel and Gretel (2457)

• The dragon quest (slaying the buffalo)

• "How the (European) dog got its chain" (2440)

E. There are also different types of literature embedded into the same narrative

1. The basic frame is an epic poem.

2. There are also many small lyric poems inserted into the framework--these can have a very disrupting effect on the narrative.

• Poems of praise (2435)

• Common songs (2442-43)

• Prayers (2456)

• Bards' Hymns (2444-45)

3. The diversity of both narrative style and narrative content occur because this type of poem acts as a sort of collective cultural memory: one that stores all of the stories, art forms, and beliefs that are important to the people--this is more important (to them) than narrative unity (which is a very Western concept anyway). Think of it as an encyclopedia.

VII. Episode #4 The rivalry between Son-Jara and Dankaran Tuman

A. This is set in terms that many people would recognize as "biblical"--but which are actually "Koranic."

1. Two children are born the same day and one fools the father into granting him the birthright (just like Esau & Jacob, Cain & Abel, Romulus & Remus).

2. A younger brother boasts that he is destined to rule over his older brother--and the older brother exiles him to a foreign land (like Joseph and his brothers).

3. Genesis contains seven narratives of younger brothers supplanting their elders. All stories were common to both the Koran and the Bible.

B. The basic plot.

1. The Jinn prophecies that Fata Magen should marry the ugly Konde woman so that his son will be king of the Manden (2429-30)

2. Fata Magan trades his own sister to the Tarawere brothers for Sugulun Konde.

3. The two wives conceive a child on the very same day.

4. A female bard (jeli) announces the birth order incorrectly.

• Primogeniture vs merit (birth vs worth)
• This is a standard folk motif throughout the world's literature.

5. Saman Berete puts a curse on Son-Jara (2433)

• This sets up a contest of the sorcerers

• Whoever has the strongest magic will ultimately win.
• But it is also a contest of Islamic worthiness (The hajj and the Jinn--2433)
• The expectation of the poem is that both elements will fuse together to create the most worthy individual.

6 As a result of the curse, Son-Jara cannot walk for nine years.

7. Both Son-Jara and his mother are mistreated because he is crippled.

8. He finally rises triumphantly, with the help of a specially made magical staff.

• He falls twice
• He blames his mother's unworthiness (2437)
• She purifies herself
• He rises on the third try with a wooden staff (natural as opposed to man-made?)
• He starts shaking boys out of trees (2439)--this shows his great strength.

9. Nonetheless, he is still respectful of his brother.

10. He and Tuman each sacrifice dogs to try to win the favor of the gods.

• Son-Jara's dog = "Tomorrow's Affair"
• Dankaran Tuman's dog = "Younger Leave Me Be"
• These dogs exemplify their different philosophies. Son-Jara is very patient; Dankara Tuman is only concerned about the moment. Son-Jara's quality is that of a superior leader.

11. As a result of the sacrifice, Dankaran Tuman gains the upper hand and Son-Jara is exiled.

• The beginning of a hero quest--he must make his name in a far away land.
• This expresses one of the main themes of the poem: "what sitting will not solve, travel will resolve" (2442).

12. There is an important parallel here to the life of the prophet Mohammed.

• Mohammed began his career in Mecca, but was exiled and had to spend his formative years in Medina, then he built a following and captured Mecca, which he made the capital of a vast Islamic empire.
• Son-Jara will do the same thing: he leaves the Manden and is forced into exile in Mema, where he builds a following and prepares to recapture the Manden and use it as the basis for a vast African (and also Islamic) empire.

VIII. Episode #5: Manden are overtaken by Sumamuru; Son-Jara builds a following in Mema.

A. Son-Jara's wandering: Saman Berete fixes it so that nobody will take Son-Jara in (2443)

B. Meanwhile, back at the Manding, Sumamuru, the Blacksmith King, invades the Manden and threatens the reign of Dankaran Tuman.

1. Dankaran Tuman is downright pleasant compared to Sumamuru.

2. He is a foreign intruder who threatens the people's way of life--he is willing to kill all of the people in the land to rule them.

3. Sumamuru attempts to steal Son-Jara's bard (2445)--Doka the Cat

• Doka's answer emphasizes the nationalistic feeling of the poem.
• This demonstrates the importance of bards
• The bard is wounded--which is a grave insult to Son-Jara

4. Sumamuru prevails and tries to prevent the prophecy (2447)

• He understands that Son-Jara is "destined" to rule the Manden.
• He sends a message to Son-Jara: stay away

5. He also sends his functionaries (9 witches) to kill Son-Jara

• Son-Jara transforms himself into a lion (transformation is a major sign of power) (2448)
• He then goes out and kills a buffalo for each of them.

6. This is a major expression of his fitness to be a ruler

• After he gives them this present, and this display of power, they become his allies.

• Sumamuru is trying to build an empire through fear
• Son-Jara is going to build one through loyalty and constituent service.

7. Son-Jara's mother dies.

8. Son-Jara proves his worth to Prince Birama and wins the right to settle in Mema--which he will use as a power base to build up support for an invasion.

• Much of the rest of the story is not told.
• We know a few things based on what has already happened. Son-Jara has become a very powerful sorcerer. Son-Jara's philosophy of leadership is to build alliances rather than to conquer.

9. The coming fight (of episode 6) is between two different philosophies of government.

10. We must now read the stories in light of its parallels to the history of Mohammed.

IX. Episode #6: The Battle

1. Son-Jara leads a battle against Sumamuru (Sumamuru has the superior, defensive, position)

2. Sumamuru repels Son-Jara's first two attacks. (kind of like standing up)

3. Sugulun Kulunkan, Son-Jara's sister, agrees to work behind the lines as a seductress (2454)

4. Sumamuru begins to tell his secrets to Sugulun Kulunkan

5. Sumamuru's mother chastises him for telling his secrets to a "one-night woman"

6. Sumamuru cuts off his mother's breasts (the same as in Episode 3)

• He disowns his mother

• This shows how cruel and treacherous he really is.

7. Sumamuru then demands the wife of his nephew, and chief lieutenant, Fa-Koli

• Sumamuru already has 100 wives (King David)

• He demands the only wife of his loyal follower

• Fa-Koli defects to Son-Jara

8. Fa-Koli becomes the turning point

• He goes into Sumamuru's camp and marks his way with magic darts (Hansel and Gretel) (2457)

• He wins a remarkable battle

9. Son-Jara captures the usurper and reclaims the Manden (2459)

X. Episode #7: the building of the Manden.

[Source: These notes were adapted from a fine summary previously placed on the world-wide web at a site that is longer available; hence, I cannot properly give credit to the author.]