Throughout the course, students will learn how approach an epic-like narrative that has undergone a cultural journey, adaptation, and translation from the oral tradition of the Mandinka culture, into the French language for a Francophone audience, and then into English. (No language skills beyond English proficiency are necessary.) The first question is one of authenticity, and the lines between fiction and historical reality. Is this truly the story of a medieval West African emperor? While the process of world literature is complex, I think students will find that Sundiata is a throughly enjoyably and rather brisk text. (Please note that the text is not necessarily an ethno-graphically accurate story of West Africa. That's part of the lession. The text is taught as fiction and world literature, not anthropology.)   

While Sundiata Keita is a figure from medieval history (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sundiata-Keita), the Guinean/French scholar D.T. Niane took the tale into the realm of myth, crafting a fantastical story to present to a general audience. Students who know the tales of Narnia or Harry Potter will recognize many of the themes and architypes. 

Throughout the course, I will privilege the perspectives of African scholars. I will approach the text from several critical angles: the formalist elements, the power of language and the role of rhetoric and persuasion inside the text, the text's relevance to ethnography, archaeological/environmental evidence, and various adaptations and performances of the text in contemporary times. We'll examine the function of proverbs in the text, their uses and meanings, and compare/contrast African cultures to European and Asian traditions. We'll also examine the cultural connections and similarities between African and Asian ideas of sovereignty and religious beliefs. 

In particular, students will learn through the text how West African idea of political legitimacy are presented, centered around the question of what gives Sundiata the right to create an empire? On the other hand, why is the antagonist Soumaoro presented as illegitimate? We'll also examine alternative perspectives that do, in fact, argue for Soumaoro's legitimacy. All perspectives share the orientation of African ways of viewing legitimacy in government before European colonialism.  

Teaching methods will include lecture, open discussion among the instructor and students, sharing scholarship on the literature and cultures of West African, and short video clips of theatric and musical performances. Students should complete the reading assignment before class (see schedule below) and bring any notes, observations, and questions to class. For each week, I will post critical thinking questions on the Classroom page that will structure class discussions.   

Reading Schedule:
Week 1: Read through "Childhood"
Week 2: Read through "Soumaoro Kante"
Week 3: Read through "Krina" 
Week 4: Finish the text. 

Optional Writing Assignment:  Students will complete blog post reviewing the text from any critical perspective, to be shared on a Word Press literary journal dedicated to student writing and shared amongst all my students. They are also free to make connections between the text and popular culture and performance. For example, part of Disney's Lion King borrow heavily from Sundiata. How did Disney appropriate the text for their purposes?