Soundjata ou l’épopée mandingue: de la transmisión oral a la publicación en francés

Abstract

This article aims to present Soundjata ou l’epopee mandingue (1960), of D. T. Niane, an epic story that tells the deeds of Soundjata, a hero who glorified the big Mandinka empire in the 13th century, not only through the griot poets’ words, but also thanks to his own creative work. To this end, we compare this literary work with another version of this epic story, L’epopee de Sunjara d’apres Lansine Diabate de Kela (Mali) (1995), collated, transcribed and translated by Jansen, Duintjer and Tamboura, much closer to the oral sources than the story of Niane. Soundjata ou l’epopee mandingue, like other versions of the epic poem, has been published in French and thanks to this language the Mandinka monarch’s adventures crossed the boundaries of the African continent.