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Sunjata: A West African Epic of the Mande Peoples. Translated with Introduction and Notes by David C. Conrad; narrated by Djanka Tassey Condé. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2004. Pp. xlviii, 206; 1 map. $34.95 cloth; $9.95 paper.
For decades, D. T. Niane's prose version of the Sunjata epic has remained a standard text in courses on the history, literature, and ethnography of West Africa. It has occupied this place not so much because of its faithfulness to the epic, but because it was the most readable and affordable way to introduce students to one of the world's greatest oral narratives. But the work is deeply flawed. Indeed, David Conrad, who dedicates his new translation to Niane, calls Niane's text "a novelette" rather than an epic (p. xx) Until now, there was nothing available for those wishing to present or even read...