MAGYAR AFRIKA TÁRSASÁG AFRICAN-HUNGARIAN UNION
AHU MAGYAR AFRIKA-TUDÁS TÁR AHU HUNGARIAN AFRICA-KNOWLEDGE DATABASE -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------BIERNACZKY, Szilárd Scribe, Griot and Novelist / Íródeák, griot és regényíró Eredeti közlés /Original publication: Acta Ethnographica Hungarica, 1996, 41, 1–4, pp 322–324. old. Eredeti Elektronikus újraközlés/Electronic republication: AHU MAGYAR AFRIKA-TUDÁS TÁR – 000.001.647 Dátum/Date: 2016. június / June 26. filename: bsz_1986-88_recHale Az elektronikus újraközlést előkészítette /The electronic republication prepared by: B. WALLNER, Erika és/and BIERNACZKY, Szilárd Hivatkozás erre a dokumentumra/Cite this document BIERNACZKY, Szilárd: Mukanda Na Makisi, AHU MATT, 2016, pp. 1–6. old., No. 000.001.647, http://afrikatudastar.hu Eredeti forrás megtalálható/The original source is available: Közkönyvtárakban / In public libraries Kulcsszavak/Key words Magyar Afrika-kutatás, könyvismertetés (Thomas A. Hale: Scribe, Griot and Novelist, Narrative Interpreters of the Songhay Empire, 1990) African studies in Hungary, book review (Thomas A. Hale: Scribe, Griot and Novelist, Narrative Interpreters of the Songhay Empire, 1990) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------AZ ELSŐ MAGYAR, SZABAD FELHASZNÁLÁSÚ, ELEKTRONIKUS, ÁGAZATI SZAKMAI KÖNYV-, TANULMÁNY-, CIKKDOKUMENTUM- és ADAT-TÁR/THE FIRST HUNGARIAN FREE ELECTRONIC SECTORAL PROFESSIONAL DATABASE FOR BOOKS,
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STUDIES, COMMUNICATIONS, DOCUMENTS AND INFORMATIONS * magyar és idegen – angol, francia, német, orosz, spanyol, olasz és szükség szerint más – nyelveken készült publikációk elektronikus könyvtára/ writings in Hungarian and foreign – English, French, German, Russian, Spanish, Italian and other – languages * az adattárban elhelyezett tartalmak szabad megközelítésűek, de olvasásuk vagy letöltésük regisztrációhoz kötött/the materials in the database are free but access or downloading are subject to registration * Az Afrikai Magyar Egyesület non-profit civil szervezet, amely az oktatók, kutatók, diákok és érdeklődők számára hozta létre ezt az elektronikus adattári szolgáltatását, amelynek célja kettős, mindenekelőtt sokoldalú és gazdag anyagú ismeretekkel elősegíteni a magyar afrikanisztikai kutatásokat, illetve ismeret-igényt, másrészt feltárni az afrikai témájú hazai publikációs tevékenységet teljes dimenziójában a kezdetektől máig./The AfricanHungarian Union is a non-profit organisation that has created this electronic database for lecturers, researchers, students and for those interested. The purpose of this database is twofold; on the one hand, we want to enrich the research of Hungarian Africa studies with versatile and plentiful information, on the other hand, we are planning to discover Hungarian publications with African themes in its entirety from the beginning until the present day.
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SCRIBE, GRIOT AND NOVELIST Thomas A. HALE: Scribe, Griot and Novelist, Narrative Interpreters of the Songhay Empire, 1990, Gainesville, University of Florida Press, 313 pp. BIERNACZKY, Szilárd Acta Ethnographica Hungarica, 1996, 41, 1–4, pp 322–324. old.
The American literary comparatist has contributed a long-anticipated work to international scholarship, since as a preliminary to his book he gave a lecture in Budapest back in, 1982 (Kings, Scribes and Bards..., Szilárd Biernaczky ed.: Folklore in Africa Today. Proceedings of the Workshop, Artes Populares 10–11, 1984, 207–220). Hale's feat lies in undertaking field work in West Africa on the basis of his literary skills, and not in the armour of cultural anthropology, which is compulsory in the United States. In another feat, he wrote a unique dimension of comparative studies in the history of sciences. In his book drawing on contemporary Arab sources, he presents the history of the Songhay Empire and its heyday under the reign of Sonni Ali Ber (1463/1464–1492) and, above all, Askia Mohammed (1493– 1529). However, Hale is also familiar with the method of oral history research. The other source of his investigations is a Songhay epic collected and published him for the first time in its entirety. Its hero is Askia Mohammed, but other Songhay kings also play a part in it. The third side of "comparison" is the novel of contemporary Malian writer Yambo Ouologuem, Le devoir de violence (1968, in English: Bound to Violence, 1971), in which the author looks with sharp criticism at the social and political structure of the one-time Songhay. As Hale remarks wittily, the Arab chronicles are guides to the written word, oral epics` open windows to the past, while Ouloguem's heavy novel packed with intricate references and recalling the bloody and violet age of medieval African feudalism, can be considered a challenge of the past.
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But who are these people called Songhay? Their unique language forms a separate island; their smaller and larger groups speaking different dialects (Songhay, Zarma, Dendi, etc.) mostly live in Niger and Mali, and in a lesser part in Benin, Burkina Faso and Nigeria – almost always by the river Niger, following it at a length of nearly 1000 kilometres. The region they inhabit bears countless marks of ancient civilizations. Based on the earliest Arab authorities (AlKhuwarizmi, Al-Yakubi, Ibn Haukal, Al-Bekri, Al-Idrisi, etc.), their history can be traced back to the 7th–8th centuries. In addition, significant sources are available beginning from the age of ruler Sonni Ah Ber (the most comprehensive summary on the People called Songhay so far is Jean Rouch's Les Songhay, Paris, 1954, Presses Universitaires de France), the founder of an empire covering close to 2 million square kilometres at the summit of its extension. Devoting his life to wars of conquest, he occupied Timbuktu (1469) and Jenne (1471) as well. According to written records, he died amid mysterious circumstances on his way back from a battle. He was succeeded by one of his generals, who founded the Askia dynasty after getting rid of the legal heir to Ali Ber, Chi Baro, and establishing far closer links with the Islam than Ali Ber by attending a spectacular pilgrimage to Mecca between 1495 and 1497. The "new empire" probably had its shiniest period under this prominent general, Askia Mohammed Taure presumably of Soninke origin, and a later ruler of the dynasty, Askia Daud (1549–1582/1583). Although Songhay formally existed until the 18th century, in 1590 the Moroccan intruders crushed its independent state power definitively. As for the above Arab sources, mention should be made of two names and works. Mahmud al-Kati, also believed to be of Soninke descent (he was born in 1468 and lived 125 years according to tradition), began writing the chronicle Tarikh al-Fattash (in French: Tarikh el-Fettach..., O. Houdas and M. Delafosse edition, Paris, 1913) in 1519, which – as legend has it – was continued by his grandchild around 1600, to be finished by his late descendant, Ibn al-Mukhtar, in 1665. Much of the book is devoted to the history of the Askia dynasty, but legends and information concerning the earlier dynasty also have a place in it. The chronicle closes with the events of 1599, the first year of the Moroccan conquest. The chronicle of the other noted Arab-speaking
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representative of Songhay, Abd el-Rahman al-Sadi (Timbuktu 1596– cca. 1656), entitled Tarikh al-Sudan (in French: Tarikh es Soudan, O. Houdas edition, Paris, 1898-1900, in which the author, perhaps with Fulanian parents, strived to collect all data on the age of Songhay rulers, clear up the history of his native town and depict the lives of its famous saints and scientists. An outstanding event of the past 20-30 years of the discovery of African heroic epic was the publication of the Askia Mohammed epic. This type of text appeared first in connection with the activities of the Tilho-Mission from 1906–1909 (Documents scientifiques de la Mission, Vol. 1–3, Paris, 1910–1914), but it was only 60 years later that another identifiable document was published: J. Rouch collected four pages of prose on the birth and rise of the great ruler (in: D. Laya: Textes songhay-zarma, Niamey, 1978, CEHLTO). Participants at the 1977 Niamey "epic-conference" were familiarized with an Askia Mohammed epic, but to Hale it appeared to be an adaptation of written sources. The 1602 lines contained in two languages in the book of the American researcher are a major cultural history contribution from both the historical and aesthetic points of view. Hale visited 20 griots (African bards), collected 10 versions, of which he selected the song of Nouhou Malio for publication. As was mentioned before, the main character of the epic is Askia Mohammed, although in the first part Sonni Ali Ber also enters the scene as the brother of Mohammed's mother. In the second part a further four of the eight Askias are revived. Appearing in the final third as leader of the anti-Moroccan resistance movement is the legendary hero from the Zarma-Songhay ethnic group, Mali Bero, who struggles for the rebirth of the empire sent to destruction by the corrupt upper caste. The Zarma origin-epic (Fatimata Mounkaila: Mythe et histoire dens la geste de Zabarkane, Niamey, 1985, Cehlto) sets in the centre the first hero, Zabarkane, who – according to Hale – compares with the figure of Mali Bero. Hale thoroughly analyzes the characteristics of chronicles and epics, providing thousands of examples for a comparative study of myth and history, verbal and written cultures, the "rural" and "urban" attitudes, as well as for a better understanding of resemblances and differences. But the book of Yambo Ouologuem, which won prestigious prizes and then provoked fierce protests from the Africans,
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is aimed at finding out what "messages" a present-day African novelist receives from the Arab authorities of the Songhay Empire and how he uses them – obviously tailored to African reality today in bringing about his creation of great effect. The most valuable present for a folklorist ethnographer is certainly the bilingual (Songhay and English) publication of N. Malio's text and the exhaustive notes attached. It reconfirms the similarities between West African epic narratives centered on the history of dynasties, the foundation of new states and aggressive wars – as opposed to the archaic–mythic epics of the equatorial Bantus – and the feudal or medieval type of the classic "world epic". It is hoped that the eminent American researcher will later publish more of the 10 text versions collected, supplementing them with additional data on Songhay cultural history and the sound recording of narratives on cassette or CD.
