SOURCE: Innes, Gordon. Introduction to Sunjata: Three Mandinka Versions, pp. 1-33. London: School of Oriental and African Studies, 1974.

In the following excerpt, Innes provides an overview of the Sunjata, including its transmission, audience, language, and present-day relevance.

The three texts in this book are by three of The Gambia's leading bards, Bamba Suso, Banna Kanute and Dembo Kanute. A brief biographical note on each of these three bards will be found before the text which each has provided. The texts by Bamba Suso and Banna Kanute are included here as illustrative of the differences of both style and content which can occur between two performances of the ‘same’ epic. Dembo Kanute's text is an example of a narration which draws upon the Sunjata epic, but where the focus of interest is not Sunjata himself, but one of his generals.

Sunjata

Sunjata is generally regarded by historians as the...