The story of Sundiata has attracted little critical interest among speakers of English. This can be attributed to two main reasons, the first being the lack of interest in African texts until recent decades. Only now are literature departments including courses and specialists in African literature. The critical world had privileged the Western literary canon for many years. Those wanting to see other texts undergo mainstream critical analysis had a hard battle to fight. With the development of professorships in African literature throughout the world, this problem is being overcome.

The second, and still relevant, problem is that of linguistic and social accessibility. Many stories from Africa are oral, told in indigenous languages. Those outside the small language-speaking community are unable to access the tale until it is transcribed and then translated into a common language. In addition, many of the guardians of African oral tradition...