Griots at War: Conflict, Conciliation, and Caste in Mande

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Griots at War Griots at War CONFLICT, CONCILIATION, AND CASTE IN MANDE Barbara G. Hoffman Mande transcriptions and translations prepared in collaboration with Kassim Koné Indiana University Bloomington & Indianapolis Press Publication of this book is made possible in part with the assistance of a Challenge Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal agency that supports research, education, and public programming in the humanities. This book is a publication of Indiana University Press 601 North Morton Street Bloomington, IN 47404–3797 USA http://www.indiana.edu/~iupress Telephone orders 800–842-6796 Fax orders 812-855-7931 Orders by e-mail iuporder@indiana.edu 䉷 2000 by Barbara G. Hoffman All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hoffman, Barbara G. Griots at war : conflict, conciliation, and caste in Mande / Barbara G. Hoffman ; Mande transcriptions and translations prepared in collaboration with Kassim Koné. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-253-33805-0 (cl : alk. paper) 1. Mandingo (African people)—Folklore. 2. Mandingo (African people)—Social life and customs. 3. Griots—Mali—Kita. 4. Storytelling—Mali—Kita. 5. Oral tradition—Mali—Kita. 6. Oratory—Mali—Kita. 7. Kita (Mali)—Social life and customs. I. Title. GR352.82.M34 H65 2000 398⬘.089⬘96345—dc21 00-038859 1 2 3 4 5 05 04 03 02 01 00 N’balimaw, Minw taara
’ye, Minw bε n’kεrεfε, Minw bε
εfε, Nin bεε ye aw ta ye. My kinspeople, Those who went before me, Those who are beside me, Those who are still to come, All this is for you. ...