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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Ancestors from the East in Sahelo-Sudanese myth: Dinga Soninké, Zarbakâne Zarma, and others
Author:Mounkaïla, FatimataISNI
Year:1993
Periodical:Research in African Literatures
Volume:24
Issue:2
Pages:13-21
Language:English
Geographic term:West Africa
Subjects:Ghana polity
epics (form)
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/3819882
Abstract:'Dinga was born in India, Dinga grew up in Yemen' and 'Zabarkâne comes from Sinai'. So it is said in 'The Empire of Ghana: the legend of Wagadu' (Jiri Silla, 1977) and in 'The exodus of the Zarmas' (Diouldé Laya, 1978). Such statements open several of the countless versions of the innumerable myths of origin that enjoy currency in the region between the Sahara and the northern edge of Africa's intertropical forest. Almost all the heroes of these sagas come from lands along the Red Sea: Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Arabian peninsula, which was receptive to Persian and Indian influences. Out of this multitude, the author has chosen to examine the epics of two pairs of characters - Dinga and Diabe Cissé, and Zabarkâne and Mâli Béro - whose many similarities invite comparison. The author considers the question of intertextual relationships among the narratives and the question of whether they constitute a literary genre, and examines these different heroes in relation to the context in which these epics were elaborated, their reception, the itineraries that these heroes and their epics have followed within this context, and the transformations that have made their integration into this context possible. Bibliogr.
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