African oral epic poetry praising the deeds of a mythic hero

AFRICAN ORAL EPIC POETRY Praising the Deeds of a Mythic Hero by Fritz H Pointer With a translation of The Epic ofKambili (as recited by Seydou Camara, the griot) Translated from Mande into English by Charles Bird with Mamadou Koita and Bourama Soumaoro With a Foreword by Daniel Kunene The Edwin Mellen Press Lewiston•Queenston•Lampeter Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Pointer, Fritz H African oral epic poetry : praising the deeds of a mythic hero I by Fritz H Pointer ; with a translation ofThe epic ofKambili (as recited by Seydou Camara) ; translated from Mande in English by Charles S Bird, with Mamadou Koita and Bourama Soumaoro ; with a foreword by Daniel Kunene p.cm English, with English translation from Mandingo Published in 2012, with Pointer rather than Byrd credited as translator, under the title: A translation into English of the epic ofKambili (an African mythic hero) Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN-13: 978-0-7734-4087-6 (hardcover) ISBN-10: 0-7734-4087-9 (hardcover) Epic poetry, Mandingo Epic poetry, African Mandingo poetryTranslations into English Oral tradition-Africa, West Griots Aftica, West Heroes-Mythology-Africa, West I Bird, Charles S (Charles Stephen), 1935- ll Koita, Mamadou ill Soumaoro, Bourama IV Kamara, Seyidu Kambili.Title English V Pointer, Fritz H Translation into English of the epic ofKambili (an African mythic hero) VI Title PL8491.7.P65 2013 896.345-dc23 2012038968 horssbie A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright ~ 2013 Fritz H Pointer All rights reserved For information contact The Edwin Mellen Press Box450 Lewiston, New York USA 14092-0450 The Edwin Mellen Press Box67 Queenston, Ontario CANADA LOS 1LO The Edwin Mellen Press, Ltd Lampeter, Ceredigion, Wales UNITED KINGDOM SA48 8LT Printed in the United States of America I dedicate this book to my family who support and sustain me in so many ways, often without knowing it: Liziwe (Liz, Lizzie) Boitumelo Kunene-Pointer, my partner; Aaron Elton Pointer, my brother; Leona Dones-Pointer, his wife; my sisters, Ruth, Anita and Bonnie and June Pointer; my children, Shegun, Nandi, Somori and Thiyane Pointer and my granddaughters, Jadah Pointer-Wallace and Selina Pointer-Fox AnAneedote A three year old came up to his parents on the beach with his sand bucket full of water "Here's the Ocean, Daddy," he said That attitude is understandable in a three-year-old, but not so much so when a thirty year-old comes up with a set of ideas and says "Here is the 1ruth!" You want to say to him, "That may be your ocean, brother, but there is a lot more where that came from, and it's not in your bucket!" Contents Foreword by Emeritus Professor Daniel P Kunene i Preface iii Acknowledgments xi mtroouoooo Chapter One-Some Background on the Epic Chapter Two-Griots and Griottes: Composers and Performers 29 Chapter Three-Kambili and History 47 Chapter Four-The Hero of the Epic 57 Chapter Five-Poet and Accompanists 67 Chapter Six-Mooes and Methods of Composition in K.ambili 77 Chapter Seven-Praise Songs, Traditional Religion and Islam 103 Chapter Eight-Birth, Tasks and Triumph ofKambili 111 Chapter Nine-In Praise of Kambili Sananfila 123 Chapter Ten-The Story: A Synopsis 159 The Epic ofKambili 163 Bibliography 287 mdex 295 Foreword Epic? What's that? European scholars have often gone to cultures they sought to research with preconceived notions and expectations ofwhat to find, often based on their own cultures Till recently, they understandably threw up their arms in despair, declaring a "lack" of this or that feature they were mistakenly looking for But now things have changed quite a bit Ruth Finnegan stirred up the hornets' nest by coming up with a "lack" regarding the epic in Africa in her Oral Literature in Africa! There were protests and "proofs" galore that she was wrong Some good things were coming out of her audacious statement: Scholars rose up in arms, and in the process found, or revisited, lots of epics that needed to be revisited, exposed, translated, examined and analyzed One such warrior scholar was Professor Fritz Pointer who researched the epic of Kambili Though not the first to study this epic, he nonetheless added his voice to the chorus that directly or by implication declared Finnegan wrong Among other things, Pointer underscores the importance of John William Johnson's declaration that The Greek [epic] tradition is only one of many In several places in Africa and elsewhere, living epic traditions can be observed in their natural contexts (Johnson, William John, The Epic of Son-Jara-"A West African Tradition, Bloomington," Indiana University Press, 1986, p 60) Great observation! But Johnson just misses the nail's head, as long as he does not put the original language of the epic at the very center of the "natural i ii contexts," and make the translation secondary There is no doubt, however, that epic scholars are not only strongly aware of this need, but that they are moving towards correcting it This is a wave that is getting stronger It should be directed towards the grammar, morphology, tonology, phonology, semiology and other aspects of the original language, so we can observe the prosody ofthe original poem under discussion, and not its translation But there is no doubt that the energy in the discourse about the epic in African cultures is moving in that direction No doubt when it reaches that point, Professor Pointer will be there, either with Kambili, or some other African epic to underscore the truth of this statement Emeritus Professor Daniel P Kunene Department ofAfrican Languages and Literature University of Wisconsin-Madison Preface Kambili, like Jesus, is a famous character who has an epic, mythic, story dedicated to him; yet, he may have never lived; there is no historical evidence, scholarly or otherwise; except an epic poem, based on oral accounts, dedicated to Kambili's being It is amazing, quite amazing that a Kambili or Jesus, or Oedipus, Theseus, Romulus, Hercules, Perseus, Zeus, Jason, even a Robin Hood and Apollo who, as far as scientific research and scholarly knowledge is aware, never lived can become famous Jesus, the Christian mythic hero, number three on the list that includes the above noted epic heroes, meets nineteen of the twenty-two indicators for heroic status, in Lord Raglan's tabulations oftypical hero incidents: The pattern is as follows: The hero's mother is a royal virgin; His father is a king (or god) Often a near relative of his mother, but The circumstances of his conception are unusual, and He is also reputed to be the son of a god At birth an attempt is made, usually by his father or his maternal grandfather, to kill him, but He is spirited away, and Reared by foster parents in a far country iii 290 Gleason, Judith Ed Leafand Bone: African Praise-Poems New York.: Penguin, 1980 Hagin, Peter The Epic Hero and The Decline of Heroic Poetry Folcroft, Pennsylvania: Folcroft Library Editions, 1964 Hale, Thomas A Griots and Griottes: Masters of Words and Music Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998 ,. Scribe, Griot, and Novelist: Narrative Interpreters ofthe Songhay Empire Gainesville: Florida University Press, 1990 Haley, Alex Roots New York: Doubleday, 1976 Harris, Sam The End ofFaith New York: Norton, 2005 Heaney, Seamus, Ed Beowulf New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000 Hitchens, Christopher God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything New York: Twelve, 2007 Ho:ffinan, Barbara G Griots At War: Conflict, Conciliation, and Caste in Mande Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2000 Homer The Odyssey Albert Cook, Ed New York: Norton, 1974 Innes, Gordon Kaabu and Fuladu:: Historical Narratives of the Gambien Maninka London: Unversity ofLondon, 1974 Johnson, John William and Jeli Fa-Digi Sisoko Son-Jara: The Mande Epic Bloomington: Indiana' University Press, 2003 - - - Sunjata, Three Mandinka Versions London: University ofLondon, 1974 Johnson, John William, Thomas Hale and Stephen Belcher Oral Epics from Africa: Vibrant Voices from a Vast Continent Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1997 291 Jordan, A C Towards an African Literature; The Emergence of Literary Form in Xhosa Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973 - - Tales from Southern Africa Berkeley: University of CalifomiaPress, 1978 Kane, Cheik:h Hamidou Ambiguous Adventure Trans Katherine Woods New York: Heinemann, 1963 Kunene, Daniel P Heroic Poetry of the Basotho University Press, 1971 Oxford Kunene, Mazisi Emperor Shaka The Great A Zulu Epic London: Heinemann, 1979 Laye, Camara The Dark Child Trans James Kirkup New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1969 Lord, Albert Singer ofTales New York: Atheneum Press, 1974 Miller, Christopher L Theories of Africans: Francophone Literature and Anthropology In Africa Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1990 Monteil, Vincent "The WolofKingdom ofKayor." West African Kingdoms in the Nineteenth Century Ed Daryll Forde and P.M Kaberry Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1967 pp 2~281 Niane, D T Sundiata: An Epic ofOld Mali Trans G D Pickett Longmans, 1965 O~o, Isidore "Does the Epic Exist in Africa? Some Formal Considerations." Research in African Literature, Volume No.2 (1977), pp 174-190 292 Okpewho, Isidore The Epic in Africa;, Towards a Poetics ofOral Performance Columbia University Press, 1979 - - African Oral Literature: Baclcgrounds, Character, and Continuity Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1992 - - "African Oral Epics." The Cambridge History ofAfrican and Caribbean Literature, Volume F Abiola Irele and Simon Gikandi, Eds New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004, pp 98-116 Parry, Adam Ed The Making ofHomeric Verse Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971 Pointer, Fritz "In Praise ofK.ambili Sananfila" African Literature Today, 16 Trenton: Africa World Press, 1989 Quint, David Epic and Empire Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1993 Radine, Paul African Folktales Princeton University Press, 1952 Salaam, Nubia Kai Al-Nura An Investigation of Malinke Historiography: From Sundiata Keita to Almamy Samori Toure Ann Arbor: University Microfilms International, 2005 Sandars, N K., Ed The Epic ofGilgamesh New York: Penguin, 1977 Scheub, Harold The Xhosa Ntsomi Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1975 Scheub, Harold "Oral Narrative Process and The Use of Models." New Literary History n.d., p 353 Sisoko, Fa-Digi The Epic ofSon-Jara: A West African Tradition Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1992 293 Soyinka, Wole Myth, Literature and the African World London: Cambridge University Press~ 1976 Stevenso~ W Taylor "Myth and the Crisis of Historical Consciousness." The American Academy ofReligion Lee W Gibbs and W Taylor Stevenson, Eds Missoula, Montana: University ofMontana Press, 1975 Stoller, Paul Embodying Colonial Memories: Spirit Possession, Power, and the Hauka In West Africa New York: Routledge, 1995 Stone, Merlin When God Was a Woman New York: Harcourt, 1976 Suso, BambaandBannaKanute Sunjata: Gambian Versions ofthe Mande Epic Lucy Duran and Graham Furniss, Eds London: P~1999 Vansina, Jan Oral Tradition Trans H M Wright Chicago: Aldine, 1965 Index A Achebe, Chinua, 19 Aftican Americans, 29, 33 Atiican Epics, 6-7 Age-Grading System, 123, 139 Aidoo Ama Ata, 19 Akan,69, 79 Alexander the Great, 13, 78 America, 5, 9, 11, 13-15, 29, 33, 52,55 Anene, Joseph, 49 Angelou, Maya, 19 Aphorisms, 6, 20, 83, 87-88, 9397,99-101,114-18,120,122 Arabic, 11, 15, 37 Annab, Ayi Kwei, 19 Armstrong, Karen, 16, 19 Audience, 24, 38, 75, 77, 83, 85, 100, 104, 114, 117, 128, 139, 152 The Avesta, 11 82-83, 85-86, 88, 90-92,.95-96, 99-100, 103-04, 109, 112-13, 117, 120, 132, 138, 141, 14344, 146, 165, 172, 177, 188, 191, 194-95, 201, 214, 241, 253 Battuta, Ibn, 31 Beowulf, Epic of, 10, 78, 84, 130 Bhagavad Gita, 11 Bible, 11, 13 Bird, Charles, 19, 26, 38, 49, 59, 73, 75, 79-80, 82, 100, 109, 127, 138, 144 Bowra, C M., 4, 46, 70 Breath groups, 70, 88-89 Brown, Godfrey, 49 Buddha, 10, 23 c Camara, Seydou, 21-22, 27, 36, 38, 40-41, 43-44, 47, 52-53, 57-58, 68-70, 75, 78, 82, 87, 92-93, 96-97, 100, 103, 10708,111,114-15,117,122,124, 126-29, 138, 140, 142-43, 147, 152, 155, 160, 163,166, 177 B Baraka Amiri, 19 Bard, 19, 29,40-41,43-45,47,51, 53-54, 61-63, 68-70, 74, 79-80, 295 296 Campbell, Joseph, 3, 8-9, 57, 66 Charry, Eric, 19, 22, 71, 73, 105, 108 Chiasmus, 91,95 Chinweizu, Onwuchekwa, 6, 1920 ChriStian,8, 12-13,15,17-18,49 The Cid, 9, 23 Cope, Trever, 44, 64 Crowder, Michael, 49 D De Gaulle, Charles, 19, 24, 39, 53, 141, 149, 152 Diabate, Sidiki, 73 Diabate, Toumani, 73 Diawara, Mamadou, 29 Diop Cheikh Anta, 19 duBois, Page, 5, 51 Duran, Lucy, 19, 30-31, 34 E Eastman, Charles Alexander, 13 Emecheta, Buchi, 19 Empire, 22, 31, 37, 47, 49, 52, 71, 108, 129, 141 ofGabu, 71 of Ghana, 31, 37, 39, 69, 79 of Mali, 3, 19, 30-32, 34, 37, 39, 41, 58, 68,73-74, 129, 141 ofSegu Tukulor, 47 ofSonghay, 37 Epic(s), 3-7, 9-10, 18-23, 25-27, 34-36, 41-45, 47, 49-53, 57, 59, 61-63, 65, 69-71, 73, 77, 79, 81-84, 91, 93, 96, 99, 103, 105, 108, 111, 113, 116, 120, 122-25, 127,129-31,134, 138, 140-41, 143-47, 150-51, 155, 157-58, 163 Beowulf, 70, 78, 84, 130 Gilgameshi 10, 35-36, 59, 84, 130 Kambili, The Epic of, 3-4, 6, 9, 15-16, 18-21, 23, 25-27, 34, 36, 39, 41, 43-45, 4749, 52-53, 58-69, 73, 75, 77-79, 81-87, 89-90, 9294,96, 99- 101, 105, 10809, 111-13, 115-17, 12232, 134-39, 141-43, 145, 150-53, 155-61, 163, 16567, 170-71, 173, 176, 183, 185, 192, 197, 201-03, 206-07, 214-15, 221, 23334, 242-49, 251-54, 25860, 262-63, 266, 269-70, 272-73,277' 279-280,28283 AIWindo,l8,20,27,53,59,6162, 70, 78, 83, 130-31 Sara,35,216 Shalca, 18, 50-51 297 Silamaka, 129 Sundiata Son Jara Su'fliata, The Epic of, 22, 34, 119, 146 Epithets, 39, 49, 67, 70, 78, 84, 93, 96-97, 151 Essex, Barbara, 12 Europe, 3-6, 15, 49, 51-52, 69, 177 F Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), 148 Finnegan, Ruth, Fischer, Ernest, 23, 41, 53 Ford, Clyde, 7, 10-11, 19, 128, 139 Forde, Daryll, 41 Formulaic, 44, 54, 67, 78, 80-81, 84-85, 92, 97, 106-07, 113, 120, 142-44, 146, 149 G Gabu, Empire o~ 71 Gambia, 33, 41, 71, 116, 126, 139 Ghana, Empire of; 31, 37, 39, 69, 79 Gilgamesh The Epic of, 10, 3536, 59, 84, 130 Goddess, 13, 59, 130 Greece,10 Griot and Griottes, 7, 18-19, 23, 29-33, 36-38, 41, 54-55, 68, 70-71, 73, 75, 120, 124, 126, 142,146 H Hlgin, Peter, 21 Hale, Thomas, 19, 29, 31-33, 35, 50,55,71, 73,135,156 Haley, Alex, 19,33 Harris, Sam, 10, 17-18 Hawking, Stephen, 14-16 Hero(es), 3, 8, 10-11, 14-15, 2021, 23, 25-26, 35, 40, 43, 4647, 51-53, 57-67, 82, 86, 90, 92-93, 98-101, 105, 108, 11214, 123, 125-31, 134, 136-42, 145, 149, 151-56, 158-59, 166, 172, 174-75, 177, 197, 209, 218,257 Heroic Poetry, 4, 20, 24, 36, 44, 47, 70,78,149,152,154 Hitchens, Christopher, 15-16 Homer, 22, 42, 44, 54, 70 Hunters, 39, 65, 74, 86, 89, 98, 107, 109, 112, 124, 128, 133, 136, 138, 140, 142, 144-45, 148, 156-57, 160, 183, 185, 215, 236, 244, 247, 252, 25657, 260, 262, 267, 276, 282, 284 I The Iliad, 42, 78, 84 Innes, Gordon, 81, 116, 139, 145 298 Islam, 10-11, 22, 32, 49, 63, 8889, 99, 103, 105, 108, 113, 127, 134, 145, 160 Kouy• Mamadou, 7, 19 Krishna, 23 Kunene, Daniel, 19, 24-25, 39, 141, 149-50, 152, 154-155 J Kunene, Mazisi, SO, 52 Janke, Waali, 119-21 Jeli, 37 Jesus, 8-10, 16, 21, 131 Johnson, John, 19, 34, 58, 140 Jordan, A.C., 23, 25-26, 38 L Latin America, S, 15 Laye, Camara, 241 Lord, A B., 42,81 The Lotus Sutra, 11 K Kabeny, P.M., 41 Kagan, Donald, 51 Kambili, The Epic of, 3-4, 6, 9, 15-16, 18-21, 23, 25-27, 34, 36, 39, 41, 43-45, 47-49, 5253, 58-69, 73, 75, 77-79, 81-87, 89-90, 92-94, 96, 99101, lOS, 108-09,111-13,11517, 122-32, 134-39, 141-43, 145, 150-53, 155-61, 163, 165-67,170-71, 173,176, 183, 185,192,197,201-03,206-07, 214-15, 221, 233-34, 242-49, 25 1-54, 258-60, 262-63, 266, 269-70,272-73, 277,279-280, 282-83 Kendall, Martha, 59 King, Martin Luther Jr., Knight, Roderic, 71 Koran, 11, 15, 86, 94, 174, 197, 255 Kountche, Seyni, 30 M The Mahabharata, 11 Mahfouz, Naguib, 19 Mali, Empire of, 3, 19, 30-32, 34, 37, 39, 41, 58, 68, 73-74, 129, 141 Malinke, 3, 7, 35,37-38, so Mande, 4, 19, 22, 31-32, 34, 37, 41,46,59,71,73,93,104,227 Mandinka, 11, 19, 21, 23, 26-27, 31-32, 39-41, 43, 47, SO, 52-54, 58, 68, 70-71, 73, 79, 81, 85, 88, 103, 105, 108-09, 116, 119, 122-123, 125-27, 134, 137-39, 141-45, 149, 153 Mateene, Kabombo, 131 Miller, Christopher, 55 Mlodinow, Leonard, 15 Mode(s), 8, 19, 54, 77, 80-83, 8586, 90, 94-96, lOS, 116-18, 120, 122, 143-46 Mohammed, I 0, 23, 68 299 Monomyth Monteil, Vinvent, 41 Muslim, 12, 15,17, 18, 64, 75, 89, 105, 145 The Mwindo Epic, 18, 20, 27, 53, 59,61-62,70,78, 83, 130-31 Myth(s), 8, 10-11, 13-17, 23, 31, 41, 44, 45 N Narrative Mode, 81-82,86,94,96, 116-17, 120,144,146 Ndebele, Njabulo, 19 Newton, Huey P., 15 Niane, D.T., 19 Niger, 30, 32, 214 Nigeria, 69, 79 0· The Odyssey, 21, 42, 52, 54 Okpewho, Isidore, 4, 6, 19, 24, 26-27, 41-42, 44, 49, 62-63, 65, 68-69, 77-79, 82-84, 129 Oral Epic, 3-4, 6, 41-42, 44-45, 62, 70, 73, 77, 138, 151 Oral Literature, 4, 24, 26, 42, 84, 122 Oral Tradition, 5, 37, 51, 70-71, 85, 119 Orature, 23-24 The Ozidi Saga, 18 p Paradise, 13, 35 Pany, Milman, 42, 54, 77, 81, 84 Performer/Performance, 24, 30, 34, 38, 42, 45, 53, 58, 68-69, 75,77,80,83-85,94,124,127, 140, 143, 149-51, 155 Person, Yves, 48 Poet, 22, 25-27,29, 32, 36, 38-42, 45, 47, 53-54, 58, 62, 65, 67-69, 83-84, 92-93, 96, 99100, 107, 112-13, 116-18, 126, 128, 133, 136, 139-41, 143, 149-50, 152, 154, 156 Poetry, 4, 20-21, 24, 34, 36, 4142, 44, 47, 52, 54, 59, 62, 70, 78, 81, 91, 124, 129, 149-50, 152,154 Heroic, 4, 20, 24, 36, 44, 47, 70, 78, 149, 152, 154 Praise, 4, 19,31-32,34-35, 39-40, 51, 58, 63, 67, 78-79, 81-84, 88, 100, 103-04, 109, 113-18, 121-23, 132, 134, 137-39, 141-46,148-53,155,157,170, 188,248,273 Poetry, 4, 34, 78, 81, 149-50, 152 Proverb, 78, 81, 84, 145-46, 148 Mode, 81, 145 Singer, 31-32,39,81, 88, 14546, 149 Song,4, 31,34, 81-82,84,100, 103-04, 113-17, 143-44, 146, 157 300 Proverbs, 6, 19-20, 40, 59, 67' 78, 81-84,90,92,94,96,104,106, 116-18, 120-22, 124, 134, 143, 145-46, 148, 156 R Radin, Paul 23, 25 The Ramayana, 11 Repetition, 67-68,91-92, 96, 113, 149-51 Rites of Passage, 37, 125 s Salaam, Nubia Kai Al-Nura, 4, 6, 16-17, 19, 31, 35-36, 50-51, 105 Samori Toure, 3, 21-23,43,47-51, 53, 59, 65, 68, 79-81, 86, 95, 100-01, 103, 111, 113, 115, 130-31, 143, 159, 178, 182, 189-91, 237-38 Sara, The Epic of, 35,216 Scheub, Harold, 23-24, 67 Segu Tukulor Empire, 47 Senegal, 32, 41, 72 Senegambia, 32,71 Senghor, Leopold, 19 Shaka, The Epic of, 18,50-51 Silamaka, The Epic of, 129 Songhay Empire, 37 Song Mode, 81-82, 95-96, 116-17, 143 Soyinka, Wole, 19 Spiritual Hero, 10-11 Stevenson, W Taylor, 17 Stone, Merlin, 11-13 Sundiata Son Jara Sunjata, The Epic of, 22, 34, 119, 146 Supernatural, 3, 8, 14-15, 2526, 40, 57, 62-63, 65, 108, 125, 127, 129, 138, 141, 156 T The Tao Te Ch1ng, 11 Tasks, 111, 113 The Torah, 11 Toure Ni Manjun, 49, 170-71, 173, 192,225,231,237, 239, 241, 260,274-76 Traditional, 4, 8, 10, 16-17, 23-26, 38-39, 41-43, 48, 54-55, 62, 64, 69, 74, 81, 83, 85, 87, 89, 99,103-05,108,113,125,13435, 138, 141, 145, 149, 153, 160, 166, 170, 174, 176, 245, 262 The Tripitaka, 11 u Uganda,4 United States, 9, 33 Upanishads, 11 v Vansina, Jan The Vedas, 11 Virgin Birth, 8, 10-11, 16, 128 301 w West Afiica, 13, 18, 29, 32, 37, 48-49,69,80,82,89, 129,138, 154 Western Sudan, 64, 79, 85, 104, 153 y Yoruba, 69, 79 Yugoslav, 70 z Zulu, 11, 50-51 Fritz B Pointer Fritz H Pointer is Professor Emeritus in the Deparbnent of English and African American Studies at Contra Costa College in San Pablo, California He holds an M.A in African Languages and Literature from the UniveiSity of WisconsinMadison and an M.A in African Studies from the University of California-Los Angeles ... Puranas, The Torah (2000 BC) The Avesta (1000 BCE) The Mahabharata and Ramayana (500 BCE) Bhagavad Gita (400 BCE) Upanishads, The Tripitaka (560 BCE) The Lotus Sutra (500 BCE) The Bible, The Tao.. .AFRICAN ORAL EPIC POETRY Praising the Deeds of a Mythic Hero by Fritz H Pointer With a translation of The Epic ofKambili (as recited by Seydou Camara, the griot) Translated from Mande into... Fritz H African oral epic poetry : praising the deeds of a mythic hero I by Fritz H Pointer ; with a translation ofThe epic ofKambili (as recited by Seydou Camara) ; translated from Mande in