The epic of Sumanguru Kante - Stephen P.D. Bulman & Valentin F. Vydrine

<i>The epic of Sumanguru Kante</i> contains the Bamana text and English translation of griot Abdoulaye Sako’s oral narrative of the life of Sumanguru, recorded in 1997 in Koulikoro (Mali), together with explanatory notes, a scholarly introduction, and sections on the Bamana language and musical accompaniment. Sumanguru is a familiar figure within Manding epic oral traditions about ancient Mali. But while these narratives generally focus on Sunjata Keita, Sako’s oral poem is rare in according Sumanguru the central role. In so doing he includes hitherto undocumented episodes relating to Sumanguru’s life and role as the ruler of Soso, the little known state said to have flourished in the western Sudan between the fall of ancient Ghana and rise of ancient Mali.

《苏曼古鲁·坎特史诗》收录了格里奥（griot）阿卜杜拉耶·萨科于1997年在马里库利科罗录制的苏曼古鲁生平口述叙事的巴曼语（Bamana）原文与英文译稿，同时附带解说注释、学术性导论，以及关于巴曼语与音乐伴奏的相关章节。

苏曼古鲁是马里古代曼丁史诗口述传统中广为人知的人物。不过这类叙事作品通常以松迪亚塔·凯塔（Sunjata Keita）为核心叙事对象，而萨科的口述史诗则极为罕见地将苏曼古鲁置于中心地位。他借此收录了此前从未被记载的相关轶事，涉及苏曼古鲁的生平，以及他作为索索（Soso）王国统治者的身份——这个鲜为人知的政权据称在古加纳王国覆灭与古马里王国崛起之间，兴盛于西部苏丹地区。