Griots hold a significant place in epics. According to the T’heydinn epic, griots perform the epic and they are aided by traditional instruments like the lute and harp. The argument is that griots “preserve the collective memory of society through poems, passing down knowledge and skills from father to son, with young griots first learning the instrumental skills before being initiated to into the poetic tradition” UNESCO n. p.). Here the role that griots play in society is said to be indispensable. To say that they are responsible for the memory of the whole society amounts to some level of exaggeration.
The Epic of Sundiata told by griots talks about the heroic actions of Sundiata. He is argued to have used an iron road to pull himself upright and he became the biggest hunter and undisputed leader. The dramatic passage in the Sundiata epic comes when the queen mother becomes jealous of the Sundiata and sought his assassination. Sundiata escaped into exile where he became a famous warrior. An exaggeration comes when Sundiata meets Soumaoro at the battle of Kirina in 1240 and Sundiata used an arrow that had been tipped in a rooster’s blood. Saumaoro ran away because he was scared of roosters.
Janson argues that in the Sunjata epic, it was not only the male griots that told the story but also women. Women were not just vocals to the singing part of the epic (67). They participated in the telling of the story. The universal appeal of the epic is the triumph of good over evil. In most epics, the hero is threatened by jealousy or evil people but they manage to defeat this evil.
Worked Cited
Janson, Marloes. “The Narration of the Sunjata Epic as a gendered Activity” In Epic Adventures:
Heroic Narrative in the Oral Performance Traditions of Four Continents. LIT Verlag Munster, 2004.
“Moorish Epic T’heydinn” UNESCO. Web April 28 2016.
http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/en/USL/moorish-epic-theydinn-00524
Nott, Emily. The Roles of the Griot in Sundiata: The Power of the Living Word. Wordpress. Web
“Tales of the Griot - The Epic of Sundiata”. Kundaculture. Web 27 April 2016.
http://www.kundaculture.com/pages/content.asp?page=19
