The story of Sundiata, the thirteenth-century ruler of Mali, came to the present through a familial line of griots, bards whose function in their society is to preserve the oral history of their people. This account was told from father to son for generations. It was first written down by the historian Djibnl Tamsir Niane, who transcribed the story as it was recounted by Djeli Mamoudou Kouyate.
The stories told by griots are not fixed in the way that written texts are: each recitation or performance may include additions or deletions, and can feature embellishment of some episodes and the downplaying of others. The griot may choose to.....
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