The Epic of Askia Mohammed by Nouhou Malio

In my reading round the world challenge I have reached Niger. This is not exactly a bastion of modern literature, and so I have ended up looking back to a book which was published in 1996, but has much older roots.

The Epic of Askia Mohammed is an oral tale, and has been related widely throughout Niger and Mali for decades, if not centuries. It harks back to the Songhai empire of the 15th and 16th centuries, and particularly to rule of Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr al-Turi.

Nouhou Malio was a jeseré (a traditional story teller) from the appropriately named village of Saga, in Niger. Over two evenings in December 1980 and January 1981 he recounted The Epic of Askia Mohammed to Thomas A. Hale in the Songhay language, with portions in the more archaic Soninké - a language seemingly utilized for poetic effect. 

Translation of the Epic proved difficult and took Hale and his team until 1994 to complete, with many lines still just given as [undecipherable] - though this may be down to the quality of the recording as much as the language - and one has to wonder whether the accompaniment of a three-stringed lute-like instrument helped matters.

Little is known of Nouhou Malio, but
he died shortly being recording, and 
before he could elaborate on certain
aspects of the Epic. 

Critiquing the Epic is a difficult task, as it is appears here in a form different to that intended. The story would traditionally be performed as part of celebration, not presented in a dry written form and in isolation. Oral storytelling is essential in illiterate societies as a means of fostering identity and giving context to their culture as it stands now. I can not imagine that listeners were expected to take in every detail, nor to memorize the long lineages that form constant digressions to the tale, I suspect listeners would latch onto certain, catchier passages, while other sections would pass by without much notice. Much as we may sing along to the chorus of Castle on the Hill, but never really properly absorb the fact that one of Ed Sheeran's friends "works down by the coast".

And so to judge The Epic of Mohammed Askia as a novel would be unfair, it is never going to entertain a modern audience in the way that modern written prose does. Also it is, frankly, confusing as all hell in parts. There are sudden jumps between characters, and it employs narrative devices peculiar to jeserés (also known as griots) of that region. The history is truncated, with events that actually took part a century of more apart being conflated. I'm sure this was partially accidental, but also I doubt empirical exactness was that much of a concern. The Epic is about giving a national identity, looking back to a time when the peoples of that area where a part of one of the largest African empires ever to have existed, in much the same way Mel Gibson's Braveheart is daubed in the warpaint of a thousand years earlier, and takes massive liberties with timelines.

The symbolism of Niger's flag is a bit vague, but
it seems likely the orange represents the sahara to
the north-east and the green to the fertile land of
the south-west. The central disc seems to have
been added to make the flag distinct from those
with similar colours (Ireland, Ivory Coast, India)
but to my eye gives it an unfinished feel.

But the Epic is interesting if we take it as an accurate look at oral story telling, especially when it allows us to see how these traditions have influenced modern works, such as Mema, from Gabon (review can be found here). The repetition and frequent asides have a distinct quality, as does the sense that this work should be viewed as part of something larger, not as an isolated work, abstracted from outside influence. 

So let's give it an arbitrary ★★★☆☆