Griot

one of the biggest parts of human language and our language and communication skills would be much less advanced without our oral histories. Speaking the information of truth and declaration, passing it down from generation to generation. Like Griots teaching monarchies of Mali with their fabrications. A harp called the Kora a drum called the djimbe. Entertainers, town criers, storytellers, and musicians, they all came together as custodians of the relic. John Foley once said “All corners of

The glorification of violence is present in both epics and has value to their respective societies. “Using his lance first, the Cid got his hand on the sword, he killed so many Moors you could not have counted them, the blood was streaming from the arm above his elbow.” The violence of their battles showed the value in their society of how fighting for your Lordan honorable act was and that it is expected that violence will occur. “The bishop, don Jerónimo, the mitered man of merit, when he had

religion in Medieval West Africa In the beginning of the Epic, the griot lays out the story by setting up the unforeseen future. The griot states, “God has his mysteries which none can fathom. You, perhaps, will be a king. You can do nothing about it. You, on the other hand, will be unlucky, but you can do nothing about that either. Each man finds his way already marked out for him and he can change nothing of it." The griot, as a repository for history and hence a spokesman for the largeness

Senegal rappers adopted the United States method of hip hop and recreated it in order to fit their culture. Using our first samples and making it suitable to be mixed in utilizing their “local musical elements” (Appert 4) is what separates them from us. Descendants of previous griot’s Senegal rappers are the current “historians” and “social commentators” of the country (Appert 10) that use their music to tell their stories to the people of Senegal just as their predecessors did years ago except

these valuable lessons begin to impede on one's daily life; which was demonstrated in the film Keita: The Heritage of the Griot. The film was directed and written by Dani Kouyate, whose father, Sotigui, starred as the Griot in the film. Mabo, one of the main roles within the film, is the depiction of a child living a post-colonial lifestyle within Africa. If not for Djeliba (the Griot) for entering Mabo’s life, he would have never have known the importance of his name. The film is a description of Mabo’s

Found in West Africa, griots are musicians, praise-singers, storytellers and historians who are known for their spoken word. They specialize in using various musical instruments, such as the drum and kora. There is a sharp connection between the rap music today and the griot traditions in West Africa. Historically, the griot’s job was solely to assist the king in his daily activities and as well to use their art and music to tell the story about their history. They were feared and envied because

African cultures, one being the ancient Mali Empire. D.T. Niane’s version of the Old Mali epic discusses the importance of the griot, or oral historians, and places the emphasis and priority on the griot, rather than the kings. The griots were the libraries and when they died, much of the information they possessed would die as well, unless it was passed on to another griot. The symbolism in this proverb can then be taken quite literally

from textbooks and other books, as these are of easy access. Is this really the best way to learn about the past? The people of ancient Africa did not think so, as they had special people called "griots"who passed the people's traditions and history down orally from generation to generation. One such griot, Mamadou Kouyate, recalls the story of the most famous ruler in African history, Sundiata, in D.T. Niane's book Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali. This

sorcerer king. He then returns to Niani and founds the Mali Empire, splitting it up to show respect for all the rulers who promise to serve him. The griot ends the epic by praising Sundiata and his rule of the golden age of the Mali Empire. He tells the audience that Mali is eternal and that reminders of history are everywhere, but only the griot can know

Throughout history, storytellers have used fantastic fables to entertain his or her audience. Filled with larger than life characters and amazing tales of heroism, on the surface these fables simply seem like mass entertainment much in the same way comic book heroes entertain us today on the silver screen. However, most of the time these epic, fantastic tales have a much deeper purpose for both the storyteller and the audience. While the stories aim to entertain, more importantly, the epic tales