Paper instructions:
The Epic of Son Jara celebrates the life and exploits of the founder of the Mali empire through a highly stylized, orally recited narrative.
Essay Question: What distinctive aspects of a premodern society-political, economic, social, cultural, religious, and so on-does the epic convey?
In your response you should refer to specific information from the text and textbook, e.g. actors, events, trends, dates; and examples to substantiate your claims.
Epic of Son Jara
The Epic of Son Jara highlights the achievements of the Old Malian king. The epic is still recited all over West Africa. Aside from being a heroic lore, the Epic of Son Jara describes the premodern demographics of the Old Malian Kingdom. The epic documents how the king overcame his tribulations, including an early age disability to capture the kingdom’s leadership. The Epic of Son Jara presents a highly advanced premodern society with distinctive social, religious, and economic organization.
The epic conveys the existence of two religious ideologies which were simultaneously adhered to by the Malians. The Mali people believed in Islam and in magic as a component of the traditional African beliefs. In his rise to the apex of the empire, Son Jara embraces the religious dualism. The bush woman says, “Soothsayers see far ahead, their words are not always for the immediate present; man is in a hurry but time is tardy and everything has its season.” Further, there is the mention of jinns and gods all over the book. Son Jara’s mother also takes him for the annual hajj pilgrimage, which is a key requirement in Islam and one of the five pillars of the religion (Sisoko, 1992). The book’s major theme is the predestination of Son Jara to be a great leader, and this is facilitated by the spirits and Islam.
The politics in the epic of Son Jara is grounded in the loyalty of the people to their leaders. The ability to rule the Malian empire is pegged on the prospective leader’s ability to unite the different tribes and clans. Son Jara cultivates friendships, especially with the princes who later on ascend to the leadership of their domains (Sisoko, 1992). Moreover, his personal attributes like his charm endear him to the rulers who help him in his duel with the sorcerer king.
The culture of the Malian people in the epic of Son Jara is exhibited in their use of music. The oral tradition is able to persevere over the years because of the superiority of using the voice over writings in passing over oral tradition. In the era, music and everyday life share an intimate relationship. For instance, the ode to Soumaoro by Balla Fasseke is credited with saving his life (Sisoko, 1992). Still, the pervasiveness of this epic allover West Africa is due to its preservation by griots who then pass it on to successive generations.
The socio-cultural aspects of the epic are presented in the way in which the community defines its heroes and the figures in the society. One of these is the strength of the characters. When the young Son Jara is cursed and is unable to walk, his crawling is a source of ridicule, especially by the other women because he is unable to fetch baobab leaves for his mother to use as seasoning. Son Jara is also deemed to be a great king because of attributes such as patience, strength, and humility which were culturally admirable characteristics. Additionally, the Malians believe in loyalty and servitude, the griot states that his people have always served the Keita princes (Sisoko, 1992). Additionally, the grouts represent the important attribute of honesty, Kuyate states that, “royal griots do not know what lying is.” The statement justifies the importance placed on grouts by both the people and their kings, hence their reverence.
The Malian empire was one of the greatest African civilizations of the middle ages. The epic portrays the Malian people as a society of high civilizations. For instance, “King Maghan was the son of a long lineage of distinguished hunters, known for their bravery, skill and their ability to communicate with jinns, spirits that hold influence over human lives,” (Sisoko, 1992). The existence of an entire tribe of hunters, traders, medicine men, and spiritualists shows the economic specialization of the Mali people with the men of the different cadres of the society fulfilling their roles in the community through various roles. Moreover, the existence of the bards in the society is a pointer to the specialization because they were regarded as the laborers. The bards underwent different training to prepare them for their roles, occupations, and facilitate the diverse economic orientation of the society.
The epic of Son Jara is a window to the culture, religion, and economy of ancient African civilizations. The epic has been passed down from generation to generation through a resilient system of oral narratives that is perpetrated by grouts and oral presenters. The documentation of the struggles that Son Jara underwent to fulfill his predetermined destiny serves to show the way of life of the Malians. The text is riddled with music and spirituality to portray the culture. Additionally, it also gives a sneak peek into the religion, whereby readers can see how the traditional African religions and Islam went side by side in a delicate balance. The epic has lasted over the years because of its accurate depiction of the society then.