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I am the man for the morrow [sinimogo]
I am the man of the day to follow [sini-kini-mogo].
- Epic of Son-Jara (Johnson 52)
The Russian critic M. M. Bakhtin famously declared that the epic presents an "absolute past," that "an absolute epic distance separates the epic world from contemporary reality" (15). It is a time of the greatest achievements and the greatest heroes, a world of "firsts" and "bests"(14), a time that no longer exists, that does not "serve the future" (19). For this reason, the epic is no longer a living genre, having given way to the genre of the novel. Such an assessment may certainly be applied to many western epics such as the Iliad of Homer, the Nibelungenlied, or the Old English Beowulf each the product of oral composition and performance. What comes down to us in written form represents specific performances that have been committed to writing, preventing further additions or adjustments, beyond the editorial problem of textual variants. It is exactly this freezing of the performance that closes the traditional epic to subsequent innovation, rendering it an artifact of an "absolute past." The Sundiata, the West African epic of Mali, challenges Bakhtin's assertions about the epic and western assumptions about the genre. Rather than representing an absolute past, the Sundiata represents the living expression of a living culture, a work that remains in service of the future. Part of this may be attributed to the fact that it is still performed, but part of it relates to the fact that contrary to the western conception of epic, the West African tradition orients the past toward the future. This epic service to the future is especially evident in Dani Kouyaté 's 1 994 film adaptation, Keital The Heritage of the Griot [Keita! L'héritage du griot]. The Burkinabean actor, musician, and director, a graduate of L'Institut Africain d'Études Cinématographeques de Ougadougou, offers a vivid illustration of how modem African filmmakers attempt to adapt West African traditions for the modern world. First, we must consider the Sundiata itself and the mechanisms by which it adapts to changes within West African culture; and second, how Kouyaté has adapted the traditional epic to film while remaining true to its essential character.
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