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West African manuscripts by Siré Abbàs Soh, as communicated by Yoro Dyao, detailed six migrations from Egypt to Senegambia. [18] West African manuscripts contain record of the "enthronement of Askiyà Dāwūd (d. 1583) in 958/1551–1552. The texts of Cahiers n°s 2 and 5 record the same events, often described verbatim, for the earlier period.
In the Gambia, like much of West Africa, the oral literary tradition has historically been the predominant type of cultural transmission. This is the domain of the griots , the traditional Senegambian storytellers that often accompany their stories with traditional music, performed using instruments like the kora .
Senegalese Wolof griot, 1890 A Hausa Griot performs at Diffa, Niger, playing a komsa ().. A griot (/ ˈ ɡ r iː oʊ /; French:; Manding: jali or jeli (in N'Ko: ߖߋ߬ߟߌ, [1] djeli or djéli in French spelling); also spelt Djali; Serer: kevel or kewel / okawul; Wolof: gewel) is a West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, and/or musician.
[3] [4] Oral traditions, in the form of Griot storytellers, constitute a historical element of the Senegalese canon and have persisted as cultural custodians throughout the nation's history. [5] A form of proto- Senegalese literature arose during the mid 19th century with the works of David Abbé Boilat , who produced written ethnographic ...
The Fon people, like neighboring ethnic groups in West Africa, remained an oral tradition society through the late medieval era, without ancient historical records. According to these oral histories and legends, the Fon people originated in present-day Tado, a small Aja town now situated near the Togo–Benin border.
Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. [1] [2] [3] The transmission is through speech or song and may include folktales, ballads, chants, prose or poetry.
African literature is literature from Africa, either oral ("orature") or written in African and Afro-Asiatic languages. Examples of pre-colonial African literature can be traced back to at least the fourth century AD. The best-known is the Kebra Negast, or "Book of Kings" from the 14th century AD. [1]
The akonting ([ə'kɔntiŋ], [1] or ekonting in French transliteration) is the folk lute of the Jola people, found in Senegal, Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau in West Africa.It is a string instrument with a skin-headed gourd body, two long melody strings, and one short drone string, akin to the short fifth "thumb string" on the five-string banjo.