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The Mwindo Epic from the Banyanga
The feats of the hero Mwindo are here glorified in the bilingual text of an epic which was sung and narrated in a Bantu language and acted out by a member of the Nyanga tribe in the remote forest regions of eastern Zaire. Admirably structured, coherent, and richly poetic, the epic is in prose form, interspersed with song and proverbs in verse. An example of the classic tradition of oral folk literature, the tale has important implications for the comparative study of African culture, as the text provides profound insights into the social structure, value system, linguistics, and cosmology of this African people.
224 pages, Paperback
First published November 2, 1989
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* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author
Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.
See also: Anonymous
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 20, 2008
The book's introduction was quite interesting; it discussed the ethnography involved in collecting oral literature from the Banyanga people. The book is well footnoted with explanations of idiomatic phrases, tangential myths, etc but the narrative itself is repetitive to read. However the story is intended to be told as a part of an oral tradition with music and performance and is seldom told all in one sitting, it is unsurprising that something is lost not only in the translation of language but also in the translation of form.
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January 10, 2023This is a wonderful epic that gives great insight into the culture and traditions of the Nyanga people. We should all be grateful this book exists to give outsiders access to this tale.
This version of the epic (as far as I can tell, the only one available in the US) is definitely for a scholarly audience. Footnotes are extensive and the translation quite literal, which makes for awkward and at times confusing turns of phrase. Many Nyanga idioms go unexplained, with most of the footnotes dedicated to the intricacies of Nyanga linguistics rather than cultural context (though there is some of that too). I do hope that one day someone attempts a more literary version of the Mwindo epic aimed at a general audience. There is clearly a beautiful music to this tale, but it is a bit muffled in this version by the intensely academic translation.
This version of the epic (as far as I can tell, the only one available in the US) is definitely for a scholarly audience. Footnotes are extensive and the translation quite literal, which makes for awkward and at times confusing turns of phrase. Many Nyanga idioms go unexplained, with most of the footnotes dedicated to the intricacies of Nyanga linguistics rather than cultural context (though there is some of that too). I do hope that one day someone attempts a more literary version of the Mwindo epic aimed at a general audience. There is clearly a beautiful music to this tale, but it is a bit muffled in this version by the intensely academic translation.
May 20, 2010
One of the templates for the (Christian) Gospels, but way more interesting and readable.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews