Sundiata: Two Versions of an Oral Tale

The two different styles presented in this same tale is really quite interesting and entertaining. I find deeper appreciation, now, for those articles I have read up to this point in our class. While nice in theory, we never really saw them in practice. Yet the African tale of Sundiata, with its both oral and literate tellings, adds more meaning to the ideas of people like Ong, who have disected these dicotomized cultures. In particular, Ong's chapter "Some psychodanimcs of orality," provides great insight into understanding the construction, formulas, and tactics of both the oral and literate versions of this tale. For instance, the first version offered (to be used within a literate culture) is prosaic, and though it tells a story, it is done in a linear fashion with paragraphs, punctuation, and it often employs past and perfect tenses to establish a time line. On the other hand, the second version (to be used within an oral culture) is in rhythmic verse and is often repetitive through its employment of a chorus-like stanza which is sung twice, as well as redundant chantings throughout, wherein the characters repeat their cries, or make them sound similar. For example, in the thirteenth stanza, the narrator describes, "And upwards drew himself, / And upwards drew himself." Again, though not verbatim, the frequent use of the same word contributes toward the repetitive nature in stanza 13 as well, as in, "And clasped his legs / And squeezed them, / And squeezed them." Clearly then, in following with Ong's patterns, the oral version is redundant, traditionalist, lifelike, and situational, while the literate version was a bit more analytic and linear.