新奇、瑰丽、多彩的乐章－非洲史诗传统
摘要
African epics are the quintessence of African cultures. Owing to the variety of languages and the remoteness and separation of zones, African epics are little known to the outside world. African epics can be largely divided into seven kinds: Epics of Central Africa, Hunters' Traditions and Epics, Traditions of the Soninke, Sunjata and the Traditions of the Manden, Segou and the Bamana, Traditions of the Fula, and Emergent Traditions. The cultural elements reflected in the epics, such as society, history, religion, ideology, and art of African peoples, are the valuable materials for us to understand the origin and the development of these peoples and the window of the past and present Africa. They also offer wide background knowledge for the research of black literature in America, Britain, and the Caribbean area.