Un cant èpic africà: Una crítica al poder absolut

Identifier:  PC:1291

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/PC1291

Authors:  Lluís Mallart Guimerà

Abstract:
An epic song of Africa: A critique of absolute power For millennia, sub-Saharan Africa has communicated via its oral traditions. In recent years, recording equipment has made it possible to preserve not just words but also the voices of those that produce them. It is for this reason that today we can enjoy the epic story that was sung over the course of an entire night by the singer Zwè Nguéma in 1960 in Anguia (Gabon) in the Fang language. The recoding was by Herbert Pepper (Orstom), transcribed and translated into French by the linguists Monsieur and Madame de Wolf and published by Classiques Africains (Arman Colin) in 1972. It is this “mvet” story that the author of the present book aims to summarise and comment on, whilst showing us how the singer uses fantastical language, akin even to that of science fiction, to criticise all forms of despotic governance.