The Epic Of El Hadj Umar
Vibrant African Oral Narratives from Gambia
Published on 2. October 2024
Book
Paperback/Softback
264 pages
978-2-336-45847-2 (ISBN)
Description
The story of Omar Tall, a hero also known under the appellation of El Hadj Omar (or Umar), is well known. The same goes for the epic story that bears the same name. The action takes place in the Senegambia region which abounds with oral traditions. Omar left his native village of Halwaar in the northern region of Fuuta. He then travelled across the length and width of West Africa, making it all the way to Mecca; during his trip, he visited Nigeria and Egypt. Several languages are used in these epic texts : Mandinka, Wolof, Pulaar, and Arabic. In the Sahel region, Omar converted the local populations to Islam and, if needs be, by using the sword. However, in this great epic story, the action takes place mainly in Gambia; moreover, the Gambia episode is not well known, hence the additional interest of this book. In the final analysis, The epic of El Hadj Umar is a living tradition, still sung, chanted, recited, and in psalmody mode; the story is crossed from start to finish by: orality, mythology, hagiography, and history. Furthermore, the epic story reflects the current cultural reality of West Africa.
More details
Person
Samba Diop is a holder of a PhD degree in Comparative Literature from the University of California at Berkeley. He taught and did research at: UC Berkeley, UCLA/University of California at Los Angeles, SUNY/State University of New York at Buffalo, Harvard University, SOAS/School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London, University of Oslo. Diop also taught and did research in Brazil, The Gambia, Nigeria, Japan, India, etc. He is the author of numerous books and scholarly articles. He is a part-time researcher at the University of Oslo.