The History of the N'Ko Alphabet and Its Role in Mande Transnational Identity: Words as Weapons

Description

Dianne White Oyler discusses the creation of the N'ko alphabet, based on the Maninka language, by Souleymane Kanté (1922-1987) in 1949 in Haute Guinée (Guinea). She carefully documents N'ko's dissemination by a grassroots literacy campaign that started with Kanté and continues to the present. Her analysis shows the importance of language in transnational identity and the cultural nationalism of Mande-speaking people in West Africa. Oyler also discusses Kanté's and Nko's relationship to Pan-Africanism. Acknowledgments xi Foreword xiii Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Issues surrounding decolonization 3 The sources 4 Oral history 7 Literacy as an extension of language 8 Literacy in the colonies 11 Social uses of literacy in Guinea’s First Republic 13 Social liberation through N’ko literacy 14 Literacy campaigns 15 Notes 17 Chapter 2: The Mande world 21 Mande languages and their locations 21 The Mande heroic and historic past 25 Mande culture 27 Mande identity 29 Historical construction of Mande identity 31 The pre-Colonial era 31 The Colonial era 36 The First Republic 41 The governments of Lansana Conté 46 Conclusion 47 Notes 48 Chapter 3: Historic Kankan — A regional history 59 The pre-Samori period, 1775–1870 59 The Samori period, 1870–1890 64 French colonial rule, 1890–1922 66 The sociopolitical context, 1922–1946 74 Conclusion 76 Notes 78 Chapter 4: A cultural revolution through N’ko literacy — The period of Mande enlightment 85 N’ko’s creation 87 Kanté’s motivations 89 Kanté’s translations and creative works 92 N’ko’s early dissemination 96 The reaction to N’ko 99 Formal dissemination 1959–1986 100 N’kos formal dissemination, 1986–to present 102 Notes 107 Chapter 5: Cultural nationalism in the Mande diaspora — N’ko’s international dimension 117 Dissemination of N’ko as a transnational process 117 N’ko during the Mande diaspora 118 N’ko in West Africa 125 Souleymane Kanté’s literacy campaign as a Pan African movement 127 Souleymane Kanté’s Pan Africanism as a cultural and political movement 127 Kanté as a Pan Africanist 135 Notes 137 Chapter 6: Conclusion 143 A personal choice 148 Notes 150 Appendixes 151 Appendix A. Mande languages 152 Appendix B. Informant relationships to Souleymane Kanté 153 Appendix C. Samples of documents written in N’ko 155 Appendix D. Oral tradition of Souleymane Kanté, English translation 173 Appendix E. N’ko literacy survey of Kankan, 1994 178 Appendix F. N’ko literacy survey of Kankan, 2000 179 Appendix G. Books published in N’ko 183 Bibliography 199 Index 215