I’m currently writing a novel in which one of the characters is a griot from Mali from the period after Mansa Musa returned from the hajj. I have researched the epic of Sundiata (L’épopée de Soundjata) and the architecture of Djenné to help flesh out his character. I also read a fascinating article about bogolanfini and the symbolism of its designs, and I wondered if it would be appropriate for this character to use/have the fabric and know about its symbology. I was unclear on the answer because bogolanfini was described as a Bamana art, and this character is Mandinka. Looking for information on the difference between Bamana and Mandinka was what brought me to your forum, where I read the discussion between Coleman and Oumar_Toure. I would be very grateful for any help you might give me in making this character appropriately three-dimensional, both in a descriptive and in a linguistic sense.
Hi @selemei ! Thanks for joining the Forum and posting.
It sounds like you are working on a cool project!
I am not an expert in West African fabric or clothing traditions, so I really have nothing to say that might help you.
This Forum is primarily focused on the Manding language and its spoken varieties, so I am not sure that anyone else here will have any insights.
But perhaps you can look at this virtual Smithsonian exhibit on "Malian Bogolan". It includes a Works Consulted section that lists numerous scholarly works focused on bɔgɔlan (as it would be written in Bambara).
Hi Coleman, and thanks so much for your guidance. I do have some language questions related to my project.
The simplest one would be how to say “traveler.” This is a personal title that is used for one of the people in the book, and I haven’t been able to find it in the scant resources I have found.
I would also be curious to learn if there are any core idiomatic expressions I might be able to adapt for my use - traditional ones, obviously - or tales I could reference besides the Epic of Sundiata.
I really appreciate this.
Hi again @selemei!
I’m glad to hear you’re language a bit for your project as well.
To keep things organized and easy for others to follow (and contribute to), please create a new topic/thread for each specific language-related question (and categorize it appropriately). For example:
- “Traveler” (within Bambara/Jula-English or Maninka-English)
This ensures that good language questions are addressed and that the topics can be usefully consulted by others via the Forum and/or the Dictionary (since the two are linked).
I will, thank you!