Africanidade, espaço e tradição: a topologia do imaginário espacial tradicional africano na fala "griot" dobre Sundjata Keita do Mali

Abstract

The basic intention of this paper is to reveal some elements of an “African” perception of the space. With a topologic focus, the text stress particularly the importance of the imaginary references built to represent the space, once these symbolic representations of form and space form make part of the conscience of the social reality. The question of time also will be considered in an essential relationship to specify the space. The source of this analysis will be the traditional oral stories from West Africa, transmitted by “griots”, relating the events concerning the foundation of the Empire of Mali and its founder, Sundjata Keita. This or This oral source offers a rich material to the construction of an “African imagining cartography”, a conception of space from the “African point of view”, as well as a source to the social, political and religious life of West