AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY

ZARIA,
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES
FACULTY OF ARTS

COURSE TITLE
ORATURE AND MULTIMEDIA

COURSE CODE
LITT 313

TOPIC
THE IMPACT OF MULTIMEDIA IN ORATURE: A STUDY OF THE
LEGENDARY SUDIATA KEITA

GROUP MEMBERS
ABDULLAHI SHAFA’ATU OTAKI U17EL1004
YAKUBU ZAINAB ASABE U17EL1039
YUSUF PRINCESS HABIBAT U18
SOLOMON TENGU MICAH. U18EN1062
INTRODUCTION
The term orature is a genre of literature that is spoken or sung as
opposed to that which is written, though much oral literature has been
transcribed. It includes the stories, legends, and history passed through
generations in a spoken form. However, multimedia is a form of
communication that uses a combination of different content forms such
as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive
presentation, in contrast to traditional mass media, such as printed
material or audio recordings which features little to no interaction
between users. The term orature is defined as a verbal act, a collective
heritage of any living community which could be practices,
performances, and culture.
Oral tradition is the information passed down through the generations
by word of the mouth that is not written down. This includes historical
and cultural traditions, literature, and law. Some oral tradition examples
are myths, legends, proverbs, storytelling, folktales, and customs, with
the characteristics such as verbal variability, performance, audiences,
and dynamism. Thus, the advent of technology (multimedia) via
colonization has brought about change and now we see some of these
old tales and stories, and myths being acted on stage as movies and
also read as text. Talking about myths and legends even tales, the
legend of the "Lion King" would be used as a point of reference to show
how legends has been transmitted orally and then affected by
modernity ( multimedia).
It should however be noted that these alterations could be positive and
negative. Since the Advent of multimedia into the world orature has
been redesigned in the sense that every myth, legend stories has been
re enacted into films and cartoons to suit the audience's tastes. On the
other hand, this paper will explore on the legendary story of ' Sundiata
Keita'( king of Mali ) and focus on how this legendary story has been
affected by orature by visualizing it in a Disney cartoon known as The '
Lion King' ( 1994 ).

THE ORAL STORY

The story of ' Sundiata Keita'was traditionally known as the founder and
King of the Mali Empire in West Africa in the 13th century. His
legendary story was told as a form of orature( passed from mouth to
mouth) by a Madinka Griot's who told the story of king Nare Maghann
Konatè, the real_life Mufasa. It was prophesised if the king took an ugly
wife she would give birth to a son who would become a mighty and
magnificent king. Accordingly, Konatè married Sogolon Kèdjou( as
prophesised) the 'buffalo woman' as his second wife and she
miraculously gave birth to a son for the king, who was named " Sundiata
Keita" but he was crippled.
Though, the king favored him, both Sogolon and Sundiata were mocked
for his disability. One day Sundiata had enough, he was determined to
walk and miraculously he did. Sundiata became strong and was
recognized as a leader among his people, which led to resentment from
his paternal half brother Dankaran Tourman and his mother Sassouma
Bereté. Tourman wanted the throne for himself. When the king died
many suspected play, fearful of an attack on their lives, Sogolon took
Sundiata and the rest of her children and fled into exile, leaving a
kingdom in disarray. The Madinka people were ruled by the cruel and
oppressive king known as "Soumaoro Kante of the Sosso". In need of
their true leader, the people sent word for Sundiata to return to his
rightful place as their king. While in exile, Sundiata built alliances with
the King of Meme and other local rulers. He gathered an army to
liberate the people and over throw the tyrant king. Upon his return he
adopted a new title for himself, "Mansa", which means king or Emperor
in Madinka.

THE VISUAL STORY

However the story may be, with the advent of multimedia this real-life
narrative was changed and visualized as a form of Disney cartoon titled
"The Lion King" ( 1994 ), in which its main character was a little Lion cub
named "Simba". He also like Sundiata, was destined to be king of the
Pride lands however his uncle Scar, killed his father Mufasa, and
decieved Simba to accept that he was the one that killed his father. He
also convinced him (Simba) to leave the Pride Landskingdom not
knowing that Scar had eyes for the throne. While in exile Simba' made
friends with Timon and Pumbaa who thought him a lot of things
including the philosophy "Hakuna Matata"( which means no worries in
Swahili). Eventually Simba learns the truth about Scar his uncle, and
returned back to his kingdom to save his people from the hands of his
cruel and tyrant uncle and with this bold step Simba took he became
the king of pride lands afterwards.

PRODUCTION
There are several books based on "The Lion King," including
novelizations of the original film and adaptations of the stage musical.
There are also numerous children's books and activity books featuring
characters from the franchise. Additionally, there are non-fiction books
about the making of the film and the stage production, as well as books
that explore the themes and cultural influences present in "The Lion
King."
"The Lion King" was written by a team of writers, including Irene
Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton, with additional
writing by directors Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff. The screenplay for
the film was written by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda
Woolverton. However, there is no one author of "The Lion King," as it
was a collaborative effort among many talented individuals.

The film was released in 1994 and was a critical and commercial
success, grossing over $1 billion at the box office and winning numerous
awards.
- The stage musical adaptation of "The Lion King" debuted on Broadway
in 1997 and has since become a worldwide phenomenon, with
productions staged in dozens of countries and translated into multiple
languages.

SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES

orature has been reproduced in different ways and it has been
re_crafted by men who in turn are seeking profits and gain. Also, the
similarities between the legendary story of Sundiata Keita and the "Lion
King" is rare but they differ a lot when close observation is been paid to
the analysis on how multimedia has affected this story.
SIMILARITIES

- The both left their kingdoms and are both princes.

- They both came back to their kingdoms to liberate their people
from its dictator.
- They were both loved by their parents.
DIFFERENCES
 - The original story is that of human character which is, sundiate
keita. While, the cinematic portrayal is that of animal character,e.g,
Simba was a lion cub
- Sundiate keita was crippled but Simba was never crippled in the
re-created story.
- The location of the cartoon was set in an African desert, also the
use of traditional African songs and the presence of sounds and
effects to give more emphasis to the to the play. While, Sundiate
keita story was set in the Mali Empire in West Africa  although
there was the absence of songs in the true life story of Sundiate
keita.

Similarly, Simba the main character in The Lion King can never be the
real Sundiata Keita no matter how hard he tries to portray the Mali king
and the cartoon lacks its presence in time and space, its unique
existence where it happens to be. Likewise, this work of art have
suffered a lot of changes in physical condition which might have led to
the lack of authenticity of the performed one. There is also the use of
songs in the cartoon were Simba sang "he just can't wait to be king"
and also the use of sound and effects.

The then legendary story of Sundiata was strictly told to people for
moral lessons ( it was didactic in nature ) but now that this orature has
been told from the perspective of visual viewing it is now mostly
watched by kids who merely view it for fun sake. This shows that the
action of multimedia has affected the seriousness and the didactic
intentions that was originally meant for this real life story. Therefore,
people only watch this Disney cartoon for just emotional enjoyment. In
the book illumination Walter Benjamin says, "mechanical reproduction
of art changes the reaction of the masses toward art". ( Pg. 234 )

THE ISSUE OF RACIST PROFILING

Certainly, "The Lion King" is a beloved musical that has been
entertaining audiences around the world since its debut in 1997. The
idea for "The Lion King" began in the 1980s when Disney executives
Jeffrey Katzenberg and Roy E. Disney approached composer Elton John
and lyricist Tim Rice to create music for a new animated film. The team
said they eventually settled on a story inspired by William
Shakespeare's "Hamlet," but “The Lion King” is set in an African
savannah and have African characters including the names chosen for
the characters. For instance, Simba, Mufasa, Pumbaa etc. Above all, the
movie portrays tropical environments which cannot be found in
Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.
Furthermore, “Hamlet” is a tragic play that has a tragic ending of almost
all the characters dying including the main character Hamlet. But in the
true story of Sundiata, the central character did not die neither did the
movie character of Simba in “The Lion King”. Both Sundiata and Simba’s
story have African settings, the hills, the mountains, the forest, and also
African songs, “Hakuna Matata”. But “Hamlet” does not portray any,
therefore, leaving the literary critique with the conclusion that this is
merely race profiling. Take for instance, the names of all the producers
of “The Lion King”, there is no single African among them, therefore
they have taken it upon themselves to steal the originality of the real
story and give credit to William Shakespeare, considering that he us
also White and of the same race as them. To the White colonizers,
Africans are only but a tool for their commercial gain including the
African cultures and heritage.
To summarize, orature has deeply been affected by multimedia in so
many ways from folktales, myths, legends stories and so on that they no
longer exist in the our community today. Here, the Disney cartoon" The
Lion King" was inspired by Sundiata Keita's legendary story however,
even with the inspiration we could see how racism has come to play in
form of multimedia in this legendary story in a more affecting way.
Reference

1. Kipchumba, Paul (2016), Oral

literature of the Marakwet of Kenya, Nairobi: Kipchumba Foundation.
2. Mathew Zuras (June 3, 2010) Tech Art History, part, Switched.
3. Kellie, Carter. J.(2019). The true story behind ‘The Lion King’.
Jon, Favreau. et al. (2019). The Lion King: The movie