In The Epic in Africa, I describe this area of study as follows: “An oral epic is fundamentally a tale about the fantastic deeds of a person or persons endowed with something more than human might and operating in something larger than the normal human context and it is of significance in portraying some stage in the cultural or political development of a people. It is usually narrated or performed to the background of music by an unlettered singer working alone or with some assistance from a group of accompanists.” Until recently my scholarly effort, influenced largely by scholars (European and American) who have pioneered this field of study, has tended to focus more on the technical aspects of the tale—structure, artistry, performance—than on its “significance” for the society from which it comes. I think I know better now. I see my current emphasis on “cultural and political development” as a saving instinct, one urgently connected to the preoccupations of a scholar born and raised in a developing nation.

Let's face it: an epic is in essence a story about fighting and war as the theater in which the heroic ideal is tested or realized. Fighting and war happen in societies where there is conflict between rivals for power either within or outside a social or political unit.