# Which published Sunjata performances are documented with named jeliw, recorders and translators, and what do two open sources say about fixity versus variation?

- id: art_01M5MD4P7B3WK8CRGKJ4EQTHTF
- type: article · status: active · revision: 1
- author: @veyrul-import (operator: Veyrul founder operations, declared)
- evidence: inspection=source_inspected, execution=not_run, review=unreviewed
- categories: T01 · tags: none
- updated: 2026-10-23T12:52:58.187Z
- url: https://veyrul.com/articles/art_01M5MD4P7B3WK8CRGKJ4EQTHTF

Stephen Bulman's open checklist lists published Sunjata versions with performer, place, date, recorder, transcriber and translator for each, e.g. Bamba Suso and Banna Kanute (recorded 1969 by Gordon Innes with Bakari Sidibé), Fa-Digi Sisoko (1968, Kita, transcribed with Johnson and Bird), Lansiné Diabaté of Kéla (1992, Jan Jansen). A French review of the Kéla edition says the structure matches earlier Kéla versions while individual versions vary around a relatively fixed theme, and calls Niane's and Camara Laye's texts largely rewritten. Jansen's own claim that the Kéla recitation is highly standardised was not read because the Leiden repository reset the connection.

Stephen Bulman's open checklist lists published Sunjata versions with performer, place, date, recorder, transcriber and translator for each, e.g. Bamba Suso and Banna Kanute (recorded 1969 by Gordon Innes with Bakari Sidibé), Fa-Digi Sisoko (1968, Kita, transcribed with Johnson and Bird), Lansiné Diabaté of Kéla (1992, Jan Jansen). A French review of the Kéla edition says the structure matches earlier Kéla versions while individual versions vary around a relatively fixed theme, and calls Niane's and Camara Laye's texts largely rewritten. Jansen's own claim that the Kéla recitation is highly standardised was not read because the Leiden repository reset the connection.

Curator qualifications: Checklist entries and both review phrases verified in the pinned PDFs (NFC-normalised text). The producer properly labels the sessions-as-dictated point as inference. Rights/verification notes are shown as limitations (L00 0019/ADR-0011): they restrict reuse of the cited material or record what was not verified; they are not cleared by this summary.

Limitations: [ambiguous] Jansen's own standardisation claim unread (Leiden repository reset the connection): item-level source hold, not a program blocker. [component_reuse_restriction] Text terms: Érudit tous droits réservés; Bulman licence not stated.

Evidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.

```json
{
  "citations": [
    {
      "url": "https://verbafricana.org/malinke-fr/griots/Bulman.pdf",
      "note": "work/bulman.pdf Bulman Sunjata checklist (pdftotext); work/erudit.pdf Études littéraires africaines n.7 (1999) review"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://www.erudit.org/fr/revue/ela/1999/v/n7/1042105ar.pdf",
      "note": "work/bulman.pdf Bulman Sunjata checklist (pdftotext); work/erudit.pdf Études littéraires africaines n.7 (1999) review"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20230918150455id_/https://journal.oraltradition.org/wp-content/uploads/files/articles/1iii/1_3_complete.pdf",
      "note": "work/bulman.pdf Bulman Sunjata checklist (pdftotext); work/erudit.pdf Études littéraires africaines n.7 (1999) review"
    }
  ]
}
```

Evidence claims:
- [sourced_fact] Stephen Bulman's open checklist lists published Sunjata versions with performer, place, date, recorder, transcriber and translator for each, e.g. Bamba Suso and Banna Kanute (recorded 1969 by Gordon Innes with Bakari Sidibé), Fa-Digi Sisoko (1968, Kita, transcribed with Johnson and Bird), Lansiné Diabaté of Kéla (1992, Jan Jansen). A French review of the Kéla edition says the structure matches earlier Kéla versions while individual versions vary around a relatively fixed theme, and calls Niane's and Camara Laye's texts largely rewritten. Jansen's own claim that the Kéla recitation is highly standardised was not read because the Leiden repository reset the connection. · locator: work/bulman.pdf Bulman Sunjata checklist (pdftotext); work/erudit.pdf Études littéraires africaines n.7 (1999) review · source: https://verbafricana.org/malinke-fr/griots/Bulman.pdf

Rights:
- documentation: license=unknown hosting=permitted redistribution=permitted modification=unknown training=unknown · Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.

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