Literature

From Mancala World

Mancala games play a major role in some literature (including "orature"), a minor in many more works. The following lists are meant as an overview on this rather neglected field of mancala research. It includes oral and written, native and western literature, legends, proverbs, poems, children's books and novels, but no scientific publications of any kind.

Traditional Oral Literature

Title	Ethnic Group	Language	Country	Type	Role	Description
Bao naligwa	Swahili	Swahili	Kenya (Mombasa)	Poem	major	Composed by Muyaka bin Haji in the 1820s.
"Bao proverbs"	Swahili & Bajun	Swahili	Kenya, Tanzania	Proverb	major	Several Bao proverbs and sayings have been listed here.
Dồng dao	Vietnamese	Vietnamese	Vietnam	Song	major	Text and translation.
Fatma the Beautiful	Arab	Arabs	Sudan	Folktale	minor	About incest. Mancala contest at the end of the tale, the stake being the removal of the loser's outer garment.
"Giuthi proverbs"	Gĩkũyũ	Gĩkũyũ	Kenya	Proverb	major	One Giuthi proverb is listed here.
God Leaves the Animals to Fend for Themselves	Malagasy	Bara	Madagascar	Tantara ("true story")	major	God's gifts are put into the pits of the first mancala board dug into the earth.
Golden Oware Counters	Ashante	Ashante	Ghana	Historical legend	major	The story of Ntim Gyakari, King of Denkyira, who was killed from the Juaben king Yiadom Adarkwa while playing Oware with golden counters.
Gurihoeseb	Damara	Nama	Namibia	Creation myth	minor	About the first man; Hus game between humans and animals.
"Hus proverbs"	Damara, Namaqua	Nama	Namibia	Proverb	major	Several Hus proverbs and sayings have been listed here.
Ishvara Devere	Tuluva	Tulu	India	Story (Paddana)	major	Husband and wife playing Cenne.
Koti and Chenayya	Tuluva	Tulu	India	Legend	major	Gambling for cashewnuts.
"Layli Goobalay proverbs"	Somali	Somali	Somalia	Proverb	major	One Layli Goobalay proverb is listed here.
Mahabharata	Sanskrit	Indians	India	Epic poem	major	According to David Schulman, a well-known Indologist, the gambling game, which figures highly significantly, is not, as scholars had always assumed, dice, but mancala.
"Ô Quan proverb"	Vietnamese	Vietnamese	Vietnam	Proverb	major	Text and translation.
"Oware proverbs"	Ashante	Ashante	Ghana	Proverb	major	One Oware proverb is given here.
"Omweso proverbs"	Baganda	Luganda	Uganda	Proverb	major	Several Omweso proverbs and sayings have been listed here.
Pallanguzhi kriti	Tamils	Tamil	India	Devotional song	major	Male superiority (background).
Paramale Ballal	Tuluva	Tulu	India	Story (paddana)	major	Sung by two women, Payyu (the lead singer) and Kargi Mundaldaklu of Anjar village, Udupi Taluk.
Sankhambi and the Baboons	Venda	Venda	South Africa	Creation myth	major	Mefuvha game played between baboons and humans.
Sindillo	Maasai	Maa	Tanzania	Creation myth	minor	Invention of En Gehé.
"Songo fun stories"	Pangwe	Songo	Cameroon	Fun story	major	Numerous Songo Ewondo stories were recorded by the German ethnologue Tessmann.
Sundjata	Mandinka	Mandinka	Mali	Epic	minor	About the founder of the Mali kingdom, mentioning Wori.
"Sungka riddles"	Filipino	Bicol, Tagalog	Philippines	Riddle	major	Two Sungka riddle can be found here.
The Fast Runner Matambo and the Cripple Jishegena	Sukuma	Sukuma	Tanzania	Folk Tale	major	Related to Isolo (story).
The Game Board	Nebri	(?)	Ethiopia	Folk tale	major	About a Gebeta board (story).
The Story of Nalla and Damyanti	Sanskrit	Indians	India	Story	major	According to David Schulman, a well-known Indologist, the gambling game, which figures highly significantly, is not, as scholars had always assumed, dice, but mancala.
The Story of Maiyage and Maipage	Tuluva	Tulu	India	Story (Paddana)	major	Two sisters are playing Sita ata while their parents are searching for husbands for them.
The Story of Siva	Tuluva	Tulu	India	Legend	major	About the founder of the Siri cult.
The Story of Sonne and Ginde	Tuluva	Tulu	India	Story (Paddana)	major	Women playing Cenne while their grandfather is preparing them for marriage.
The Story of the Washman's Donkey	Swahili	Swahili	Zanzibar	Folk Tale	minor	Mentions Bao. Found by Edward Steere.
"Warri proverbs"	Antiguan	English	Antigua & Barbuda	Proverb	major	One Warri proverb can be found here.

Traditional Written Literature

Title	Author	Country	Place	Year	Language	Type	Role	Description
Hezār wa-Yek Shab (Kitāb Alf Layla wa-Layla)	Abu abd-Allah Muhammed el-Gahshigar (Arabic compiler and translator)	Persia	Baghdad	8th-9th century AD	Persian (translated into Arabic)	Epic	minimal	Based on orature; called Arabian Nights in Europe; mentions mancala in a game list
Kitāb al-Aghani	Ali Abul al-Faraj al-Isfahani	Persia	Baghdad	10th century	Arabic	Collection of Songs and Poems	minimal	24 volumes; brief mention of mancala

Modern Children's Literature

Title	Author	Publisher	Place	Year	Language	Type	Role	Description
Alarmstufe Regen	Daniela Dicker	Bischöfliche Hilfswerk Misereor e. V.	Aachen (Germany)	2009	German	Comic	major	Two boys from the town of Dori in Burkina Faso, Abdul and Ali, play Oware, while they are herding goats.
A Mancala Morning	(?)	School Specialty Publishing	Grand Rapids MI (USA)	1997	English	Short Story	major	Malaika, the high school exchange student from Africa, teaches an interesting game. (Reading for Grade 4)
The Golden Oware Counters	J. O. de Graft Hanson	Ghana Publishing Corporation	Tema (Ghana)	1991	English	Novel	major	About the Asante-Denkyira Wars with imaginary characters.
Trouble	Jane Kurtz	Gulliver Books	Orlando FL (USA)	1997	English	Picture book	major	About a boy in Ethiopia who is distracted from goat herding by a mancala game made by his father.
The Chief in Chinatown	Elaine Masters	Island Heritage Publishing	Waipahi HI (USA)	1998	English	Novel	minor	Kalah instructions at the end of the book.
The Gospel According to Larry	Janet Tashjian	Henry Holt and Company	New York NY (USA)	2001	English	Novel	minimal	On materialism. Short note on "Peter's mancala game".
When the Elephants Dance	Tess Uriza Holte	Crown Publishers	New York NY (USA)	2002	English	Novel	minimal	Short note on Sungka.
It's back to school we go	Ellen Jackson	Millbrook Press	Minneapolis MN (USA)	2003	English	Picture book	minor	Short note on mancala in Kenya.
Sungka and Smiling Irish Eyes	Natalie Gonzales-Sullaway	Imprint Books	? (USA)	2003	English	Novel	major	On cultural identity.
Addy's Little Brother	Connie Porter	Pleasant Company Publications & American Girl, LLC	Middleton WI (USA)	2006	English	Short Story	minor	Life of a liberated slave girl shortly after the American Civil War.

Modern Adult Literature

Title	Author	Publisher	Place	Year	Language	Type	Role	Description
A Game of Bawo	Felix Mnthali	(?)	(Malawi)	(?)	English	Poem	Major	The Poem
Randonnées de Daba de Ouadda à Bangui	Pierre Makombo Bamboté	(?)	Dakar (Senegal) & Paris (France)	1966	French	Novel	Minor	Quote
Chơi Ô ăn quan	Lữ Huy Nguyên	(?)	(?)	(?)	Vietnamese	Poem	major	Text
Hun Sen Leng Bay Khom	Yim Guechsè	(?)	(?)	2008	Khmer	Poem	major	Text
Sweet Ruin	Cathi Hanauer	Atria Books	New York NY (USA)	2006	English	Novel	minimal	About a couple recovering from the loss of an infant son.
Thời gian trắng	Xuân Quỳnh	(?)	(?)	(?)	Vietnamese	Poem	major	Text.

Other Modern Literature

Title	Author	Year	Language	Type	Role	Description
Mot Songo	Martin "Martino" Atangana	2005	Ewondo	Song	major	"The Songo Man" in an album containing Afro-Pop and Jazz.
Sungka	Alison M. De La Cruz (feminist poet and communication scientist)	1999	English	Performance	major	Analysis of societal and family-related expectations of gender-specific behavior and sexuality.

[edit] References

Anonymous.

A Mancala Morning. In: Spectrum Reading, Grade 4 (Spectrum Reading Series). School Specialty Publishing, Grand Rapids MI (USA) 2007, 12-13.

Appadurai, A., Korom, F. J. & Mills, M. A.

Gender, Genre, and Power in South Asian Expressive Traditions (South Asian Regional Studies and Publications of the American Folklore Society). University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia PA (USA) 1991, 168-171.

Bamboté, P. M. 

Randonnées de Daba de Ouadda à Bangui. Dakar (Senegal), Paris (France) 1966, 44.

Claus, P. J. 

Mancala (Cenne) in Tulu Myth and Cult. In: Claus, P. J., Pattanayak, D. P. & Handoo, J. Indian Folklore II. Central Institute of Indian Languages Press, Mysore (India) 1987.

Claus, P. J. 

Re: Cenne. E-mail to R. Gering, September 17, 2006.

Haring, L.

Indian Ocean Folktales: Madagascar, Comoros, Mauritius, Reunion, Seychelles. National Folklore Support Centre, Chennai (India) 2002.

Hurreiz, S. H.

Ja`aliyyin Folktales: An Interplay of African, Arabian, and Islamic Elements. University Press, Bloomington IN (USA) 1977, 83-85 & 137-139 & 161.

Jama Musse Jama 

Layli Goobalay: Variante Somala del Gioco Nazionale Africano. Redsea-Online Publishing Group, Pisa (Italy) 2002.

Klobah, M. 

Sowing the Seeds of Knowledge in Children's Literature: Sociocultural Values in J. O. de Graft Hanson's The Golden Oware Counters. In: Children's Literature Association Quarterly 2005; 30 (2): 152-163.

Mapanje, J.

Gathering Seaweed: African Prison Writing. Heinemann International, London (UK) 2002.

Schmidt, S. 

Einige Bemerkungen zum "Loch"-Spiel (Mankala) in Südwestafrika. In: Journal - SWA Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft / Scientific Society (Windhoek, Namibia) 1974/75; 29: 67-77.

Shackell, R. S. 

Mweso: The Board Game. In: Uganda Journal (Kampala, Uganda) 1934; 2 (July): 14-20.

Shackell, R. S. 

More about Mweso. In: Uganda Journal (Kampala, Uganda) 1935; 3 (July): 119-129.

Starr, F. 

A Little Book of Filipino Riddles. World Book Co. Yonkers, New York 1909, 145.

Stayt, H. A. 

The BaVenda. Oxford University Press, Oxford (England) 1931, 310+355-356+364-367.

Tessmann, G. 

Die Pangwe. Ernst Wasmuth A.-G., Berlin (Germany) 1912 (Volume 2): 310-315.

Townshend, P. 

Bao (Mankala): The Swahili Ethic in African Idiom. In: Paideuma 1982; 28: 175-191.

Voogt, A. J. de. 

Limits of the Mind: Towards a Characterisation of Bao Mastership. CNWS Publications: Leiden (Netherlands) 1995.

Voogt, A. J. de. 

Muyaka's Poetry in the History of Bao. In: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 2003; 66: 61-65.

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By: Ralf Gering
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