Ibonia: Epic of Madagascar

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Malagasy


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Ibonia: Epic of Madagascar is a discovery: the first English translation of the major work of Malagasy oral literature, recorded in 1877 from an anonymous bard by a Norwegian missionary and translated by Lee Haring, who was called "the pre-eminent American scholar of Malagasy verbal art" by Research in African Literatures. Ibonia is the epic tale of the birth and exploits of a royal hero. His mother, a queen of heroic caliber, is barren until she consults a diviner, who brings about the hero's conception. An unusual birth and precocious strength prepare the hero to go in quest of his betrothed, who has been abducted. Such tests of worth as combat with a crocodile, supernatural aid, and a victorious struggle with her abductor prove him a true epic hero worthy of ruling his people. Haring's translation makes this Malagasy epic at last available to the general reader as well as to the scholar, also providing extensive notes and translating six shorter variants of the story. In his introduction Haring situates the epic in the history of Madagascar, emphasizing the colonial encounter. Looming large behind the epic is the historical figure of Andrianampoinimerina, the sovereign who made Imerina a conquest state. The introduction also places Ibonia in the context of other forms of Malagasy folklore, showing the bard's reliance on Merina oratorical style. Haring asserts that the brilliance and eloquence of the epic derive from a unique set of circumstances of performance.


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