A theatrical form of this ethnic group has a name meaning “big snail” in their language, possibly referencing the spiraling forms created by its dancers. For 10 points each:
[10m] Name these people who developed the Kotéba form and inspired Jay Wright’s epic poem The Double Invention of Komo. This ethnicity’s name was adopted as a surname by the American author of Gorilla, My Love.
ANSWER: Bambara [or Bamana; accept Toni Cade Bambara]
[10h] Mali’s national Kotéba troupe opened with Seydou Badjan Kouyaté’s play titled for this event. In an epic poem by Mazisi Kunene, Mbopha is scapegoated for this event, which is followed by the “dirge of the palm race.”
ANSWER: death of Shaka Zulu [accept murder, assassination, or synonyms in place of “death”; accept La Mort de Chaka] (Kunene’s epic is Emperor Shaka the Great.)
[10e] Malian students at the William Ponty school in Senegal developed a play called The Cunning of Diégué based on this epic. The septennial Kamabolon ceremony includes a performance of this epic about a king of Mali.
ANSWER: Epic of Sundiata [or Epic of Sunjata]
<JB, World Literature>