This poem commands, “Hear the fire’s voice, / Hear the voice of water” before describing “the sobbing of the trees” as the title phenomena of “our forefathers.” For 10 points each:
[10h] Name this poem from Birago Diop’s collection Leurres et Lueurs, or Lures and Glimmers. Reflecting his Wolof upbringing, this poem uses the refrains, “listen more often to things rather than beings” and “the dead are not dead.”
ANSWER: “Breaths” [or “Souffles”]
[10e] Diop also wrote a collection of folktales titled for Amadou Koumba, who served in this role for his family. These oral historians and poets functioned as bards in West African culture.
ANSWER: griots (“GREE-ohs”) [or djeli or gewel]
[10m] “Breaths” was incorporated into a story from Tales of Amadou Koumba about a sergeant who becomes one of these people known as “Sarzan.” This is the first title group of a play in which Doctor Bero imprisons his father.
ANSWER: madman [or Madmen and Specialists (by Wole Soyinka)]
<S, World Literature>