Epic tradition The Palgrave handbook of African oral traditions and folklore /Tamari, Tal This chapter presents an overview of debates about the epic in Africa, including such questions as the definition of the epic, relationships to other literary genres, processes of transmission, social status of the performers, performer-audience interactions, stylistics, value as historical sources. Introductory general analysis is completed by a survey of representative works and traditions from each of the areas of the African continent that have been deemed to have epics, including: northern Africa (Egypt and the Maghreb), West Africa (mainly the Sahelian and Sudanic regions), Central Africa, and East Africa (mainly the Swahili written epics.) Some points made: (1) Transmission of most epics is based on progressive assimilation of contents and style, followed by recreation in the performance situation. However, several cultural traditions require formal memorization. (2) Most West African epics are closely related to praise songs and historical narration, whereas many Central African ones may have developed from myths. (3) Epics from Sudanic and Sahelian West Africa developed in a context of restricted literacy, rather than of a fully oral civilization. Palgrave Macmillan Springer Akinyemi, A. (ed.) Falola, T. (ed.) 2021 text https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010082937 fdi:010082937 Tamari Tal, . Epic tradition. In : Akinyemi A. (ed.), Falola T. (ed.), . The Palgrave handbook of African oral traditions and folklore Palgrave Macmillan ; Springer, 2021, 183-211 EN EGYPTE SOUDAN SAHEL CAMEROUN GUINEE EQUATORIALE GABON MALI GUINEE GAMBIE LIBERIA NIGERIA KENYA TANZANIE