Issues surrounding decolonization 3
The sources 4
Oral history 7
Literacy as an extension of language 8
Literacy in the colonies 11
Social uses of literacy in Guinea’s First Republic 13
Social liberation through N’ko literacy 14
Literacy campaigns 15
Notes 17

Mande languages and their locations 21
The Mande heroic and historic past 25
Mande culture 27
Mande identity 29
Historical construction of Mande identity 31

The pre-Colonial era 31
The Colonial era 36
The First Republic 41
The governments of Lansana Conté 46

Conclusion 47
Notes 48

The pre-Samori period, 1775–1870 59
The Samori period, 1870–1890 64
French colonial rule, 1890–1922 66
The sociopolitical context, 1922–1946 74
Conclusion 76
Notes 78

N’ko’s creation 87
Kanté’s motivations 89
Kanté’s translations and creative works 92
N’ko’s early dissemination 96
The reaction to N’ko 99
Formal dissemination 1959–1986 100
N’kos formal dissemination, 1986–to present 102
Notes 107

Dissemination of N’ko as a transnational process 117
N’ko during the Mande diaspora 118
N’ko in West Africa 125
Souleymane Kanté’s literacy campaign as a Pan African movement 127
Souleymane Kanté’s Pan Africanism as a cultural and political movement 127
Kanté as a Pan Africanist 135
Notes 137

A personal choice 148
Notes 150

Appendix A. Mande languages 152
Appendix B. Informant relationships to Souleymane Kanté 153
Appendix C. Samples of documents written in N’ko 155
Appendix D. Oral tradition of Souleymane Kanté, English translation 173
Appendix E. N’ko literacy survey of Kankan, 1994 178
Appendix F. N’ko literacy survey of Kankan, 2000 179
Appendix G. Books published in N’ko 183

Chart 1. The N’ko alphabet and numerals, source SIM missionaries 5
Chart 2. The N’ko alphabet and numerals, source David Dalby 5

Map 1. An approximation of the Mande Heartland 22
Map 2. The Region of the Baté and Kankan in West Africa 33
Map 3. Baté communities that support N’ko schools 34
Map 4. Geographical divisions of the Republic of Guinea and place
names for Haute-Guinée and Guinée Forestière 38

-Souleymane Kanté’s burial site
-Souleymane Kanté and his siblings (the descendants of Amara Kanté)
-individuals who teach and speak N'ko
-schools and businesses where N'ko is taught or used
-locales are in Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire.