The History of the N'Ko Alphabet and Its Role in Mande Transnational Identity: Words As Weapons

In her seminal work Dianne White Oyler discusses the creation of the N'ko alphabet, based on the Maninka language, by Souleymane Kanté (1922-1987) in 1949 in Haute Guinée (Guinea). She carefully documents N'ko's dissemination by a grassroots literacy campaign that started with Kanté and continues to the present. Her analysis shows the importance of language in transnational identity and the cultural nationalism of Mande-speaking people in West Africa. Oyler also discusses Kanté's and Nko's relationship to Pan-Africanism.