Oral tradition necessarily undergoes significant changes over the course of several centuries, but scholars have nevertheless attempted to pinpoint elements in the epic that might reflect historical events.
This period represents the first interaction of the oral tradition with literacy and modernity, and the transformations undergone by the narrative in the context of the 1937 presentation ... eventually resulted in the form of the epic which became most influential in the 1940s and 1950s, before the first "novelistic" treatment by Niane (1960).
The destructive forces of fadenya eventually cause Sundiata and his mother to be exiled from Mali, in the fear that Sassouma would hurt Sogolon's family.
"[7] Significantly, Sundiata needed both the opposing forces of fadenya and badenya to fulfill his destiny, indicating that both elements are necessary to Mande culture .
The Sunjata epic is still an integral part of Mande traditional culture and the story continues to be retold by jelis and through masked ritual performances.
Today it has also become part of the official national mythology of the republics of Mali, Gambia, Senegal and Guinea and is studied in history lessons in primary school curricula.
However, when two Traoré hunters from the Dô kingdom presented him an ugly, hunchbacked woman named Sogolon, he remembered the prophecy and married her.
[9] Despite his physical weakness, the king still granted Sundiata his own jeli at young age; this was in order to have them grow together and provide constant consultation as was the custom.
After an insult against Sogolon, Sundiata requested an iron rod from the blacksmith Nounfari, which broke when he tried to use it in order to pull himself upright and walk.
[9] Nonetheless, the hatred of Sassouma Bereté and Dankaran Toumani Keita soon drove Sundiata, his mother, and his two sisters into exile in the Mema kingdom.
[9] Meanwhile, Soumaoro Kanté, a historical leader of the Sosso people who rose to prominence after the demise of the Ghana Empire but who is portrayed in the epic as a cruel sorcerer king, attacked the Mandinka kingdom, causing Dankaran Toumani to take flight in fear.