Stories from Abakwa

B. Nyamnjoh

Description

Childhood and growing up in Mimboland, Cameroon are infused with fascinating stories and adventures. Discover life in Abakwa with Tom and his friend, as they are chased through an orchard for secretly harvesting avocadoes and mangoes. Smile as Mathias Chi's overloaded canoe almost loses balance. Shiver as Roland runs through the dark streets and bleeding corridors of Mvog Mvog. And cry when Big Brother discovers how his siblings suffered when he was away at school. What happens to Esther when she finds the courage to make an announcement at the Abakwa Mountain Foot Radio Station about her husband's disappearance? Will Prudencia and Collette kill or give life? How does Prisca Lum deal with her dwarf husband? Some characters will remind you of people you know - or even of yourself. Drum beats and church bells, thunder and lightning, princes and princesses, visions and deceptions fill the pages. Discover your favorite stories waiting to be told and retold, again and again.

Sujets

• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: Langaa RPCIG
• Date de parution: 15 septembre 2007
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9789956716791
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

Publisher: LangaaResearchandPublishing CommonInitiativeGroup P.O. Box 902 Mankon Bamenda North West Province Cameroon Contact Address: [e-mail] [e-mail]

ISBN: 9956-558-00-1

© Francis B. Nyamnjoh 2007 All Rights Reserved

AUTHOR'SBIOGRAPHICALNOTE

Francis B. Nyamnjoh is Associate Professor and Head of Publications and Dissemination with the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA). He has taught sociology, anthropology and communication studies at universities in Cameroon, Botswana and South Africa, and has researched and written extensively on Cameroon and Botswana, where he was awarded the “Senior Arts Researcher of the Year” prize for 2003. His most recent books include Negotiating an Anglophone Identity (Brill, 2003), Rights and the Politics of Recognition in Africa (Zed Books, 2004), Africa’s Media, Democracy and the Politics of Belonging (Zed Books, 2005), Insiders and Outsiders: Citizenship and Xenophobia in Contemporary Southern Africa (CODESRIA/ZED Books, 2006). Dr Nyamnjoh has published widely on globalisation, citizenship, media and the politics of identity in Africa. He has published two other novels, Mind Searching (1991)and A Nose for Money (2006), and a play, The Convert (2003).

CHAPTERS Strange Stranger ManPassMan Small Nobi Sick ManNoRest Almost Too Late To Get Drunk Thunder No Di Lie The Surprise The Prince’s Bills Thoughts In Limbo Night Rocking Biscuits Not Tom Not I

1 12 19 27 36 55 64 78 91 103 116 124

1

Strange Stranger

Mr. Freeboy Etuge was the only stranger in this border Highlands village, but one unlike any other. Not only was he married to a daughter of the village, but also, he had lived in Pruprangprang for so long that no significant difference any longer existed between him and a true son of the soil. He had a compound of his own and spoke Pruprangprang fluently. His children were perfectly integrated offsprings of the village. In fact, they knew next to nothing about their father’s place of origin situated in a distant province of Mimboland. All they knew about Freeboy Etuge however, was the stereotype that the elders of Pruprangprang made everyone believe.  Everyone knew for instance that Freeboy Etuge had brought to Pruprangprang the light of Civilization from the forest villages of the South. When he first came here, Freeboy Etuge used to bathe thrice a day, so he was 1

nicknamed “The man who always falls into the latrine.” For in Pruprangprang, there was so much to do that even women could hardly afford more than one bath a day. Shortly after his arrival, Freeboy Etuge was known by all and sundry as the lazy man who could neither farm nor hunt.  But no one hated Freeboy Etuge for that. It is true he had many demerits, but equally he had advantages that gave him a position in the society despite all his weaknesses. For instance, as a storyteller he was second to no other person in the village. His ludicrous stories were invariably centred around the Whiteman, about whom the villagers knew very little and were never tired of hearing. He also told tragic tales of Highlanders who had been victimized by the wildness of the forest and the sea because of their ignorance of the richness of geography.  Freeboy Etuge loved palm wine more than anything else, which spoke well of him at a time when it was fashionable to hunger after beer brewed the modern way. But he could only beg or buy to drink, since he ignored the ABC of tapping. He could go for days without food, if only there was palm wine enough to replenish the energy he dissipated daily on storytelling. To him palm wine was the Alpha and Omega in the life of a man. It gave one the 2