Cameroon's Contemporary Culture and Politics: Prospects and Problems

Milton Krieger

Description

This book addresses Cameroon�s culture, education and language policies since independence, scholarship on and vigorous debate about them, their bearings on different visions of national development, and their place in the political struggle between autocracy and democracy since 1990. A synoptic view of half a century�s key experiences, issues and fault lines emerges.

Sujets

• Social sciences
• Regional Studies

Informations

• Publié par: Langaa RPCIG
• Date de parution: 07 décembre 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789956791545
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

CAMEROON’S CONTEMPORARY CULTURE AND POLITICS Prospects and Problems

Milton Krieger

Cameroon’s Contemporary Culture and Politics: Prospects and Problems

Milton Krieger

L a ng a a R esea rch & P u blishing CIG Mankon, Bamenda

Publisher: LangaaRPCIG Langaa Research & Publishing Common Initiative Group P.O. Box 902 Mankon Bamenda North West Region Cameroon [e-mail] www.langaa-rpcig.net Distributed in and outside N. America by African Books Collective [e-mail] www.africanbookcollective.com ISBN: 9956-790-27-3 ©Milton Krieger2014

DISCLAIMER All views expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Langaa RPCIG.

For permissions to reproduce original texts for this volume, the publisher and author thank the following: Boston University African Studies Center for “Language in Cameroon, 1960-1990: Bilingual Policy, Multilingual Practice.” Issues in Language and Education Series, 1991. Indiana University Press for “Building the Republic through Letters: Abbia: Cameroon Cultural Review, 1963-82, and Its Legacy,” Research in African Literatures 27, 2 (1996), pp. 155-177, and “In Memoriam: Thomas Melone,” Research in African Literatures 29, 1 (1998), pp. 197-199 (ISSN 0034-5210). Cambridge University Press for “Cameroon’s Democratic Crossroads, 1990-4,” The Journal of Modern African Studies 32, 4 (1994), pp. 605-628 (ISSN 0022-278X). About the cover The book’s cover reproduces that ofAbbia, Cameroon’s remarkable journal of culture, 1963-1982. Its text seeks to emulateAbbia’s broad coverage and high standards.

Table of Contents Acknowledgements……………………………………….. v Prologue…………………………………………………… vii Chapter 1 : Language and education: fault lines appear ……………………………………………………….…….. 1 Chapter 2: Abbia and culture’s chasms ……………………………………………………….…...... 73

Chapter 3 : Politics erupts …………………………………………………….……….. 119 Epilogue :A quarter century’s perspective ……………………..…………………………………….… 159

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Acknowledgments Many professional and personal debts have accrued during the quarter century I’ve studied Cameroon. Citations in four texts published 1991-1998, now reprinted here, and in two books published later, record my gratitude to those who’ve contributed along the way. For this, my final Cameroon scholarly work, added thanks are due. Richard Bjornson and Victor Le Vine paved my way to Cameroon studies either side of 1990; Richard’s sudden death in 1992 deprived me and others of his advice and enthusiasm but Victor’s generosity continued until his death in 2010. Paul Nchoji Nkwi, then responsible for research protocols at the ministry of higher education and research, facilitated my own and my wife’s first visit in 1989 and remained our guide for a decade. Dr. Philip and Cecelia Noss welcomed us and many other “expats” in Yaounde, using their years of Cameroon experience and expertise to impart knowledge and provide hospitality. The late Augustine Tih was John Ngu Foncha’s driver either side of 1960; he, his family and compound graciously hosted and sustained us in Bamenda through the 1990s. Ni John Fru Ndi generously opened doors to the latter parts of this book, and many more thereafter Two other Cameroonians stand out among my friends and scholarly advisors since 1995, continuing past my last time there in 1999 to the present, Alhaji Sariki Umaru and Sarli Sardou Nana; it is a sad measure of the country’s condition that they are now abroad, where their experiences and skills are deployed more than at home. Francis Nyamnjoh’s energies and talents have kept myin absentia focus on Cameroon since we met in 1999, while he traverses Africa and beyond as a teacher and scholar, and develops Langaa into the unique venture I am glad and proud to be part of; we collaborated nursing this text to print. Western Washington University continues to fund my v

Cameroon scholarship a decade since my retirement, including the valuable work of two Liberal Studies department student assistants, Eliah Drake-Raue and especially Clarissa Mansfield. This book is dedicated to my wife Judy. She spent fifteen years giving our family and my career her priority and their shape, resumed studies step-by-step, stayed sturdy, and at the time we reached Cameroon was very nearly the oldest woman from the U.S.A. ever to initiate anthropology field research for the Ph.D. in tropical Africa. She completed it successfully and then developed her own academic career, though it was constrained by time and circumstance. Her fellowships for Cameroon study funded more of our time there than I did, her research path and resilience enriched my experience during and beyond the decade of our travels there, and her myriad skills and interests continue to do so. For these and many other reasons, this one’s for Ma Ju, with love and admiration.

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