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Takumbeng and Other Poems from Abakwa is a tribute to the Takumbeng in Cameroon. This collection of poems celebrates the prowess of the Takembeng, a militant female secret society in the Northwest Region of Cameroon. The poems address human rights violations, rape of democracy, misgovernment, and other forms of societal ills that plague post-colonial Cameroon. It is written in impeccable Standard English. The strength of the book resides in the vastness of the thematic terrain broached.
African Modernities and Mobilities : An Historical Ethnography of Kom, Cameroon, C. 1800-2008
(2015)
In this book Walter Gam Nkwi documents the complexities and nuances embedded in African modernities and mobilities which have been overlooked in historical discourses in Africa and Cameroon. Using an ethnographic historical approach and drawing on the intricacies of what it has meant to be and belong in Kom- an ethnic community in the Northwest Region of Cameroon - since 1800, he explores the discourses and practices of kfaang as central to any understanding of mobility and modernity in Kom, Cameroon and Africa at large. The book unveils the emic understanding of modernity through the history and ethnography of kfaang and its technologies and illustrates how these terminologies were conceived and perceived by the Kom people in their social and physical mobilities. It documents and analyzes the historical processes involved in bringing about and making kfaang a defining feature of everyday life in Kom and among Kom subjects.
This book argues that the basic component of any society's social security and sustainability is cultural capital and its ability to fully recognise diversity in knowledge production and advancement. However, with regard to African societies, since the dawn of racial slavery and colonialism, cultural capital - indigenous knowledge in particular - has iniquitously and acrimoniously suffered marginalisation and pejorative ragtags. Increasingly since the 1990s, cultural capital informed by African knowledge systems has taken central stage in discussions of sustainability and development. This is not unrelated with the recognition by America and Europe in particular of the central role that cultural capital could and should assume in the logic of development and sustainability at a global level. Unfortunately, action has often failed to match words with regard to the situation in Africa. The current book seeks to make a difference by exploring the role that African cultural capital could and should assume to guarantee development and sustainability on the continent and globally. It argues that lofty pan-African ideals of collective self-reliance, self-sustaining development and economic growth would come to naught unless determined and decisive steps are taken towards full recognition of indigenous cultural capital on the continent.
A la tète du client is a vitriolic indictment of the unsettling myths and stereotypes surrounding the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Cameroon. It problematizes and lampoons the unethical practices of medical personnel that have made this disease an intractable ailment in Cameroon and beyond. The English translation of A la tète du client titled Fly over the Crooks' Crooked Nest denounces and scourges the predatory behaviour of the wicked who take advantage of the weakest in a context of HIV/AIDs. When two rascals decide to open their own laboratory for medical analysis, without any skills or equipment, the least harmful results amount to 'Obama... blood type O, Axelrod...blood type A...'
Boundaries
(2015)
In Boundaries, Musang, from the Grassfields, falls in love with Etonde from the Coast. Although aware of some existing tension and unfounded mistrust between both camps, the couple is ready to marry when Etonde's father, incredibly, rejects the marriage proposal at the last minute. Although traumatized, Musang, finally, deems the rejection a sign from heaven and so reconsiders a lingering vocation idea - the priesthood. Meanwhile, a devastated Etonde, now defiant of men, struggles on to regain her equilibrium. Years after, however, and barely months away from his ordination into the priesthood, Musang, an exemplary postulant, is suddenly given the deprecating choice to go on probation or leave the seminary; he leaves.
Tori Shweet for Cameroon Pidgin English is a compendium of short stories written in Cameroon's most widely spoken lingua franca commonly called Cameroon Pidgin English (CPE). The grassfields of Cameroon serves as the nursery where these culturally enriched stories are nurtured. The collection comprises animal trickster tales, bird survival tales and human-interest stories. In conformity with the philosophy of French novelist, Stendhal, this anthology of short stories is a mirror that reflects the folklore and mores of the ethnic groups that constitute the grassland region of Cameroon. It serves as a window to the worldview, mindset and value systems of the grafi.
The King's Wages
(2015)
Containing hints of political satire, The King's Wages is a play that seeks to unmask the wicked absurdity of getting power at all costs. It tells the story of a man called Tutu who wants to be king and murders his own brother in pursuit of his plan. Tutu finally becomes king, but soon realizes that there is more to it than he bargained for. The chief among the Akan gods, Tano, becomes angry and is bent on punishing Tutu for the fratricide he committed. The ghost of Tutu's brother comes back to haunt him and Tutu is desperate to avert this from happening again. He does not only do the unthinkable as an expedient to save his life, but also manifests his weakness by following the advice of his long-time friend Bota. As a result, he is cursed by his own daughter who commits suicide immediately afterwards. In the end, he loses everything but his life. The story may strike us as mythical, but Brempong deliberately goes beyond the limits of the natural to invest his story with more beauty and profound pathos. He uses glittering expressions and simple language, with slight touches of archaism and interspersed with Akan proverbs. The story he tells is interesting enough, but his brilliant writing style also makes it one of the outstanding works to be seen in modern African literature.
On perusing Stream of Consciousness: Poetics of the Universal by Peter Wuteh Vakunta, one is struck by the eclectic and englobing nature of themes broached. Vakunta's poetry is both a transversal and longitudinal dissection of our world. The poet assumes the posture of a divinity casting interrogative glances at the deeds of humans. Not a single terrestrial creature evades his prying eyes. Even the most subtle creatures on Planet Earth are scathed by the poet's effusion of vitriolic emotions. The poet pursues evil-doers right into their graves. Even in their death throes, he continues to deal them fatal blows. Armed with a caustic pen, this chronicler does not sit on the fence and watch events transpire. Instead, he speaks for the downtrodden of all races and social strata: black, white, yellow, Papuan, Andalusian, wretched, opulent. This adds grist to the title of the book. The poet distances himself from the rigor of Kant and the moralism of La Rochefoucauld. Weary of hearing the voices of humans in distress, he paints the portrait of another kind of Humanity. Vakunta's poetry celebrates the harmonious cohabitation of verbal sophistry with the power of the word.
This Book is the outcome of a long project begun thirty years ago. It is a book on the makings of pan-Africanism through the predicaments of being black in a world dominated by being white. The book is a tribute and celebration of the efforts of the African-American and African-Caribbean Diaspora who took the initiative and the audacity to fight and liberate themselves from the shackles of slavery. It is also a celebration of those Africans who in their own way carried the torch of inspiration and resilience to save and reconstruct the Free Humanism of Africa. As a story of the rise from the shackles of slavery and poverty to the summit of Victors of their Renaissance Identity and Self-Determination as a People, the book is the story of African refusal to celebrate victimhood. The book also situates women as central actors in the Pan-African project, which is often presented as an exclusively masculine endeavour. It introduces a balanced gender approach and diagnosis of the Women actors of Pan-Africanism which was very much lacking. The problem of balkanisation of Africa on post-colonial affiliations and colonial linguistic lines has taken its toll on Africa's building of its common identity and personality. The result is that Africans are more remote to each other in their pigeon-hole-nation-states which put more restrictions for African inter-mobility, coupled by education and cultural affiliations, the communication and transportation and trading networks which are still tied more to their colonial masters than among themselves. This book looks into the problem of the new wave of Pan-Africanism and what strategies that can be proposed for a more participatory Pan-Africanism inspired by the everyday realities of African masses at home and in the diaspora. This book is the first book of its kind that gives a comprehensive and multidimensional coverage of Pan-Africanism. It is a very timely and vital compendium.
Representing research from east, central, west, and southern Africa, Engaging Children and Youth in Africa provides a well-balanced analysis of on-the-ground data with methodological and phenomenological issues that abound in much of research in Africa today. With an introduction that charts out some of the most critical approaches in African-centred research on children and youth, contributors to this volume give the reader a glimpse of the product of engaged research that places children and youth at the centre of analysis. The authors follow recent studies that have insisted on seeing African childhood and youth beyond constraining Western notions of vulnerability or innocence, to capture the ways in which recent advances in technology, the intensification of global processes, and continued weakening of the nation-state have not only contributed to new ways of being children and youth but how they have also provided a new lens through which to study social change.
The Forest: An African Traditional Definition seeks to provide the conservationist with some basic ideas as to which cultural areas to explore. It utilises illustrative African cultures: from ecologically and culturally rich forest zones of Cameroon which has earned the description of Africa in miniature due to its diversity; and representativeness of ecological and cultural landscapes that reflect the continent. These aim to direct the conservationist to the appropriate beliefs and customs that could be exploited in favour of conservation. There is no overemphasising that most, if not all, African cultures have at least some rudimentary aspects of conservation in the modern sense. These aspects constitute the strong colours that could be used to create an indelible picture of the importance of conservation on the continent.
When Africa stumbled into independence in the 1960s, the blossoming of newspapers of nearly every political persuasion was widely hailed as a critical stepping stone toward true multiparty democracy. However, rather than marking a clean break with an authoritarian past, the era of multiparty politics in Africa has been a time of increased hardship and repression for journalists who dare criticize powerful incumbents. Media repression continues to rise. After decades of retreat, authoritarian regimes are using social media and other sophisticated systems in a new era of repression to thwart democracy and trample human rights. For consecutive decades, the state of freedom has declined - more people in more places face more repression. While systemic torture in war-torn Somalia and the return of a military dictatorship in Egypt captured headlines, there is also widespread, insidious and 21st-century style surveillance elsewhere with abuse or imprisonment or both of political activists. For the media to play its role as priests of democracy, Tatah Mentan maintains that media freedom must be rigorously defended as integral to the democratic way of life.
This Book is the outcome of a long project begun thirty years ago. It is a book on the makings of pan-Africanism through the predicaments of being black in a world dominated by being white. The book is a tribute and celebration of the efforts of the African-American and African-Caribbean Diaspora who took the initiative and the audacity to fight and liberate themselves from the shackles of slavery. It is also a celebration of those Africans who in their own way carried the torch of inspiration and resilience to save and reconstruct the Free Humanism of Africa. As a story of the rise from the shackles of slavery and poverty to the summit of Victors of their Renaissance Identity and Self-Determination as a People, the book is the story of African refusal to celebrate victimhood. The book also situates women as central actors in the Pan-African project, which is often presented as an exclusively masculine endeavour. It introduces a balanced gender approach and diagnosis of the Women actors of Pan-Africanism which was very much lacking. The problem of balkanisation of Africa on post-colonial affiliations and colonial linguistic lines has taken its toll on Africa's building of its common identity and personality. The result is that Africans are more remote to each other in their pigeon-hole-nation-states which put more restrictions for African inter-mobility, coupled by education and cultural affiliations, the communication and transportation and trading networks which are still tied more to their colonial masters than among themselves. This book looks into the problem of the new wave of Pan-Africanism and what strategies that can be proposed for a more participatory Pan-Africanism inspired by the everyday realities of African masses at home and in the diaspora. This book is the first book of its kind that gives a comprehensive and multidimensional coverage of Pan-Africanism. It is a very timely and vital compendium.
Despite all the talk about African renaissance, much of the continent is plagued by poverty and instability. To break out of that cycle, the guardians of African heritage (the old independence freedom fighters turned political leaders and their successors) and much of Afrocentric literature rightly promote African ideas and solutions for African problems. While the idea in itself is noble, the danger is for Africa to close itself off and ignore 'outside' technical and intellectual innovations that it desperately needs to advance further. Africa through Structuration Theory - ntu joins the discourse by attempting to restore intellectual freedom and convincingly defends structuration theory not only as the way forward for Africa but also as a legitimate African concept. It is innovative, refreshing and deserves to be heard across the world and appreciated especially by African graduates, current and future leaders of various African institutions or businesses, non-Africans who might hesitate to refer to such a theory when trying to understand and deal with African problems and the wider public who constitute the audience for this book.
Flashlight on Drama and Film succinctly describes how to use drama to afford target audiences opportunities to analyse environmental situations, presented through drama, with a view to enabling them to make informed decisions and take responsible actions in similar situations in the real world. This constitutes the guiding principle of Drama for Situation Analysis (DRASA), with Flashlight on Drama and Film as its training guide.in the drama effort. The guide is divided into three parts. Part One looks at the development of the play script from the research stage. Part Two describes the stages involved in interpreting a play, including the skills, techniques and terminology of acting, from a simple definition of drama. Part Three gives a rundown of the stages in rehearsing and presenting a play, either as stage drama or film production.
Milestones in Green Transition and Climate Compatible Development in Eastern and Southern Africa
(2015)
It is widely recognised that climate change poses significant serious threats to sustained economic growth and agricultural development, poverty reduction, food security and political stability globally. Nowhere are these challenges more marked than in Africa where two-thirds of all available land is classified either as desert or dry land, in relation to which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2013) has classified the continent as the most vulnerable to climate change variability. This anthology is a product of a call from OSSREA to collate evidence based researches in a book in a bid to assess how far countries in eastern and southern Africa are implementing the UNFCCC, Rio+20, Agenda 21 and other global and Africa-wide decisions concerning the need to address climate change. This will contribute to post-2015 development agenda for sustainable development goals (SDGs), in which climate change and disaster risk reduction will be priority areas of focus. We hope this book will serve as a valuable tool for experts, advisers and policymakers in pursing effective green growth policies and practices and achieving climate compatible development and in doing so inspire readers to choose a more sustainable pathway for humanity. It will also help in looking at climate change as both a challenge and opportunity for development. Further, this book aims at stimulating more research in climate compatible development and climate financing which have put most countries at crossroads.
The Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in Eastern and Southern Africa have been at the forefront to developing new energy policies and programmes aimed at reaching the UN goal of Ensuring Access to Clean Energy for All by 2030. In the year 2006, the East African Community passed the EAC Strategy to Scale Up Access to Modern Energy Services, committing its Member States to reach the UN goal of -access to all- by 2030. The Inter-governmental Authority for Development adopted its Environmental and Natural Resources Policy in 2007 which includes issues of renewable energy. The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa launched its Model Energy Programme in 2012, followed the same year by its comprehensive baselines database on renewable resources covering all its Member States. In the year 2009, the African Union General Assembly at its 12th Ordinary Session adopted the Policy on 'Scaling Up Renewable Energy in Africa'. The regional policies have been domesticated by Member Sates of the RECs. Although their targets are very ambitious, implementation programmes launched at national level are robust and producing results. Both in the policies and implementation programmes, gender issues have, however, not featured prominently. Noting this deficit, the Organisation for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa called for researchers to assess the extent to which energy policies in Eastern and Southern Africa have taken gender issues on board. This book is the product of that project. It has ten chapters that investigated the gender-energy nexus in Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Swaziland, Sudan and Kenya. The book will prove useful to all policy makers, researchers and analysts who may be interested in strengthening the gender content of the programmes as we move towards 2030. We believe it triggers and helps policy makers and researchers to create platforms to use its findings, and those of others, to see how in gender terms those at the bottom of the energy access pyramid can be factored into these programmes, to make sure they are not left behind.
The Rwandan justice system know as Gacaca, originally preserved by word of mouth was revived, documented, tested and used successfully to handle millions of legal cases in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi. This monograph begins by depicting the general picture of customary law and ponders on the practical challenges in the production of the modern Gacaca law in three versions: Kinyarwanda, French and English. The author demonstrates that translation involves language use and transfer, as well as communication within a cultural setting. The book amply demonstrates that linguistic, textual, contextual and cultural cues in translation should not be downplayed. It also shows that the cultural turn in translation has transformed and re-conceptualised the translation theory to integrate non-western thought about translation discipline since time immemorial. A major theme within the book is that teranslation as a mediating form between cultures and contexts should not overlook cultural differences because language is a marker of identity.
The volume constitutes Klaus Fiedler's crowning contribution to scholarship. Essays in the first half of the book focus on Malawian Christianity and how contrasting Powers, Gospel and Secular, engage each other, creating social, political and cultural conflict in the process. In the second half, Fiedler examines general missiological themes. These essays provide a broader missiological background, offering a theoretical framework necessary for appreciating the essays in the first half. He concludes with a chapter that reviews selected seminal books on themes under study. Throughout the volume Fiedler applies the 'restorationist revival theory' he constructed in The Story of Faith Missions, an earlier 1994 work putting emphasis on non classical missions and churches, not systematically covered in earlier scholarship. This volume, the first of its kind on Malawian Christianity, will long remain an indispensable text for those interested in Missiology and Malawian Christianity.