Education of the Deprived

Anglophone Cameroon Literary Drama

Publication Year: 2010

Education of the Deprived is a perceptive socio-artistic examination of the key works of some major writers of Anglophone Cameroon literary drama today. For over two decades now socio-political developments in Cameroon, including the liberalization of the press, have led to an unprecedented proliferation of political, journalistic and imaginative writings. Availing themselves of their new-found freedom of expression, Cameroonians in general are forcefully articulating their views more than even before, and creative writers, in particular, are artistically recording intimate and painful experiences in the on-going endeavour to make sense of the socio-political environment; they are mapping out, through images and symbols, the peculiar contour of the collective Cameroonian soul. What observers have noticed, with regard to Anglophone Cameroon imaginative writing, however, is that there are few significant critical works to match the burgeoning creative literature. While in the 1970s there was a cry concerning the scarcity of imaginative works by Anglophone Cameroonians, the complaint now, at the turn of the 21st century, is that there is a dearth of critical literature capable of catapulting, on to the international literary scene, the Anglophone Cameroon literature being written. This book covers both traditional and modern drama as written by Anglophones, lays bare the technical differences between the two dramatic traditions, and brings out the central themes developed by these committed dramatists.

Published by: African Books Collective

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For over a decade now socio-political developments in Cameroon, including the liberalization of the press, have led to an unprecedented proliferation of political, journalistic and imaginative writings. Availing themselves of their new-found freedom of expression, Cameroonians in general are forcefully articulating their ...

Acknowledgments

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pp. ix-

I am indebted to Professor Chris Dunton of the National University of Lesotho who, though overstretched with academic work, found time to read the monograph while on summer break in his home in the United Kingdom. The ‘slight criticism’ and suggestion he made helped to improve the quality of the work. I would also like to ...

Introduction

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pp. xi-xvi

It is a fact of history that since 1961, the year of the union between the former French and British Cameroons, English and French bilingualism became a national policy in the Republic of Cameroon. At the turn of the 21st century the Anglophone Cameroonians number at least 4 million out of a total population of 15 million Cameroonians, constituting thus a linguistic and cultural minority. ...

Chapter One. The Socio-Political Background to Anglophone Cameroon Literary Drama

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pp. 1-14

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and then, man and woman. He created them, enjoining them to multiply and fill the earth, dominate and domesticate it. In other words God gave original man full rights over his environment, over nature. And ever since man has multiplied many times, and has ...

Chapter Two. Victor Epie Ngome – Irreconcilable Differences

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pp. 15-33

Victor Epie Ngome’s What God Has Put Asunder is, at the literal level, the story of Weka, a child brought up in an orphanage under Rev Gordon and sister Sabeth1. When Weka reaches nubile age, two suitors ask her hand in marriage. One of them is Miche Garba, a politician, and the other, Emeka, who grew up in the orphanage together with Weka. ...

Chapter Three. Bole Butake – Empowerment of Women and the Masses

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pp. 35-54

Although from their impressive output female African writers have made great strides in fictional writing, making it henceforth impossible for readers and critics to ignore them, African literature, as it now stands, is still largely the business of male African writers whose works reflect male-dominated societies. With the notable exceptions ...

Chapter Four. Bate Besong – The Conscientisation of the Public

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pp. 55-100

While Bole Butake and Victor Epie Ngome can generally be classified as writers of traditional drama, Bate Besong, in this chapter, and John Nkengasong, in Chapter Five, belong to the modernist tradition; for Besong’s and Nkengasong’s works reveal influences from the Theatre of the Absurd. Therefore, to better appreciate what they have done it is appropriate to first ...

Chapter Five. N. John Nkengasong – Waiting for a Saviour

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pp. 101-112

In the previous chapter we attempted to define the concept of Theatre of the Absurd within which John Nkengasong’s play Black Caps and Red Feathers¹ is written. Black Caps and Red Feathers, to be subsequently referred to simply as Black Caps, is a remarkable two-act play that constitutes the author’s individual insight into the human condition. It comprises only two characters, namely Creature and Lunatic. ...

Conclusion

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pp. 113-120

Occasionally in this work oblique references have been made to Paulo Freire’s book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1983), a revolutionary work that sets out to conscientize an exploited and oppressed people in a Latin American country so that they can stand up for their rights and fight to improve their living condition. In this regard we must confess that the title of our own work, Education of the Deprived is, from the point of view of ...

Works Cited

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pp. 121-125

Notes on the Playwrights

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pp. 127-128

Titles by Langaa RPCIG, Back Cover

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E-ISBN-13: 9789956578245
Print-ISBN-13: 9789956616572

Page Count: 148
Publication Year: 2010