Landscaping Postcoloniality. The Dissemination of Cameroon Anglophone Literature

The Dissemination of Cameroon Anglophone Literature

Publication Year: 2009

This is a foundational text on the production and dissemination of Anglophone Cameroon literature. The Republic of Cameroon is a bilingual country with English and French as the official languages. Ashuntantang shows that the pattern of production and dissemination of Anglophone Cameroon literature is not only framed by the minority status of English and English-speaking Cameroonians within the Republic of Cameroon, but is also a reflection of a postcolonial reality in Africa where mostly African literary texts published by western multi-national corporations are assured wide international accessibility and readership. This book establishes that in spite of these setbacks, Anglophone Cameroon writers have produced a corpus of work that has enriched the genres of prose, poetry and drama, and that these texts deserve a wider readership.

Published by: African Books Collective

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Anglophone Cameroon literature is written primarily in English, although there are over ninety ethnic languages in the region. Just like the literature, the identity of individuals in this region has crystallized around English because of their minority status within a dominantly Francophone Cameroon....

Chapter Two - The Dissemination of African Literature and Canon Formation

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pp. 24-48

According to Chinua Achebe “a man who can’t tell where the rain began to beat him cannot know where he dried his body”. (“Role of the Writer” 8). This saying underscores the link between history and memory in forging new ideas. Thus in order to frame literary canonization in Anglophone African Literature – the process by...

Chapter Three - The Book Chain and Anglophone Cameroon Literature

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pp. 49-87

In 1982 Nalova Lyonga and Bole Butake, two Anglophone Cameroonian critics, declared, “Cameroon literature in English is belatedly in the bud; still experimental in the main […] in terms of what has been published, both locally and abroad, there is very little indeed” (“Cameroon” 121). It is now twenty-six years since...

Chapter Four - Anglophone Cameroon Literature: A Brief Overview

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pp. 88-129

In this chapter I attempt to present an overview of Anglophone Cameroon literature from 1959 to the present by briefly analyzing selected texts. These texts have been selected because of their historical importance to Anglophone Cameroon/African literature, their thematic/stylistic concerns which signify a literary trend...

Conclusion

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pp. 130-135

The vagaries of colonialism that resulted in the formation of nation-states in Africa have resulted in postcolonialism as a permanent site for resistance and reconstruction. The peculiar position of Anglophone Cameroon within the nation-state of Republic of Cameroon is unique. As Bate Besong explains, it is an...

Endnotes

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pp. 136-137

Works Cited

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pp. 138-147

Appendix - Anglophone Cameroon Literature: A Comprehensive Bibliography of Primary Texts and Selected Criticism

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pp. 148-167

Index

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pp. 168-174

Back Cover

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p. bc-bc

E-ISBN-13: 9789956715107
Print-ISBN-13: 9789956558292

Page Count: 188
Publication Year: 2009

Landscaping Postcoloniality. The Dissemination of Cameroon Anglophone Literature

Cover

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Acknowledgement

Contents

Preface

Chapter One - Reversing Babel: English in Anglophone Cameroon

Chapter Two - The Dissemination of African Literature and Canon Formation

Chapter Three - The Book Chain and Anglophone Cameroon Literature

Chapter Four - Anglophone Cameroon Literature: A Brief Overview