Perspectives on Written Cameroon Literature in English

Contents

iii Table of Contents Sources…………………………………………..vii Acknowledgements…………………………….. xi Preface………………………………………….. xiii Introduction……………………………………..xv Part One: General Essays……………………. 1 1. Half a Century of Written Anglophone Cameroon Literature……………………………………….. 3 2. Critical Approaches in the Criticism of Cameroon Literature of English Expression………………... 33 3. Cameroonian Creative Writers and the Language Problem………………………………………… 51 4. The African Writer and the Preservation of Cultural Values…………………………………………... 67 5. The Cameroonian Novel of English Expression………………………………………79 Part Two: Specific Literary Studies…………. 98 6. Ideology in Three Dramatic Works: Victor Epie Ngome’s What God Has Put Asunder, and Bate Besong’s Beasts of No Nation and Requiem for the Last Kaiser..................................................................... 101 7. The Educational Significance of the Cameroon Novel of English Expression: Focus on Four Texts…………………………….141 iv 8. Deconstructing Gender Hierarchy: A Study of Margaret Afuh’s Born Before Her Time……………………… 159 9. The Anti-Heroes of L. T. Asong’s Fiction: Focus on Five Novels…………………………………………...175 10. Two Opposing Trends in Mongo Beti’s Fiction: A Study of Remember Ruben and Perpetua…………………….. 197 11. Pedagogy of the Deprived: A Study of the Plays of Victor Epie Ngome, Bole Butake and Bate Besong…………………………………….. 213 12. Anatomy of a Short Story: An Analysis of Bole Butake’s The Way of the City………………………………. 231 13. The Orality of the Works of Four Anglophone Writers: Linus Asong, Bole Butake, Bongasu Kishani, Fale Wache………………………………………237 14. The Modernist Character of Bate Besong’s Poetry………………………………… 257 15. The Quintessence of Bernard Fonlon……….269 Part Three: Book Reviews……………………. 282 16. Bole Butake, Lake God and Other Plays Yaoundé: Editions CLE, 1999……………………………………… 283 17. L. T. Asong, The Akroma File, Bamenda: Patron Publishing House, 1997…………………………………….. 287 v 18. Alobwed’Epie, The Death Certificate, Yaoundé: Editions CLE, 2004……………………………………… 293 19. John Nkemngong Nkengasong, Across the Mongolo, Ibadan: Spectrum Books Limited, 2004…………………………………… 299 20. Alobwed’Epie, The Lady With A Beard, Yaoundé: Editions CLE, 2005……………………………………… 303 21. John Nkemngong Nkengasong, The Widow’s Might, Yaoundé: Editions CLE, 2006…………………. 309 22. John Ngong Kum, Walls of Agony, Yaoundé: Editions CLE 2006…………………………………………….. 313 23. John Ngong Kum, Battle for Survival, Yaoundé: Editions CLE 2006……………………………................. 317 24. Introducing L. T. Asong: The Major Talent of Cameroon Fiction in English………………………………. 321 25. Francis B. Nyamnjoh, A Nose for Money, East African Educational Publishers Ltd, 2006……………… 327 Conclusion…………………………………….. 333 vi ...