Critical Perspectives on Cameroon Writing

Foreword

x Foreword It has been observed that Cameroon literature is very rich, yet criticism of this has for a long time been the preserve of foreigners rather than nationals, who seem to think that they ought to consume that which comes from abroad and ignore that which is produced within their country. However, a first attempt was made in 1977 at the University of Yaoundé to bring writers and critics together to examine the works that existed at the time. It was a very successful meeting, but unfortunately, ball the papers presented on that occasion into print. The holding of the second Conference at the University of Buea came about from a determination to look at our literature straight into its face and criticize these using literary criteria of the strictest kind. Times were gone when the criticism was complacent because it was believed that a nascent literature could easily be stifled by application of rather strict cannons of literary criticism, but “solidarity criticism”, obviously still goes on especially as far as the new liberation literature in which Anglophone Cameroonians are involved is concerned, where the message is projected way ahead of the medium. Since the Second Conference on Cameroon Literature took place in December 1994, it has taken time to go through the articles and select those which could be published. It has not been easy to do this because the quality of most of the articles was quite high. In this first volume which is being published, it was decided to select articles to reflect the title of the work, which is “perspectives on Cameroon Literature.” In the organization of the Conference as well as editing and compiling of these articles, I must give special thanks to all the members of my Office: Agnes Ayuk, Esambe Sona, Fonka, Youssouf, Leslie Fende Mbongo, Beatrice Nkweteyim, and Alice Ebob Mbi. Margaret Etengeneng and Henry Mota1e, all of who had to support me throughout the project making things move and reading all the typescripts to make sure we had as near a perfect copy as we could. This equally goes to the colleagues of the Faculty of Arts who in one way or the other joined to make the Conference the success that it was particularly Albert Azeyeh, Nalova Lyonga, and Tala Kashim. Samuel xi Sumelong. Asheri Kilo, Paul Mbufung, Vincent Tanda, and George Nyamdi. The Conference in Buea turned out to be exciting and exacting, too large and too intense. Seventeen years had elapsed since the first Conference in Yaoundé; the culturescape had evolved and expanded. Faces had changed and there was a new vibrant literature by women and Anglophones which did not exist at the time of the first Conference. Themes had been renewed and new ones had been exploited. Both writers and critics had a lot to say. Subjects dealt with ranged from general topics on literature, survival and national identity, through specialized articles on prose, poetry, drama, translation, language, folklore, children’s literature Journalism and some politics. The understanding of all the colleagues who responded to the invitation, we hope, is worth its while as you scheme through these papers which obviously reflect various levels of scholarship. In organizing the Conference as well as putting together the articles for this volume, we received support from both the University of Buea and the French Mission for Co-operation and Cultured Action in Yaoundé. We must, in particular, thank the then Head of the French Mission for Co-operation and Cultural Action, Pierre Jacquemot, Dr. Pierre le Boul and Mr. Jean-Marie-Langlais, both Counsellors at the mission; Dr. Jean-François Blanc, the then French Technical personnel at the University of Buea; and Mr. Pascal Bourrel of the Alliance Franco-Camerounaise in Buea, for all their support. We also need to give especial thanks to the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buea, Dr. Dorothy L. Njeuma, who gave her support to the project and participated in some of the sessions. We also received support from some of the companies around, including Cameroon Development Corporation (CDC), and the Cameroon Refining Company (SONARA), Amity Bank, Satellite Insurance, as well as Alliance Camerounaise in Buea, which not only contributed financially to hosting the Conference, but provided space to host some of the programmed events, including the Book Exhibition and Cultural Evening. We are particularly grateful to Professor Peter Agbor Tabi, the Minister Higher Education, for having accepted to come to Buea to [3.144.172.115] Project MUSE (2024-04...