Contemporary Matriarchies in Cameroonian Francophone Literature: "On est ensemble", and: Legal Oppositional Narrative: A Case Study in Cameroon (review)

Cheryl Toman and Stephen Bishop propose two new approaches to Cameroonian literature. Cheryl Toman's Contemporary Matriarchies in Cameroonian Francophone Literature, building on previous feminist literary analyses (Nfah-Abbenyi, Cazenave, Gallimore), analyzes the pervasiveness of female power in francophone Cameroonian texts through the lens of revisionist matriarchy. Stephen Bishop, familiar with the workings of Cameroonian courtrooms and subscribing to the law and literature movement, examines both legal and fictional narratives through the lens of the three different Cameroonian legal perspectives in Legal Oppositional Narrative.

Bishop begins his volume by describing the narrative gaps between precolonial oral jurisprudence, the common law of British origin practiced in Western Cameroon, and the civil law of French origin used in the rest of the country. Reviewing the practice of writing detailed accounts of trials in the British tradition and the more mechanical application of the letter of the law common to civil law, he contrasts them both with the potentially disruptive stance of traditional oral jurisprudence versus Western legal discursive authority. He then sets out to explore how the connection between law and literature can clear a space that invites legal change in Cameroon, drawing distinctions between resistive oppositionality (rebellious but ineffective) and true oppositionality (impacting the reader's desire for social change).

Bishop uses a variety of legal narratives in both French and English: plays, short stories, novels, and legal documents to illustrate the range of their ability to influence—or not—Cameroon's legal system. Texts showing direct confrontation with the system like Linus Asong's Crown of Thorns, are least effective since they lead only to punishment, silencing, and powerlessness. On the other hand, texts that use a more subtle ironic approach to contest legal injustice are more effective by working within the system to reveal its inconsistencies and failures. This is what Bishop calls "clando" writing, clandestine like the illegal taxis common in Cameroon, this writing uses a preexisting vehicle, the legal system and a driver, the judge, but in new ways to oppose the system. Although such texts contain moments of oppositionality, they are didactic and moralistic, lacking the subtle irony of texts that invite a critical reading of the dominant legal discourse by reproducing it.

Bishop concludes with a demonstration of oppositionality that approximates success within both modern postcolonial legal systems as illustrated in Yodi Karone's Bal des caïmans, Victor Elam Musinga's "The Tragedy of Mr. No-Balance," E. N. Ngwafor's legal textbook, Law in Action, and some actual legal cases as well. Fully oppositional, these narratives avoid falling into the pitfalls of "clando" writing by offering ironic readings of the dominant legal discourse. They invite systemic change by manipulating the system to such a degree that the characters are able to speak under the cover of legal language (Joseph Kengni's play) or patriotism (Bal des caïmans), to reveal the government's hypocrisy and inconsistency, leaving the responsibility of change to the reader. Turning to anglophone legal discourse with its greater freedom of expression, Bishop notes that its narratives nonetheless serve the dominant discourse. However, his ironic reading of the Ngwafor textbook and Musinga play locates the underlying oppositionality that can be found in such anglophone narratives. The study ends by considering how actual witchcraft legal cases function as sites of oppositionality when tradition challenges the courts' authoritarian position of power.

Contemporary Matriarchies in Cameroonian Francophone Literature by Cheryl Thoman follows her earlier work on Thérèse Kuoh-Moukoury; using an afrocentric anthropological perspective, she offers a new reading of fifty years of writing by two generations of Cameroonian women. Her book deals with the pioneers Kuoh-Moukoury (1956) and Marie-Claire Matip (1958), as well as the contemporary writers Werewere Liking, Calixthe...