Contemporary Matriarchies in Cameroonian Francophone Literature: 'On est ensemble' by Cheryl Toman (review)

Book Reviews1 93 of interest to scholars and students of Francophone literature, and particularly women's fiction. Marie-Agnès SourieauFairfield University Toman, Cheryl. Contemporary Matriarchies in Cameroonian Francophone Literature: On est ensemble. ' Birmingham, AL: Summa Publications, 2008. Pp 187. ISBN 978-1-883479-60-2. $45.95 (Hardcover). In this engaging critical analysis of matriarchy in Cameroonian culture today, Cheryl Toman discusses women's roles in African society through the works of five representative female writers: Marie-Claire Matip, Thérèse KuohMoukoury , Werewere Liking, Calixthe Beyala, and Philomène Bassek. In the introduction, the study defines the author's methodology and identifies anthropology as the most appropriate analytical tool to correctly investigate Cameroonian women's writing. The author argues that an "Afrocentric" discourse needs to be developed and points out the inadequacy of Western feminist criticism to successfully address the complexity of gender relations in an African context. In particular, Toman suggests that matriarchy should be interpreted from within after taking into account elements such as social and religious rituals, ethnicity, and history. The study's strong emphasis on anthropology as a critical method of investigation complements the author's primary objective which, as stated in the introduction, is to offer a comprehensive overview of Cameroonian Francophone women's writing from a historical and literary perspective. For this, each of the five chapters is dedicated to the in-depth analysis of contemporary female writers whose work illustrates the fundamental aspects of the African idea of matriarchy. The five authors discussed in the book all embody examples of a positive matriarchal system, based on the key concept of female solidarity as a means to prevent or reverse instances of abuse at the hand of the male power-holders. Marie-Claire Matip's autobiographical book Ngonda, discussed in Chapter I, is exemplary of the aforementioned essential trope of solidarity. Published in 1958, shortly before Cameroon's independence in 1960, the short novel recounts the all-feminine group rituals of women owning and working the land, helping one another and providing nourishment to others. The novel also emphasizes women's roles as mothers, their power to create life and to symbolically contribute to the birth oftheir new independent nation. Female solidarity and respect for traditions are also key elements in the writing of Thérèse Kuoh-Moukoury, whose work is analyzed in Chapter II. Rather than endorsing the Western feminist view of woman as "slave" within the framework of marriage and motherhood, Kuoh-Moukoury's idea of a matriarcat nouveau calls for a continued respect for women's roles as mothers 194Women in French Studies and wives, both of which are seen as representing instances of female empowerment. Chapter III discusses the unique approach to matriarchy of Werewere Liking's innovative writing. Deeply seeded in the traditions and rituals of her native Bassa region, Liking's work puts forth the particularly notable idea of gender complementarity. Unlike in the West, African matriarchy does not advocate equality of men and women. The male and female genders are seen as different yet necessary to one another as they balance each other out. A similar yet more radically feminist theory is elaborated by Calixthe Beyala and summed up by her neologism, féminitude. As chapter IV describes, Beyala argues that women should not wish to trade places with men in society: her idea of an all-African feminism is based on women finding strength through solidarity. Her early novels do not display any example ofpositive male models in a society devastated by violence, poverty, and debauchery, thus suggesting a strong sisterhood among women as the only hope for Cameroon's future. The last chapter, dedicated to Philomène Bassek, discusses her novel, La Tache de sang, and its strong political undertones. Bassek's work tackles Cameroon's strict policies on abortion through the story of a mature woman who is pushed by her well-educated daughter to end a dangerous pregnancy against her husband's wishes. The novel is yet another representation of female solidarity in Cameroonian matriarchy, well exemplified in the anlu ritual, explained at length here as the overturning of male power (the strict abortion laws in this case) at the...