Critical Perspectives on Cameroon Writing

17. The Black Condition: Material Wretchedness Versus Moral Integrity in Remy Gilbert Medou-Mvomo’s Le Journal De Faliou

201 17 The Black Condition: Material Wretchedness Versus Moral Integrity In Remy Gilbert Medou-Mvomo’s Le Journal De Faliou Abimne Njinjoh Ecole Normale Superieure University of Yaounde I Abstract Few Cameroonian authors in search of self- fulfilment and wholesome have been so committed, penetrating and outspoken in depicting the wretched pathetic condition of the black man both at home and abroad, as Remy Gilbert Medou-Mvomo. This paper sets out therefore to highlight and elucidate the wandering character of Medou-Mvomo’s protagonist in Le journal de Faliou ( 1972) for whom self-fulfilment is hard to come because of the critical and desperate problems of unemployment that beset the modern African intellectual, who has become not only a misfit but also a “wanted” person in his decadent post-independent society. Having been reduced to rootless individuals by a dehumanizing system Medou Mvomo’s characters drift painfully and desperately in search of recognition love, identity, a means of livelihood or even mere shelter from the hostile environment, but thanks to their hard moral principles and optimism they still put on cheerful willing faces to contribute their honest share towards national construction and harmonious living. Because of material wretchedness wrought upon them by a vile, unscrupulous, insensitive and inhuman system, they hardly ever fulfil themselves and’ often than not, barely manage to sustain the delicate balance between life and The paper also attempts to unfold the regrettable “underworld” sub-human con of Medou-Mvomo’s characters in Le journal de Faliou with the aim of see’ equitable solution to the material and moral void that has plagued our beloved 202 naturally endowed nation today placing it visibly among the poorest on the African continent. Introduction The crucial problem of individual self-fulfilment and authenticity in post-independent African states has since been the concern of many African writers, critics, and political leaders alike. But few Cameroonian authors in search of wholesome being have been so committed, penetrating and outspoken in depicting the wretched and pathetic condition of the black man, both at home and abroad, as my Gilbert Medou-Mvomo. His three works to date: Afrika Ba ‘a (1969), Mon amour en noir et blanc, (1971) and Le journal de Faliou (1972) are eloquent testimonies of this. The uprooted and wandering character of Medou-Mvomo’s protagonists for whom self-fulfilment is hard to come by is, to a large extent, a reflection of the novelist’s personal experiences ( I ) accounting for the near desperate but unbending and optimistic quest for personal and socio-political balance recorded in his works. Afrika Ba’a is concerned with the multiple socio-political problems of rural/urban migration and the difficult choice between materialistic city tendencies and reliance on the natural potentialities of the soil in order to enhance the wel1-being of post-independence African rural communities. Mon amour en noire et blanc examines personal relations across the complex psycho-sociological character of black and white relationships and the problems of interracial love and marriage in a Western European context. Le journal de Faliou which will constitute the central focus of this paper, tackles the critical and desperate personal problems of unemployment and material wretchedness that beset the modern African intellectual, who has become not only a misfit but also a “wanted” person in this decadent post-independent society. In our examination of material wretchedness versus moral or spiritual integrity in Medou Mvomo’s Le journal de Faliou, room will also be provided for material from his other works and those of other authors whenever necessary and relevant to the discussion. 203 Medou-Mvomo is chiefly preoccupied with this deplorable and perilous subhuman condition of the post-independent African, the laissez-faire attitude of African leaders and the resulting dehumanizing psycho-sociological racial and economic perils that confront his black protagonists in their legitimate struggle to keep body and soul together. Set in a world heavily afflicted by corruption, tribalism, nepotism, hatred, opportunism, ignorance and misery, Medou-Mvomo’s characters are permanently used and torn by these social maladies. Having been reduced to rootless individuals, wandering from place to place, from one situation to another - drifting painful1y desperately in search of recognition, love, identity, a means of livelihood or even mere shelter from the hostile environment, they still, thanks to their hard moral convictions and optimism put on cheerful willing faces to contribute their honest are towards national construction and harmonious...