- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226026114
- eISBN:
- 9780226026138
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226026138.003.0004
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
This chapter examines the impact of German imperialism on slavery in the Cameroon Grassfields. It suggests that the German presence in the Grassfields not only increased the taking of slaves under ...
More
This chapter examines the impact of German imperialism on slavery in the Cameroon Grassfields. It suggests that the German presence in the Grassfields not only increased the taking of slaves under the guise of labor recruitment but also seriously destabilized the region. The chapter also contends that the cannibal witchcraft discourse doubles the violence and uncertainty of life in postcolonial Cameroon. It argues that the silences imposed by the extreme violence and political polarization of the Grassfields have given rise not only to veiled discourses and oral practices of remembering which link the past to a doubled and fractured present, but also to a nondiscursive phenomenon that equally addresses the experiences of both the slave trade and forced labor.Less
This chapter examines the impact of German imperialism on slavery in the Cameroon Grassfields. It suggests that the German presence in the Grassfields not only increased the taking of slaves under the guise of labor recruitment but also seriously destabilized the region. The chapter also contends that the cannibal witchcraft discourse doubles the violence and uncertainty of life in postcolonial Cameroon. It argues that the silences imposed by the extreme violence and political polarization of the Grassfields have given rise not only to veiled discourses and oral practices of remembering which link the past to a doubled and fractured present, but also to a nondiscursive phenomenon that equally addresses the experiences of both the slave trade and forced labor.
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226026114
- eISBN:
- 9780226026138
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226026138.003.0006
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
This chapter focuses on the military training of youth in the Cameroon Grassfields. The opportunity for marginalized young boys to acquire a military training would have been unheard of before the ...
More
This chapter focuses on the military training of youth in the Cameroon Grassfields. The opportunity for marginalized young boys to acquire a military training would have been unheard of before the arrival of the Germans. In addition to the trained palace corps of bodyguards kept by those Grassfields fons who were allied with the Germans, schoolboys taught by the missionaries were also encouraged to adopt the bodily postures and practice of the German military. The chapter also discusses the opportunity for these cadets to take pleasure in the performances of the terror masks that seem to orchestrate their own subjection.Less
This chapter focuses on the military training of youth in the Cameroon Grassfields. The opportunity for marginalized young boys to acquire a military training would have been unheard of before the arrival of the Germans. In addition to the trained palace corps of bodyguards kept by those Grassfields fons who were allied with the Germans, schoolboys taught by the missionaries were also encouraged to adopt the bodily postures and practice of the German military. The chapter also discusses the opportunity for these cadets to take pleasure in the performances of the terror masks that seem to orchestrate their own subjection.
Pierpaolo Di Carlo and Jeff Good
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780197265765
- eISBN:
- 9780191771958
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265765.003.0012
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Language Families
Losses associated with language endangerment need not be restricted to individual language systems but can also involve the disappearance of distinctive language ecologies. This chapter explores the ...
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Losses associated with language endangerment need not be restricted to individual language systems but can also involve the disappearance of distinctive language ecologies. This chapter explores the language dynamics of the Lower Fungom region of Northwest Cameroon, which offers an extreme case of linguistic diversity, from an areal and ethnographically informed perspective. Key aspects of local language ideologies are explored in detail, and it is argued that in this area languages symbolize relatively ephemeral political formations and, hence, should not be taken as reflections of deeply rooted historical identities. This conclusion has significance both regarding how research projects in the area should be structured as well as for what it might mean to ‘preserve’ the languages of a region that historically appears to have been characterized by frequent language loss and emergence, conditioned by changes in territorial and political configurations.Less
Losses associated with language endangerment need not be restricted to individual language systems but can also involve the disappearance of distinctive language ecologies. This chapter explores the language dynamics of the Lower Fungom region of Northwest Cameroon, which offers an extreme case of linguistic diversity, from an areal and ethnographically informed perspective. Key aspects of local language ideologies are explored in detail, and it is argued that in this area languages symbolize relatively ephemeral political formations and, hence, should not be taken as reflections of deeply rooted historical identities. This conclusion has significance both regarding how research projects in the area should be structured as well as for what it might mean to ‘preserve’ the languages of a region that historically appears to have been characterized by frequent language loss and emergence, conditioned by changes in territorial and political configurations.
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226026114
- eISBN:
- 9780226026138
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226026138.003.0002
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
This chapter, which examines the discourses of centrality and marginality in the Cameroon Grassfields during the pre-colonial era, analyzes from an anthropological standpoint the ways in which the ...
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This chapter, which examines the discourses of centrality and marginality in the Cameroon Grassfields during the pre-colonial era, analyzes from an anthropological standpoint the ways in which the past continues to inform social relations between youth and elites in the present. It explores the legitimating effects that ritual practices had for the elites who deployed them and describes the appropriations these ritual practices have undergone at the hands of the marginalized youth who had little to gain from exclusive hierarchies.Less
This chapter, which examines the discourses of centrality and marginality in the Cameroon Grassfields during the pre-colonial era, analyzes from an anthropological standpoint the ways in which the past continues to inform social relations between youth and elites in the present. It explores the legitimating effects that ritual practices had for the elites who deployed them and describes the appropriations these ritual practices have undergone at the hands of the marginalized youth who had little to gain from exclusive hierarchies.
Nicolas Argenti
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226026114
- eISBN:
- 9780226026138
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226026138.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
The young people of the Cameroon Grassfields have been subject to a long history of violence and political marginalization. For centuries the main victims of the slave trade, they became prime ...
More
The young people of the Cameroon Grassfields have been subject to a long history of violence and political marginalization. For centuries the main victims of the slave trade, they became prime targets for forced labor campaigns under a series of colonial rulers. Today's youth remain at the bottom of the fiercely hierarchical and polarized societies of the Grassfields, and it is their response to centuries of exploitation that this book takes up. Beginning his study with a political analysis of youth in the Grassfields from the eighteenth century to the present, the author pays special attention to the repeated violent revolts staged by young victims of political oppression. He then combines this history with extensive ethnographic fieldwork in the Oku chiefdom, discovering that the specter of past violence lives on in the masked dance performances that have earned intense devotion from today's youth. The author contends that by evoking the imagery of past cataclysmic events, these masquerades allow young Oku men and women to address the inequities they face in their relations with elders and state authorities today.Less
The young people of the Cameroon Grassfields have been subject to a long history of violence and political marginalization. For centuries the main victims of the slave trade, they became prime targets for forced labor campaigns under a series of colonial rulers. Today's youth remain at the bottom of the fiercely hierarchical and polarized societies of the Grassfields, and it is their response to centuries of exploitation that this book takes up. Beginning his study with a political analysis of youth in the Grassfields from the eighteenth century to the present, the author pays special attention to the repeated violent revolts staged by young victims of political oppression. He then combines this history with extensive ethnographic fieldwork in the Oku chiefdom, discovering that the specter of past violence lives on in the masked dance performances that have earned intense devotion from today's youth. The author contends that by evoking the imagery of past cataclysmic events, these masquerades allow young Oku men and women to address the inequities they face in their relations with elders and state authorities today.
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226026114
- eISBN:
- 9780226026138
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226026138.003.0005
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
This chapter examines three performances closely associated with some of the major ceremonies of the palace of Oku, focusing on the significance of their present form in light of what we know of the ...
More
This chapter examines three performances closely associated with some of the major ceremonies of the palace of Oku, focusing on the significance of their present form in light of what we know of the practices that gave the slave trade its particular experiential or lived reality in the Cameron Grassfields and beyond. It suggests that the identification between masks and cannibal witches points to the close connection between masking and the slave trade. The chapter also contends that performances of masked dance groups bring out the association of masks with slaves and caravan porters in an embodied form.Less
This chapter examines three performances closely associated with some of the major ceremonies of the palace of Oku, focusing on the significance of their present form in light of what we know of the practices that gave the slave trade its particular experiential or lived reality in the Cameron Grassfields and beyond. It suggests that the identification between masks and cannibal witches points to the close connection between masking and the slave trade. The chapter also contends that performances of masked dance groups bring out the association of masks with slaves and caravan porters in an embodied form.
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226026114
- eISBN:
- 9780226026138
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226026138.003.0003
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
This chapter examines the palace masks of the Cameroon Grassfields, focusing on the four masks belonging to the palace kwifon society in the chiefdom of Oku. It explains that these masks depict ...
More
This chapter examines the palace masks of the Cameroon Grassfields, focusing on the four masks belonging to the palace kwifon society in the chiefdom of Oku. It explains that these masks depict fearsome creatures with a redoubtable and excessive tendency to violence, and investigates why such masks can be a source of pleasure and attraction to those who come to see them despite their being universally acknowledged as dangerous, frightening, and repulsive. The chapter also analyzes the witchcraft discourses of the Grassfields in the context of the slave trade, which clearly contributed to their genesis and their present structure.Less
This chapter examines the palace masks of the Cameroon Grassfields, focusing on the four masks belonging to the palace kwifon society in the chiefdom of Oku. It explains that these masks depict fearsome creatures with a redoubtable and excessive tendency to violence, and investigates why such masks can be a source of pleasure and attraction to those who come to see them despite their being universally acknowledged as dangerous, frightening, and repulsive. The chapter also analyzes the witchcraft discourses of the Grassfields in the context of the slave trade, which clearly contributed to their genesis and their present structure.
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226026114
- eISBN:
- 9780226026138
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226026138.003.0009
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
This chapter discusses the cyclical nature of slavery and the slave trade in the Cameroon Grassfields. It explains that the slave trade and forced labor introduced during the colonial period were ...
More
This chapter discusses the cyclical nature of slavery and the slave trade in the Cameroon Grassfields. It explains that the slave trade and forced labor introduced during the colonial period were taken over by the elites of the strongest states in the Grassfields who had established themselves as middlemen for the colonial authorities. With the emergence of the postcolonial state, the majority of the young, the poor, and women were once again marginalized and exploited by their own elites and a new predatory state.Less
This chapter discusses the cyclical nature of slavery and the slave trade in the Cameroon Grassfields. It explains that the slave trade and forced labor introduced during the colonial period were taken over by the elites of the strongest states in the Grassfields who had established themselves as middlemen for the colonial authorities. With the emergence of the postcolonial state, the majority of the young, the poor, and women were once again marginalized and exploited by their own elites and a new predatory state.
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226026114
- eISBN:
- 9780226026138
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226026138.003.0007
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
This chapter examines the numerous masks of the peripheral lineages of the outlying villages of the Oku chiefdom in the Cameroon Grassfields and the counterdiscourse that they may engender among ...
More
This chapter examines the numerous masks of the peripheral lineages of the outlying villages of the Oku chiefdom in the Cameroon Grassfields and the counterdiscourse that they may engender among those excluded from the palatine hierarchy. It describes the subtle transformations that the dominant palace model of group masking underwent as it devolved to the village. The chapter also analyzes how cadets, in addition to their agonistic engagement with the masks of the palace, contest the elite discourse of masking by producing their own masks and performing their own masquerades in the outlying villages of the chiefdom.Less
This chapter examines the numerous masks of the peripheral lineages of the outlying villages of the Oku chiefdom in the Cameroon Grassfields and the counterdiscourse that they may engender among those excluded from the palatine hierarchy. It describes the subtle transformations that the dominant palace model of group masking underwent as it devolved to the village. The chapter also analyzes how cadets, in addition to their agonistic engagement with the masks of the palace, contest the elite discourse of masking by producing their own masks and performing their own masquerades in the outlying villages of the chiefdom.
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226026114
- eISBN:
- 9780226026138
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226026138.003.0008
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
This chapter focuses on memorial celebration and the so-called dancing death in the Cameroon Grassfields. A memorial celebration is always held in the compound of the lineage head of the deceased and ...
More
This chapter focuses on memorial celebration and the so-called dancing death in the Cameroon Grassfields. A memorial celebration is always held in the compound of the lineage head of the deceased and timed to occur just after the corn harvest. The chapter also explains that the entire masking group performs at the dancing death, and that the feasting and dance of memorial celebrations are spread over four days.Less
This chapter focuses on memorial celebration and the so-called dancing death in the Cameroon Grassfields. A memorial celebration is always held in the compound of the lineage head of the deceased and timed to occur just after the corn harvest. The chapter also explains that the entire masking group performs at the dancing death, and that the feasting and dance of memorial celebrations are spread over four days.
