Download or read book CAM TOK AND OTHER POEMS FROM THE CRADLE written by PETER W.VAKUNTA and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2010-05-28 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cam Tok & Other Poems from the Cradle is the poet’s attempt at capturing in print the orality characteristic of Cameroonian discourse and speech mannerisms of the proverbial man in the street. Pidgin English, also called broken English, is a lingua franca spoken throughout the national territory of Cameroon. Of the over 200 languages spoken in this African country, only Pidgin enjoys the rare privilege of being spoken by people from all social strata and walks of life, regardless of educational standing. Indeed, Pidgin has acquired the status of an independent language in Cameroon.It is no longer restricted to small talk, business and music; it is now the language of Cameroonian literature. Francis Njamnjoh, Patrice Nganang, Kangsen Wakai, Mercédès Fouda, and Gabriel Fonkou to name but a few, have adopted Cam Tok as a medium of expression in their literary works. They continually imprint their creative writing with Pidgin English and Camfranglais words and expressions. These writers constantly resort to pidginization and code-switching as a mode of literary indigenization and cultural appropriation.This anthology of poems is inspired by the poet’s desire to salvage a language that is threatened with asphyxiation by self-styled linguistic purists in Cameroon who have subjected this lingua franca to denigration on account of its being non-standardized. Pidgin English translates the worldview of Cameroonians; it conveys their imagination, sensibilities and lived experiences. Although Pidgin has, hitherto, been regarded as a language used mostly by the not so educated people in Cameroon and beyond, this hybrid language has now gained currency among the elite. Learned Cameroonians often resort to Pidgin English for the purpose of phatic communion in informal circles.
Download or read book Konglanjo written by Bongasu-Tanla-Kishani and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2010 with total page 106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Title poem relates to most important poetry of all ages: It reveals how, in the search for right images, metaphors and most apposite expressions, we often find ourselves listening to the voice that ̀bids us return to our own sources.' Since the poet has discovered the right idioms, he has, throughout the poem, undergone the process of depersonalization, has indeed obtained objectivity: Little of himself is felt in the poem. He obtains this effect by the use of the appropriate voice--That of the priest at the ceremony." Professor Siga Asanga, ABBIA, Cameroon Cultural Review.
Download or read book Under The Broken Scale of Justice The Law and My Times written by Nyo' Wakai and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2008-11-15 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the latent and sometimes overt undercurrents that have shaped the judicial history of Cameroon since the United Nations Trusteeship period. It is an insightful account by a critical observer privileged to serve as Director of Public Prosecutions and a judge in a post-independence context characterized by dual and often conflictual legal systems inspired by French and English colonialism. Justice Nyo'Wakai demonstrates how the conflict of judicial concepts, procedures and usages have led to the Francophone judicial system trying to impose itself on the Anglophone judicial system in Cameroon. Often reduced to toothless bulldogs by new constitutional dispensations informed largely by the French colonial legacy and Francophone realities, Anglophones have bemoaned the independence of the Judiciary identified with their Anglo-Saxon heritage. In the face of such domination and the highhandedness of the Executive, only mature cool headedness and the ability to bend over backwards on the part of Anglophone legal practitioners have contained the explosive situation and allowed for a gradual evolution of the Judicial System in Cameroon.
Download or read book Shadows From The Abyss written by Menkan Mbunda and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2009-05-15 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first volume of a patriotic poet whose heart is on fire. The poems touch on a variety of issues, some personal and private, other public - past and current. They range from family, love and longing; friendship and marriage, to culture, politics, corruption and death. They are cadenced and vibrant with different emotions: nostalgia, regret and outrage; loss, pain and pathos tinged with a touch of wistfulness and irony. In style and themes, they reveal a keen observer, a budding poet struggling to find her stride; to mine the shallows and the deeps of human experience, to give a unique expressive voice to the human condition. With a wide range of emotions, Mbunda touches on a variety of turbulent issues muddying the waters. But she is not without hope; she believes the volcano will only erupt if her call is unheeded.
Download or read book Musings On Ars Poetica written by Bill F. Ndi and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2009 with total page 106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A literary monument erected by a poet for poets with a vision for poetry as a special annunciation and the poet as a seer, spokesperson, recorder, analyst, adjudicator and advocate with poetic vision and poetic understanding. Bill Ndi, the poet has the rare gift of slipping into the self and psyche of his society to empty the dark depths where the treasures of burden and sadness are hidden. He empties and exposes them to the world to see how even personal repression of feelings by far outweighs those imposed throughout History by tyrants. It is above all, his greatest task of filling these depths with the joys and expectations of the society. This objective stance by the poet places him above the fanatic whose subjectivity pushes the world adrift and makes of the poet a universal man of peace.
Download or read book Education of the Deprived written by A. Ambanasom and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2010-07-01 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Education of the Deprived is a perceptive socio-artistic examination of the key works of some major writers of Anglophone Cameroon literary drama today. For over two decades now socio-political developments in Cameroon, including the liberalization of the press, have led to an unprecedented proliferation of political, journalistic and imaginative writings. Availing themselves of their new-found freedom of expression, Cameroonians in general are forcefully articulating their views more than even before, and creative writers, in particular, are artistically recording intimate and painful experiences in the on-going endeavour to make sense of the socio-political environment; they are mapping out, through images and symbols, the peculiar contour of the collective Cameroonian soul. What observers have noticed, with regard to Anglophone Cameroon imaginative writing, however, is that there are few significant critical works to match the burgeoning creative literature. While in the 1970s there was a cry concerning the scarcity of imaginative works by Anglophone Cameroonians, the complaint now, at the turn of the 21st century, is that there is a dearth of critical literature capable of catapulting, on to the international literary scene, the Anglophone Cameroon literature being written. This book covers both traditional and modern drama as written by Anglophones, lays bare the technical differences between the two dramatic traditions, and brings out the central themes developed by these committed dramatists.
Download or read book Dogs in the Sun written by D. Nyamndi and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2009-09-15 with total page 174 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This compelling narrative pits the legacies of two men in the village of Nwemba. Winjala the Crude, yardman to the English surveyor Pete Harrington, kills the latter's favourite animal, the big monkey called Stirrup, and runs to his village. Sama Gakoh, washerman to Harrington, also returns home when his services are terminated for age reasons. Both hold clashing views of the white man. They die shortly after their return but their sons pick up and sustain their conflicting philosophies. The drama culminates in the fishing contest where the village chief, Ndelu, takes an unprecedented decision charged with meaning and wisdom. The action is given piquancy by a strong undercurrent of human passion that flies in the face, so to speak, of artifices that divide and alienate. We are dealing here with a profound allegory that brings the classical stereotypes into pointed - and hopefully final - disrepute.
Download or read book Cameroon The Stakes and Challenges of Governance and Development written by Nsoh Fonchingong and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2009-08-15 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book deals with the important subject of governance and development. Even more significantly, the book has the merits of critically evaluating the concept of good governance in an African context, identifying the internal factors that impinge on good governance and development, and proposing solutions. It provides empirical evidence on the extent to which inappropriate governing strategies are the main internal obstacle to development in Cameroon. The authors discuss factors contributing to precarious and problematic governance from multidisciplinary perspectives, and demonstrate the extent to which such inadequacies impede positive social change. To promote effective development, the authors argue for the implementation of a good governance strategy that comprises, inter alia: adopting appropriate development strategies; decentralizing administration to make for popular participation and ensure accountability; taking the necessary steps to fight corruption; and ensuring the enforcement of property and cultural rights.
Download or read book Africa s Political Wastelands The Bastardization of Cameroon written by Fru Doh and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2008-09-15 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Africa?s Political Wastelands explores and confirms the fact that because of irresponsible, corrupt, selfish, and unpatriotic kleptocrats parading as leaders, the ultimate breakdown of order has become the norm in African nations, especially those south of the Sahara. The result is the virtual annihilation of once thriving and proud nations along with the citizenry who are transformed into wretches, vagrants, and in the extreme, refugees. Doh uses Cameroon as an exemplary microcosm to make this point while still holding imperialist ambitions largely responsible for the status quo in Africa. Ultimately, in the hope of jumpstarting the process, he makes pertinent suggestions on turning the tide on the continent.
Download or read book Cry my Beloved Africa written by Peter W. Vakunta and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2008 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These essays offer observations on the politics, governmental systems, political economy, cultural practices, educational systems and natural phenomena that impact on the lives of Africans.
Download or read book Imperialistic Politics in Cameroun Resistance and the Inception of the Restoration of the Statehood of Southern Cameroons written by Carlson Anyangwe and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2008-08-15 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cameroun Republic, a former French-administered UN Trust Territory granted independence on 1 January 1960. This book focuses on the unresolved Southern Cameroons colonial predicament, giving insightful accounts of how Cameroun Republic hijacked the Southe
Download or read book Born to Rule written by Tah Asongwed and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2009-05-15 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Born to Rule is the autobiography of an African-president monarch who does not want to pass away without leaving anything in writing to future generations. The book is more than just the autobiography of a president in that it has responded to all the key issues that most people have been asking about the development and underdevelopment of Africa. It is a seminal contribution to the world's collective knowledge of African and world history. At times it is compellingly incisive, satiric, and tongue-in-cheek and, in some places, trenchantly hard-hitting and humorous in its brutal portrayal of the way Mandzah and, by extension, the African continent, is managed and mismanaged.
Download or read book Someplace Somewhere written by Beatrice Fri Bime and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2009 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Someplace, Somewhere is an exemplary piece of socio-political satire. It is a collection of short reflective stories that highlight the predicament of a people and exposes the ills of a society where neglect and decay are the nauseating lure and allure of everyday life. Carefully knit, this collection vividly provokes the nostalgia of the round-the-hearth rural evening story-telling atmosphere of yesteryears. Indeed, Bime has this knack for the fine details of story-telling, which blends so magically with her flare of crude humour, a combination that makes her social satire simply irresistible.
Download or read book The Bad Samaritan written by Alobwed'Epie Alobwed'Epie and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2009-10-15 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Bad Samaritan is set in a kleptomaniac and highly corrupt imaginary African country called Ewawa. Due to mismanagement, financial institutions collapse. Salaries are slashed and there is unprecedented unemployment leading to country exodus. Professor Esole and his wife are not only aggrieved by the salary slashes, but also by the dubious closure of the Post Office Savings Bank with their savings. Desperate for money, they resort to borrowing from private sources at exorbitant interest rates. Esole toddles into politics with the aim of righting things. Will his nave approach to politics make or mar?
Download or read book Intimate Strangers written by Francis B. Nyamnjoh and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2010 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Intimate Strangers tells the story of the everyday tensions of maids and madams in ways that bring together different worlds and explore various dimensions of servitude and mobility. Immaculate travels to a foreign land only to find her fianc refusing to marry her. Operating from the margins of society, through her own ingenuity and an encounter with researcher Dr Winter-Bottom Nanny, she is able to earn some money. Will she remain at the margins or graduate into DUST - Diamond University of Science and Technology? Immaculate learns how maids struggle to make ends meet and madams wrestle to keep them in their employ. Resolved to make her disappointments blessings, she perseveres until she can take no more.
Download or read book The Wooden Bicycle and Other Stories written by Tikum Mbah Azonga and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2009 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The wooden bicycle -- Fateful ride -- One way ticket -- One of a kind -- The money -- Moment of truth -- Caught in-between -- A matter of choice -- Daddy's boy -- Chicken soup.
Download or read book ICT and Changing Mindsets in Education written by Kathryn Toure and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2008-07-15 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The debate is no longer whether to use information and communication technologies (ICT) in education in Africa but how to do so, and how to ensure equitable access for teachers and learners, whether in urban or rural settings. This is a book about how Africans adopt and adapt ICT. It is also about how ICT shape African schools and classrooms. Why do we use ICT, or not? Do girls and boys use them in the same ways? How are teachers and students in primary and secondary schools in Africa using ICT in teaching and learning? How does the process transform relations among learners, educators and knowledge construction? This collection by 19 researchers from Africa, Europe, and North America, explores these questions from a pedagogical perspective and specific socio-cultural contexts. Many of the contributors draw on learning theory and survey data from 36 schools, 66000 students and 3000 teachers. The book is rich in empirical detail on the perceived importance and appropriation of ICT in the development of education in Africa. It critically examines the potential for creative use of ICT to question habits, change mindsets, and deepen practice. The contributions are in both English and French.