Cameroon

Documentary linguists have been often urged to integrate language ideologies and other topics closer to ethnography than to linguistics in their research, but these recommendations have seldom coincided, in literature, with practical directions for their implementation. This paper aims to contribute filling this gap. After re-considering current documentary approaches, a case study from a documentation project in NW Cameroon is presented to show how an ethnographically-informed sociolinguistic survey on multilingualism can lead to progressively deeper insights into the local language ideology. The methodological implications that this research perspective bring to both documentary linguistics and language support and revitalization projects are discussed. A number of practical suggestions are finally proposed, illustrating the importance that language documentation projects are carried out by multidisciplinary teams.

Lower Fungom, in Northwest Cameroon, is one of the most linguistically diverse areas of the Cameroonian Grassfields. Seven languages or small language clusters are spoken in its thirteen villages and five of them are not obviously closely related to each other nor to any other language spoken outside of the region. This paper discusses the non-linguistic factors that may have resulted in this surprising linguistic scenario. The region’s overall ecology is examined and found unable to fully explain the situation. Ethnographic data, collected during recent field work in the area, are considered in the perspective of assessing the degree of correlation between linguistic boundaries and cultural boundaries. The emerging patterns are reviewed in light of oral histories, early colonial documents, and archaeological evidence. The detailed historical framework thus obtained indicates not only that the area has been characterized by a number of immigration events but also that in different periods these events have had different linguistic repercussions. The paper concludes by reconstructing several phases of the linguistic prehistory of Lower Fungom that seem, on the whole, to shed light on the processes that have led to its present linguistic diversity.

De huisjongen, the Dutch translation of Une vie de boy, was published in 1980 by Kosmos and released in two cities: in the publisher’s headquarters in Amsterdam and in its Belgian branch in Antwerp. For Flemish (Dutch-speaking Belgian) readers, the Catholic and French colonial environment described in the novel represented a world that in many ways felt familiar. In the once deeply Catholic Flanders, where French used to be the language spoken by the elite and where the memories of the former colony Belgian Congo are still vivid, people could easily identify themselves with Oyono’s main character Toundi. This was different, however, in the Netherlands, where the memories of the nation’s colonial history are characterized by a predominantly Protestant worldview that primarily evokes images from Southeast Asia. There, in the former Dutch East Indies, it was not the masculine “boy” but the feminine “babu” who used to take care of the household. This explains the decision by the then twenty-seven-year-old Dutch translator of the novel, today’s best-selling author Herman Koch, not to use the word “boy” in the title but to opt for “huisjongen,” meaning the young male housekeeper. In fact, while Flemings are familiar with a word that was commonly used in the Congo, the idea of having a “boy” as housekeeper sounds strange to readers in the Netherlands.
In view of these different associations the novel evoked among Dutch readers as compared to Flemish readers, this article presents two separate analyses of the same translation. One reflects a Dutch perspective on De huisjongen and interprets Toundi as an African Anne Frank, the other reads the novel from a Flemish perspective and interprets Toundi as an African Manneken Pis.

'“When will it end? 1982-201?”

The open-ended question – with the last digit intentionally left out – fills the final screen of Jean-Pierre Bekolo’s most recent film, Le Président (2013).  The question refers to the political tenure of the president of Cameroon, where the film has been banned at all locations, including at L’Institut Français Cameroun (IFC, The French Institute). The IFC plays an important role in providing a venue for film screenings in Cameroon, particularly since the closing of Yaoundé’s movie theatre, Abbia, in 2009. Around the time of the release of Le Président, another Cameroonian filmmaker, Richard Fouofie Djimili, was abducted and tortured for eleven days, allegedly in response to material in his film, 139… The Last Predators (2013, watch the trailer here). Djimili’s fictional film focuses on a 139-year dictatorship in an unnamed African country. According to Times Live, shortly before the filmmaker’s abduction, a friend of Djimili’s received a text message that read, “Tell your friend Richard Fouofie he is digging his own grave. His film is part of a destabilization plot that has already been unmasked. If he wants to play the patriot, he will be decapitated. Victory is near.” Reporters Without Borders has documented other cases of harassment, censoring and imprisoning of Cameroonian artists and journalists. On 6 November 2012, President Paul Biya celebrated 30 years in power and Bekolo has quipped that when Biya was minister in 1962, “Barack Obama was one year old.”  It is in this political context that Bekolo’s film explores a fictional African president’s last days in power....' [from paragraph 1]

Stream sediments play a significant role in geochemistry exploration by identifying possible sources of anomalous element concentration. This work is the baseline stream sediments geochemical study which brings general information on the geochemical dispersion of the metal elements (especially gold) at Gouap-Nkollo prospect (SW Cameroon) with the aim of providing a useful guide for future exploration strategies. For this study a concentration of 47 elements was measured in 10 stream sediment samples using BLEG and ICP-MS methods, but emphasis was given to the following 21 chemical elements: Al, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na, P Ag, Au, B, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Ti, Zn, Ce, La Th, U and Zr. Averaged elemental concentration for each samples obtained by statistical analysis showing patterns of enrichment and depletion which may relate to localized mineralization conditions or local lithological changes. Results showed that the stream sediments have high concentrations of Au, Ce and La with average values of 314.85ppm, 19081ppm and 11808ppm respectively for gold, cerium and lanthanum. Cerium and Lanthanum have considerably high concentrations when compared with other Rare Earth Elements (REE) analyzed. These concentrations represent interesting indices for Au and LREE mineralization’s. The geochemical dispersion of the metal elements (especially gold) reveals that high concentrations are recorded in the northern part of the prospect, close to the quartz-tourmaline vein within the quartzite. This result indicates that the Au and other metal elements probably originated from the quartz-tourmaline veins hosted by surrounding rocks. Detailed exploration work including geochemical soil sampling and geophysical survey is highly recommended in the northern part of the Gouap-Nkollo prospect, where anomalous concentrations of Au were observed, for further investigation.

Background: Early detection of leprosy is important for elimination, but most cases are diagnosed only when lesions occur and nerves and skin are damaged. The determination of the risk of contacts to develop leprosy is still unpredictable, and elimination is not possible as long as contacts can still develop the disease. Methods: A modified PGL-I ELISA using tris-HCl as buffer and D-BSA as antigen evaluated IgM leprosy antibodies for the detection of subclinical leprosy infection and monitor effective chemotherapy. This case-control study took place in a leprosy endemic area among lepers diagnosed clinically and bacteriologically, intra-familial and extra-familial contacts and controls consisting of patients attending a health facility for reasons other than leprosy. Results: The highest mean absorbance of positive sera was from leprosy patients (0.14 ± 0.06), contacts (0.12 ± 0.05) and controls (0.04±0.04). The proportion of sero-positive subjects for IgM anti-bodies to M. leprae was 43.5 % (95% CI: 37.6% - 49.4%). Twenty-three (44.2%) discharged cases since 1985 were still sero-positive for leprosy IgM anti-bodies; 15 years after treatment. We found a risk factor of 6 among contacts and controls suggesting a high level of transmission. Boyo division had a higher seropositivity (51.5%) compared to Mezam division (30%). Positive cases were clustered among students (44.8%), farmers (42.5%), the self-employed (44.7%), those with paid employment (37.5%) and the unemployed (60.0%) (P=0.01). Conclusion: The PGL-I ELISA with D-BSA and tris-HCl as buffer is a useful epidemiological surveillance tool for the detection of sub-clinical leprosy infection and chemotherapy monitoring. The discharged patients who tested positive should be re-evaluated for relapses.

Depuis la fin des années quatre-vingt, une zone transforestière Tchad-République centrafricaine-Cameroun se dessine, polarisée par le marché camerounais de Mbaiboum. Très cosmopolite, ce dernier assure la diffusion des marchandises de provenance nigériane et camerounaise vers la RCA, le Tchad et le Soudan. L'essor récent du marché tient à sa situation de carrefour, à la politique commerciale menée par l'Etat camerounais et, surtout, à l'amélioration des infrastructures de communication. La gestion du marché est assurée d'une main de fer par le Chef peul local, le lamido de Rey Bouda. Compliqué par l'enchevêtrement de plusieurs types de frontières, le fonctionnement de la zone transfrontalière est entravé par les agissements des coupeurs de route et demeure placé sous le sceau de l'incertitude.

Anglo-Saxon campuses in the Francophone section of the country instruct their learners in English Language. This paper examines the language used out of class by learners after receiving instructions in English in the classroom. Two secondary and one higher institutes of learning, which have English as the language of instruction, were sampled. From the observation, which was conducted by silently monitoring pairs or groups of learners conversing with one another, it was discovered that the most spoken language by learners is French. French is just a subject in some of these institutions. The reason for French being highly spoken language on Anglophone campuses is the fact that more Francophones attend these schools than Anglophones and Anglophones struggle to speak French rather than English since they believe that it is already their language. The consequences of “frenchifying” the Anglophone campuses is that spoken French is on the steady rise while spoken English is on the steady decline even among Anglophones on these campuses. This paper therefore proposes that the use of English, out of the classroom, should be encouraged through sensitization and rewards.