Oral history, collective memory and socio-political criticism: A study of popular culture in Cameroon
DOI :
https://doi.org/10.4314/tvl.v53i1.11Mots-clés :
Cameroonian popular culture, collective memory, oral literature, sociopolitical criticismRésumé
The growing popularity of contemporary Cameroonian popular cultural production is a significant indication of the value attached to the medium as well as the appreciation of the opportunity offered by the Biya regime. As opposed to the Ahidjo era, Cameroonian popular cultural products today are preoccupied with the daily concerns of the society at large and the masses in particular who have appropriated the art, with its evolving thematic and stylistic focus, thereby making it suitable as a veritable avenue for the representation of voices. Also considered as new forms of oral literature, pop culture owes invaluable contribution to public social discourse. There is no denying therefore that the present form of popular culture is a hybrid of folk or traditional art customized in step with the exigencies of contemporary Cameroonian society. This paper articulates the relationship between historico-social reality and popular culture showing how Cameroonian popular cultural musicians use history and social realities as raw material for the configuration of creative ideology. It further demonstrates that without forfeiting artistic grandeur, popular culture acts as a reservoir of memory, collective experience and sociopolitical criticism.
Téléchargements
Références
Ake, Claude. The Feasibility of Democracy in Africa. Dakar: CODESRIA, 2003.
Barber, Karin et al. West African Popular Theatre. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1997.
Barber, Karin. “Popular Arts in Africa.” N.d. 30 Sept. 2015. <http://www.artafrica.info/novos-pdfs/artigo_24-en.pdf>.
Dieudonné, Panya. Interviewed by Donatus Fai Tangem. 16 Nov. 2013.
Fandio, Pierre. “‘Anglophone Cameroon Literature at the Crossroads’: Pierre Fandio in Conversation with Cameroonian Writer, Bate Besong.” ALA Bulletin 30.2/30.3 (Fall/Winter 2005): 90–104.
Fanon, Frantz. Towards the African Revolution. Trans. Haakon Chevalier. New York: Monthly Review Press, 1967.
Forgacs, David and Geoffrey Nowell-Smith, eds. Antonio Gramsci: Selections from Cultural Writings. Cambridge: Harvard U P, 1991.
freemuse.org. “Free-for-download album in support of Lapiro de Mbanga.” Freemuse. 6 Jan. 2010. 30 Sept. 2015. <http://freemuse.org/archives/1531>.
Mbuagbaw, Robert Brain & Robin Palmer. A History of Cameroon. New Edition. Hong Kong: Longman, 1987.
liberté d’association loi n° 90/053 du 19 Décembre 1990.
Memmi, Albert. The Colonizer and the Colonized. Trans. Howard Greenfeld. Boston: Beacon Press, 1965.
Meyer, Thomas. Social Democracy: An Introduction. India: Friedrich Ebert-Stiftung, n.d.
Ngoh, Victor Julius. Cameroon 1884–1985: A Hundred Years of History. Limbe: Navi Group Publication, 1987.
Rodney, Walter. How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. Abuja: Panaf Publishing, 2009.
Trotsky, Leon. Art and Revolution: Writings on Literature, Politics and Culture. New York: Pathfinder, 2003.
Téléchargements
Publiée
Numéro
Rubrique
Licence
(c) Copyright Tydskrif vir Letterkunde 2016
![Creative Commons License](http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-sa/4.0/88x31.png)
Ce travail est disponible sous licence Creative Commons Attribution - Partage dans les Mêmes Conditions 4.0 International.