The Lord of Anomy


Book Description

In 1875 the Rozvi Kingdom, now in present day Zimbabwe, is indistinctly besieged from within by the convergence of a missionary, Rev. Holbrook, a militant British bourgeoisie aspiring for knighthood, Sir Crowler, and an immorally amorous war emissary allegedly from King Cetshwayo of the feared Zulu Kingdom. The Zulu ambassador uncompromisingly makes painstaking demands. While Rev. Holbrook is earnest in his endeavours, Sir Crowler is adamant the natives are enemies of both God and Britain meant for annihilation. The elders cannot consult the oracles; all diviners having fled before the arrival of the foreigners. An enigmatic and malicious hermit comes to the fore in the calamitous confusion that ensues. But nobody can tell with certainty if the hermit is messianic or anarchical.




Rock of God


Book Description

Rock of God is a masterful stroke of dramaturgy that compresses both time and situation to enhance its own structural credibility.




Rock of God


Book Description

Rock of God centres on a significant war that Nso fought with Bamoun in the 1880s, and which war resulted in a devastating defeat for the Bamouns. During this war, a major Nso combat rule was broken: the Sultan (king) of Bamoun was decapitated. Both local story tellers and historians have indicated that the Sultan was only supposed to be captured alive. The play explores some very compelling reasons for this violation. It mocks any attempt at categorization because the events involved are as historically relevant as they are anthropologically profound; as literarily dense as they are linguistically compelling. It surely stands on its own because it clearly combines concepts of docu-drama, morality play, classical theatre, historical drama, and much more. But beyond all else, it is great artistry that demonstrates the genius of experimentation.




A Legend of the Dead


Book Description

When the admirable Kevin Beckongncho becomes the new Paramount Chief of the much-coveted throne of Nkokonoko Small Monje as well as its new DO, Chieftaincy could finally be said to have been redeemed. But he quickly becomes a marked man, as he runs into fatal collision with an unscrupulous governmental system with which he cannot co-exist. How this great man suddenly dies, and why his people must not mourn for him, is the unresolved mystery with which Asong closes both the book and his trilogy that includes The Crown of Thorns and No Way to Die.




The Call of Blood


Book Description

"Dramatization of evil ... including teachery, infidelity, greed, hypocrisy, double-crossing and vaulting ambition in a postcolonial society ..."--Page 4 of cover




The State in Africa


Book Description

Introduction -- Framing the problem of the state in Africa -- Historical and theoretical context -- The state in Africa in an era of capitalist globalization : a theoretical exploration -- Slavery and capitalist globalization -- Colonial globalization or the extension of European Westphalian state to Africa -- Decolonizing imperial state in Africa, 1945-60 : plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose -- African developmentalist/nationalist state? -- From welfare/developmentalist to neo-liberal nation state in Africa -- Neo-liberal assault on the state in Africa : roots of state weakness, failure and collapse -- The state in Africa and civil society in historical perspective -- Future of the state in Africa in an era of neoliberal globalization -- An African state is possible : looking back in order to look ahead.




Voicing the Voiceless


Book Description

""Walter Nkwi is one of the first Cameroonian historians to have made an interesting attempt to give the voiceless a voice in national historiography. And, perhaps even more importantly, in doing so he has been able to make an exceptional and excellent contribution to various current debates in African Studies, including the nations of civil society, the politics of belonging, and boundaries".-Piet konings, author, Neoliberal Bandwagonism: Civil Society and the Politics of Belonging in Anglophone Cameroon.




The Crown of Thorns


Book Description

Chief Nchindia held the Elders of his Council in total contempt, inwardly vowing to disagree with them at every point where disagreement was possible. What starts like a big joke develops into grim tragedy: the statue of the god of Nkokonoko Small Monje is discovered to have been stolen and sold to a white man! The tradition demands instant execution of the culprits. Was their Chief involved in the theft? What was worse, the crime or the punishment? Linus Asong was born in the South West Region of Cameroon in 1947. With a combined B.A honours in Education, in 1980 he entered the University of Windsor in Canada whence he graduated with a terminal degree in Creative Writing. He holds an M.A and a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University of Alberta, in Edmonton Canada, and is presently Associate Professor of Literature and Creative Writing at Ecole Normale Superieure Bambili (University of Yaounde 1). Asong is a stand-up humorist, a consummate portrait painter, an accomplished literary scholar, and a celebrated prolific writer with over a dozen novels to his credit.




The Shirburnian Catastrophe


Book Description

As a polygamous Sherburne-educated ruler, a Scottish music aficionado, drools over Mimudeh, a sixteen-year old drum-major in a bagpipe school band, a prophecy given by a royal oracle haunts him. When the schoolgirl's father, an Opposition MP, moves a controversial motion, the child vanishes. Her parents consult the same oracle, which triggers a cyclone as politics, brutality and sexual perversion intersect. The diviner seems to disclose that the schoolgirl is already deflowered. The fiasco ropes in army generals and Mimudeh's heartthrob, Archer McLeod, and everyone is sucked into the eye of the cyclone. Knife-edge drama that pits absurd realities against popular ideals takes centre-stage, rudely offering Archer a lifetime opportunity. But is a move at the end a brainy manoeuvre, a romantic act or a divine solution to a complex equation? The Shirburnian Catastrophe is a contemporary play in two parts; Squaring A Circle (Book I) and Square Circle In A Triangle (Book II). This volume contains both books.




Folktales from the Moose of Burkina Faso


Book Description

The Moogo, the region of the Moose known as Mossi in ancient literatureóoccupies the entire central zone of Burkina Faso. It is divided into several kingdoms, the principal one comprising todayís capital of Ouagadougou. Along with the singing griots, the evening storytellers pass on the ancestral word during the evening gatherings where they provide the group with models to follow. The folktale is the most appropriate form for teaching young children to express themselves, to structure their thoughts, and to reason. The tales portraying familiar animals will be reserved for the group of youngest children. The legendary gluttony and foolishness of Mba-KatrÈ, the hyena, in contrast with the cunning and finesse of Mba-So'mba, the hare, will interest above all children from 10 to 12 years of age. The stories describing the origin of things, the reason for various social taboos, the legitimacy of social functions and structures, as well character flaws that need correcting, are reserved as a priority for adolescents.