Appeared for the first time in Cameroon Tribune of Wednesday, November 27, 1985.
Sankie Maimo’s much assaulted article, which appeared in the Cameroon Tribune issues of Wednesday, September 19, 1979 and of Wednesday, September 26, 1979, respectively, under the rather lengthy and pedantic title of “Literary Lag in English-speaking Cameroon – June 1979 Abbia Editorialist unwittingly Lost His Spear at First Cast”, marks, in my opinion, a decisive turning-point in the critical appreciation of Anglophone literature in this country.
I see it as a dramatic attempt to rescue our literature from the clutches of a select, or self-appointed few, who have so far been taking pride in dissecting our works on the alien altars of ancient Greece and Rome. Maimo’s resolute call for our literature to be appraised within the context of our socio-cultural and political realities is praiseworthy indeed. Whether one agrees with his rather belligerent approach, or not, is quite another matter altogether.
The temple of learning is still silent.
It is unfortunate that the thick dust of controversy, which his article whipped up tended to shroud a number of important points he set out to address and which, to his credit, he did wrestle with remarkably well. To my knowledge – and I may be wrong here, I will bow to correction – no one else before Maimo, or since his article appeared, had placed their finger so well on the pulse of the problems plaguing the Anglophone writer in this country today. He discusses, among other things, the difficulties of publishing and book distribution and sales from first hand experience since, as a writer, he has had to face the wall of reticence publishers so often erect between our writers and themselves.
Another point of contention which Maimo deals with, and which is central to this article, is that of the neglect of our writers and their works by those best suited to promote them: our literary critics. Faithful to his reputation as a man who is never scared to speak his mind, Maimo lunges out at the University of Yaounde, scoring direct hits at Department of African Literature, which he accuses of not doing enough to publicise the works of our writers. “Perhaps the (the members of that Department) are merely scared of local material”, wonders an embittered Maimo. “One is at a loss as to why they seem to say nothing about any literary activity around here. Their silence is suspicious (sic)… The Department of African Studies should make efforts at giving publicity to Cameroon works. That seems to me to be their sacred duty. If they fail there, where can we turn to? Surely giving publicity to such works, or actually putting them in the curriculum, would encourage local talent.”
Even though at first glance such statements may sound like the generalizations of a literary heretic eager to ignite the fuse of a controversy – and there was indeed an animated and at times quite acrimonious debate over his views – a closer look does tend to vindicate him. If we take careful stock of the years since Maimo spoke out against the silence at the University over our literary works, we are left wondering if anything has changed at all. If one were to put aside the few foreigners, who have made mention of the development of our literature mainly in foreign publications that are hardly ever available to our people, the contribution of our university in this area does seem to me to be rather negligible. There are, of course, a few solo performances worthy of notice, which occasionally flash like a comet across the dark sky of literary appreciation at the University and then fade away just as fast. Bole Butake’s and Victor Tarkang’s muscled introductions to Mesack Takere’s Kingfisher poetry series are praiseworthy efforts to emulate.
One wonders if the reticence at the university is due to a lack of an adequate forum for critical expression. But then, what of our newspapers? Our critics may feel that the editorial and print qualities of our newspapers are not much to write home about, but when you come to think of it, what else do we have? We can help improve the quality of our much battered newspapers by exposing our writers in them. For the moment, let me say that Anglophone writers are still looking up to our University for more attention.
Would it not be a marvelous idea if, in the not-too-distant future, the English Department theatre group, under the dynamic Ndumbe Eyo, who recently received a well-deserved ovation for his production of Bole Butake’s play The Rape of Michelle, were to join hands with, say, the Musinga Group in Buea to tour our provinces to give the masses a delightful treat to some of Musinga’s plays that are so well suited to the mood in the country today? For, it should be stressed that before rigour and moralization became the political gospel of the new Biya administration, Victor Musinga, perhaps more than any other Anglophone writer in this country, has long been involved in a one-man crusade to reform our society through his plays.
If University theatre groups were to go beyond the confines of the University to produce more plays by non-University writers, they would be pumping quite a puff of fresh air into our literary arena which, contrary to what some people may think, is simmering with much creativity. This may be a point worthy of weighty consideration.
The Radio Literary Half-Hour
The radio is an excellent medium for promoting especially new writers. There is no doubt that the founding father, or fathers, of the weekly Tuesday evening radio progamme “Literary Half-Hour” had such a lofty aim in mind. However, I am of the opinion that that programme in its present state needs to be radically overhauled. The guests on it are too predictable since they are almost always the same people, parading in and out of the radio station saying almost the same thing each time. We are either presented an already well-known writer, who discusses works that are already known to all and sundry, or a Dr. so-and-so, or a Professor so-and-so, torn away from his or her books at the University and dragged, kicking and screaming, to the radio to churn out stale and sometimes over-whipped ideas that at times have no bearing whatsoever with literature or creative writing.
Yet, there is budding talent holed up in many of the mosquito-and-cockroach infested plank or mud houses which are what most of our writers can afford as housing in our cities. Young and not-so-young men and women are eager to stand up and spray us with fresh creative ideas; those are the people to look for, those are the people to give air-time to, those are surely the people to encourage. I am sure that if the producer of the programme in question were to appeal to people to come forward with their writings, that programme would be greatly rejuvenated.
I believe it is not premature either to hope that once our television cameras become a permanent feature of our daily life, their lights shall be turned on our writers as well. Our battered and much maligned press Those of us who were fortunate enough to have been around during the early part of the 1960’s still carry in our hearts and minds the unforgettable memories of a once very robust, vibrant and boisterous Anglophone press in this country.
Unfortunately, we watched helplessly as it was bullied and brutalized into submission, becoming one of the casualties of the former schizophrenic regime whose demise has been greeted with such obvious relief throughout the nation. Now we are left with badly battered newspapers that are still staggering about, trying to find an accommodating spot around the promising warmth that is empurpling the sky of the Biya New Deal promises. Shall they be able to find one? That is the question.
One can only hope that the tribulations some of our newspapers still occasionally suffer can be attributed only to the over-zealousness of a handful of hardcore, incompetent and reactionary censors, seasoned on the intolerance of the past and who, if not checked, are likely to subvert the freedom of the press and of expression which we have been yearning to have in this country for over one quarter of a century and which is just beginning to sprout.
As we wait to see what is in store for our newspapers, we can perhaps put them to better use for our literature. Why not use them as a forum for exposing our writers and their works? There are already some timid attempts in that direction by Cameroon Tribune which has opened a poet’s corner. Even though the bulk of the verses in it are usually mere insipid praises of the government couched in hackneyed expressions, a few exceptions do hit you with a refreshing suddenness. I am thinking particularly of Germanius Nchanji’s contributions, which have a gushing quality of freshness about them and one wishes those poems were put together and published in a book form.
One would suggest that Cameroon Tribune open a similar column for short stories and even novels which can be serialized. It is always such a delight to pick up most Nigerian or Ghanaian newspapers and see how much room is usually devoted in them to creative writing.
It should be pointed out to those who are still skeptical about the effectiveness of newspapers in fostering creative writing that newspapers have played and still play a preponderant part in promoting writers in other parts of the world. Take, for example, the case of Europe, especially during the tail-end of the last century. At that time, the number of educated people on the continent and in England combined might not even have been as high as what we have in Cameroon today. Charles Dickens in England and Emile Zola in France, to name only those two literary giants, gained notoriety mainly by serializing their works in newspapers to the utmost delight of a knowledge-hungry populace. Why can we not do the same thing with our writers?
If our newspaper editors and publishers agree to open the columns of their papers to creative writers, they would be doing everyone a great service. They would boost the sale of their papers, since an interesting story is likely to attract a large readership, and, at the same time, expose our writers to book publishers, who might be rummaging around in search of good material for novels or short stories.
The educational role of the press cannot be overemphasized. A population that reads the papers (and listens to the radio), is a population that is likely to be better informed of the realities of the day. And if one of those realities is the position of the artists in our society today, then the better for us all.
Very interesting. I am reading Makuchi now. I will look on your site for further recommendations on Cameroon literature.
Posted by: Susan Malter | February 06, 2013 at 08:06 PM