ABSTRACT
In his seminal work, The African Quest for Freedom and Identity: Cameroonian Writing and the National Experience, Richard Bjornson explains that, “In Africa, as elsewhere, people do not identify only with national communities. Many regard themselves privately as members of ethnic groups, whereas others insist that all Africans belong to the same community” (1991: xii). Most works of fiction from Anglophone Cameroon reflect this ethnic allegiance. While we may be hard pressed to find other explanations for this, in a multilingual nation such as Cameroon whose cultural identity is constantly shaped by forces that emanate from historical experiences of slavery, colonialism, and now globalization, clinging to one’s ethnicity may seem like one way to remain centered from our hybrid multiple selves. Thus, there are works of fiction that reflect ethnic consciousness of the local writers and those that resound nationalistic views. To say that Anglophone literature in writing, as Bjornson observes, is still evolving is an understatement. Worse yet, there is very little literature in writing for Anglophone children. But there are oral narratives, which members of educated elites such as Samuel Akombi, Sarah Elive, Kenjo Wan Jumbam, Sankie Maimo, and Juliana Makuchi from different regions of Anglophone Cameroon have transmitted into print.
