Encounter, Transformation, and Identity

Ian Fowler is a Lecturer in Social Anthropology. He has carried out fieldwork in Cameroon over a thirty year period. He is a general editor of the Cameroon Studies Series and has published on material culture, art, ethnicity, history, and politics in Cameroon.

"After turning the last page and closing the book, one is left with profound admiration for not only the wonderful contributions to this edited volume but to the legacy of Shirley Ardener, a woman, mentor, and researcher whose encounter with Cameroon in 1961 left her transformed and transfixed, to which we all owe a tremendous thanks"  ·  Anthropos“Although this book is that reviewer’s nightmare, a Festschrift, its authors and editors have made a serious effort at thematic coherence.”  ·  Journal of African History

• List of maps and figuresNotes on contributorsForeword. Shirley Ardener: A personal noteVerkijika G. FansoPreface. Shirley Ardener: Fortifying Cameroon StudiesMartin Njeuma and Dorothy NjeumaIntroductionIan FowlerChapter 1. Oral traditions and administrative identitiesEdwin ArdenerChapter 2. Epitome of extracts from Hermann Detzner Im Lande des Dju-Dju Berlin: August Scherl, 1923Sally ChilverChapter 3. Von Gravenreuth and Buea as a site of history: early colonial violence on Mount CameroonPeter GeschiereChapter 4. Azi since Conrau: Anthropological and historical perspectivesMichael Mbapndah Ndobegang and Fiona BowieChapter 5. The submerged history of Nsanakang: A glimpse into an Anglo-German encounterUte RöschenthalerChapter 6. The latent struggle for identity and autonomy in the southern Cameroons, 1916-1946Verkijika G. FansoChapter 7. Titi Ikoli revisited: Fetishism, gender and power in transitional forest economies of the Upper Cross River borderlands, 1920s-1990sCaroline IfekaChapter 8. Commemorating women in a patrilineal societyMargaret Niger-ThomasChapter 9. The challenge of multi-sited ethnographyFiona BowieChapter 10. The essentialist temptation: Eucharistic meal and identity in postcolonial African CatholicismLado LudovicChapter 11. Making a difference in north-south relationships: Public and private spheres and the role of the human seed in networking for local developmentJoyce Endeley and Nalova LyongaAppendix: Extracts on the Widekum and the Tikar taken from notes on the Bamenda grassfieldsSally Chilver and Phyllis KaberryCombined referencesIndex