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Relatively recent Bantu-speaking migrants to central Cameroon, the Beti have had an eventful history. Based on extensive interviews and traditional Beti (Fang) poetry, in addition to German and French archival sources, the author of this readable study recreates the social structure of the Beti and their self-perceptions in pre-colonial times, their disruptive encounters with first German (1880-1918) and then French (1918-1960) colonialism, until Cameroon’s independence.
“The first quality that captivates the reader of this unusual book on a segmentary society in confrontation with colonial modernity is the particularly meticulous identification of the sources…it…opens access to the life and words of prominent and brilliant Beti men who struggled, in their own day, with their own questions and answers.” · Journal of African History
Introduction
Chapter 1. Traditional Beti Society
Chapter 2. Social Organization and the Sso Rite
Chapter 3. “In the Time of Major Dominik”: The Beti and the Germans, 1887–1916
Chapter 4. The German Presence: Traders and Missionaries
Chapter 5. The Beti and the French
Chapter 6. Times of Expansion: The Inland Railroad, Cocoa Production, the Catholic Church
Chapter 7. The Beti from World War II to Independence
Conclusion
Appendix I: Traditional Beti Literature
Appendix II: Aspects of Traditional Beti Society, by Abbé Theodore Tsala
Appendix III: English Translation of Appendix II
Annex
Abbia Stones, by Frederick Quinn
Eight Beti Stones, by Frederick Quinn
Bibliography
Index