The Absurd and the Cameroonian Tragedy at Decolonization

written by Benjamin Hart Fishkin

The Writings of Emmanuel Fru Doh

The Cameroons is in the grips of a perpetual tailspin. The confusion and lack of clarity in the nation threaten everyone’s sanity. The Absurd and the Cameroonian Tragedy at Decolonization dissects these ills and tries to isolate what has caused them: emotional bankruptcy. Family life cannot survive in such an environment; which has been split down the middle since 1961. Political reality and slipshod behavior underlie the dystopian snare in which British Southern Cameroons finds itself within La République du Cameroun. Doh’s narrative points to confusion and La République du Cameroun’s bad faith dealings with British Southern Cameroons. This orphan in the storm quality extends to a far reach with The Absurd … looking at the storm clouds that create such misery. Doh’s characters have no control in a Francophone majority dominated world. This helplessness creates emotional stress and a severe breakdown requiring professional help.

The social, political, and economic deficits are consequences of colonialism and the complicity of Francophone abettors of imperial exploitation. Africa is a marionette dancing on someone else’s string. This book looks at theft, and the way in which kleptocracy at the governmental level has ripped the heart, spirit, and energy out of The Cameroons and shows how Doh’s literature deals with the inability to count on anything and or observe a direct connection between the cause and the effect. Despite the negativity that permeates Doh’s literature, he views The Cameroons as resilient.

Benjamin Hart Fishkin

Dr Benjamin Hart Fishkin is an Assistant Professor of English at Tuskegee University.  He has won several distinguished awards, amongst which, the Buford Boone Memorial Fellowship, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival Scholarship Award and the George Mills Harper Graduate Student Travel Award.