Mutations identitaires chez les Mafa du Nord-Cameroun (1715-2015)

Abstract

This study is entitled "Identity mutations among the Mafa of the Northern Cameroon, from 1715 to 2015" and deals with the various changes that have occurred among the Mafa of North Cameroon since they came into contact with peoples, both neighbors and foreigners, particularly Westerners who intruded into this part of the territory in the second half of the nineteenth century. In the past, the Mafa lived in isolation which allowed them to preserve their cultural identity, but as soon as they began to come into contact with other groups, their society also began to be affected by outside influences. Then started the process of alteration of their cultural identity which continued with the Fulani invasions throughout the first half of the 19th century. While it is true that matrimonial relations with other peoples were the starting point of the cracking of the cultural identity, it is no less true that it was with the arrival of Westerners in their settlement zone, as part of the colonial process that the Mafa cultural identity began to fade. The process accelerated after the independence of Cameroon so that today, among the Mafa, art, architecture, ethnomusicology, rituals, beliefs, habits and customs have been transformed. They are therefore custodians of a culture largely impacted by external influences; posing a problem of authenticity, especially in this period of triumphant globalization where culture and cultural identity are of key importance in the dynamics of affirmation of each social group on a planetary scale. Using multiple sources and scrupulously respecting the methodological norms of reconstitution of facts in history, this research work, in line with the “Ecole des Annales,” analyzes in a diachronic and syncretic way the different stages of the evolution of the Mafa in northern Cameroon, from the contacts with their neighbors to the era of globalization. In the same way, in line with the History of Action, it proposes ways and means allowing this people to slow down the process of alienation which has led to the weakening of their culture and to assert themselves in the concert of States and Nations currently marked by the triumph of the neo-liberal economy.