Les premiers historiographes camerounais et l’écriture de l’histoire du Cameroun au lendemain des indépendances : cas d’Engelbert Mveng, d’Eldridge Mohammadou, de Martin Zachary Njeuma, de Fabien Kange Ewane et de Joseph-Marie Essomba (1961-1990)

Abstract

Cameroonian historiography has taken shape in the wake of African independence. It reflects ongoing struggles continent-wide to restore the history of Black Africa. Such a process has been culminated in the advent of a generation of Cameroonian historiographers, whose ultimate aim has been to address the shortcomings of colonial historiography and put Black Africa back at the heart of history. This led to the study entitled “The first Cameroonian historiographers and Cameroon's post-independence history : a case study of Engelbert Mveng, Eldridge Mohammadou, Martin Zachary Njeuma, Fabien Kange Ewane and Joseph-Marie Essomba (1961-1990)”. It has to do with the writing of the history of Cameroon by Cameroonians in the aftermath of independence, which is a topical issue. Indeed, there have been numerous calls from scientists and political authorities alike for the true history of Cameroon to be written down. Using analytical and synchronic approaches, it has been possible to identify the contributions of some of these early Cameroonian historiographers to the construction of history and knowledge of historical facts. This first generation of historiographers, who emerged in the first thirty years after independence, made a vital contribution to the shaping of historical studies as a whole. From an inward dynamic, they enriched African historiography in general and that of Cameroon in particular. They emerged in a context where, over the last four decades of the twentieth century, Cameroonian historiography, as well as that of Africa as a whole, was dominated by European and even American researchers. With the creation of research institutions in social and human sciences, namely the university and Institute of Human Sciences (IHS) - these nation-born scholars, trained in great Western universities, endeavoured to design and enrich what is now known as Cameroonian historiography. These early Cameroonian historiographers include Adalbert Owona, Raphaël Onambele Ela, Engelbert Mveng, Eldridge Mohammadou, Martin Zachary Njeuma, Fabien Kange Ewane, Emmanuel Ghomsi, Martin Ntone Kouo, Maurice Mveng Ayi, Joseph-Marie Essomba, Bongfen Chem-Langhëë, Zapharia Lovett Elango and others. Their philosophical conception of history was the stumbling block that helped to undermine the Eurocentric ideology of the historicity of African societies. Regardless of numerous drawbacks, which made up the soft underbelly of post-independence historiography in Cameroon, they stood out as true innovators in the sense that they gave scientific content to the research and teaching of history in Cameroon. They worked in a singular way to promote historical science. Ultimately, they have set the foundations for a factual and clearer writing of the history of Cameroon. Consequently, current generations of Cameroonian historiographers, following on from their scientific odysseys, are more critical and oriented towards a revisionist perspective. Nowadays, their leitmotiv is to remedy the shortcomings from the first generation in order to provide the real history of Cameroon.