Prof. Nol Alembong’s 470-page work on the region’s religious beliefs has been published.

In nearly all communities and ethnic groups of Cameroon, discussions on the history and organisation of the universe find expression in myths, legends, ritual performances and incantations. These are most often part and parcel of an integrated philosophy linking cosmic phenomena with the ultimate meaning of life.

Phenomena such as the alternation of night and day, the changing of seasons, earthquakes, tornadoes, lakes and epidemics, are considered mysterious and have often triggered a deep contemplation, leading to the conclusion that there are forces behind them.

Mostly in verse form, incantations are used. Their words are believed to have magic effect when spoken or chanted during the performance of rituals or any other occasion that calls for the intervention of the supernatural in human affairs. This verse form manifests itself in such categories as blessings, curses, invocations, prayers and spells.

In a new work entitled “Cameroon’s Western Grassland Incantations,” Nol Alembong posits that incantations from the Western Grassland Region of Cameroon derive their essence from the peoples’ religious beliefs and practices and that they reveal a perception of the universe as a complete and ordered system. Collecting material from areas such as Aghem, Awing, Bafut, Balikumbat, Kom, Mankon, Moghamo, Nkwen, Nso, Nweh, Santa-Mbu and Wimbumland, the author establishes striking similarities that reveal an entity with a common cosmology. The fowl (chicken), palm-oil, palm-wine, salt and dracaena (or “peace plant”) are objects which may be considered typical in ritual performances in the region.

This study consists of two parts sub-divided into six chapters. In Part One titled ‘Background and Society,’ the three chapters discuss the location of Cameroon’s Western Grasslands, particularly those of the twelve ethnic groups and also presents a corpus of 180 collected incantations. These relate to birth, initiation, marriage, death, blessing, pleas, protection, aversion and avoidance, thanksgiving and cleansing. Others are sacrifice, fertility, agricultural rites, oath-taking and confession, enthronement and succession, restitution and punishment. The three chapters in Part Two focus on the cosmology of the peoples of the Western Grasslands of Cameroon as evident in the incantations under study.

Written in simple, understandable English with familiar expressions, the study has been described in the foreword written by Professor Kashim Ibrahim Tala of the University of Buea as the first serious work on incantatory poetry in Africa.

Nol Alembong is Associate Professor and current Head of the Department of African Literature and Civilisations at the University of Yaounde I, Cameroon. His areas of teaching and research are African oral literature, oral traditions and literature, cultural studies, and African religious beliefs.

Title of Publication: “Cameroon’s Western Grassland Incantations”

Author: Professor Nol Alembong

Number of Pages: 470 pages

Publisher: Cuvillier Publishing House, Göttingen, Germany