Rites de la route et réparation de la mémoire servile : cas de la construction d’une tradition chez les Yémba de l’Ouest-Cameroun (XIXe-XXe siècles)

At the end of the 20th century, new ritual practices which find their staging ground on the roads, crossroads and market places appeared among the Yémba of West Cameroon: these are the road rituals, called fiέ' mènzhɛ. The history of these ritual construction provides information on the process...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Célestine Colette Fouellefak Kana, Darice Malabon
Format: Article
Language:fra
Published: Centre interdisciplinaire d’Études du Religieux (CIER) 2024-01-01
Series:Cahiers d'Études du Religieux- Recherches Interdisciplinaires
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Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/cerri/8508
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Summary:At the end of the 20th century, new ritual practices which find their staging ground on the roads, crossroads and market places appeared among the Yémba of West Cameroon: these are the road rituals, called fiέ' mènzhɛ. The history of these ritual construction provides information on the process of emergence of an institution or a new tradition in certain African communities. Indeed, the road rituals emerge as a therapeutic means against the traumas inherited by the Yémba from their slavery, colonial past and the war of independence during which members of their families were kidnapped and taken elsewhere. The road rituals thus become structures for repairing the memory of these abductees. The construction of ritual tradition was therefore born of a traumatic historical by the fact of abductions, tortures, death and oblivion of members of the community. By a process of reproduction and inspired by existing memory institutions, these new ritual practices appear as the appropriate solution to the memory trauma. Their effectiveness will lead to their institutionalization as a new tradition, as they are practiced from one generation to another.
ISSN:1760-5776