Nsing "The Civet Cat" and Byere

Bella, Obame Afane's first wife, is barren. His parents force him to remarry with a fertile wife, Awudabiran. Upon Obame Afane's death, the family council decides that the late teacher's young brother, Nguema Afane inherits the widow. Nguema Afane is polygamous, alcoholic, unemployed, irresponsible and slothful whereas the late teacher was caring and responsible. Will Awudabiran agree with the council's decision? Through the triad Ntsame Afane, the late teacher Obame Afane, and his widow Awudabiran, this play shows the wailers? performance of Fang pre-colonial memory in confrontational relations with citizenship. They expose the need for a balanced re-definition of cultural identity in the predatory world that Nsing embodies. The widow's final reward of the byere statute in recognition of her pride as a good citizen equalizes the interactions between cultural identity and citizenship. This play is an interrogation of a person's role as global citizen within a nation as well as internationally: Where do I stand? How useful am I to my nation, to the global world? And to future generations? The book is addressed to middle and high school students as well as scholars and students of African literature, visual arts and socio-cultural discourses.

Autorentext

Abessolo-Mbala Nkanga, Honorine-Bernadette holds a PhD in Francophone African Literature (2007) from the University of Michigan. Currently she works as a substitute teacher in the Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Washtenaw Public Schools Systems in the State of Michigan, USA. She was a lecturer at the Institut National des Sciences de Gestion in Libreville-Gabon between 1990 and 2000.

Klappentext
Bella, Obame Afane's first wife, is barren. His parents force him to remarry with a fertile wife, Awudabiran. Upon Obame Afane's death, the family council decides that the late teacher's young brother, Nguema Afane inherits the widow. Nguema Afane is polygamous, alcoholic, unemployed, irresponsible and slothful whereas the late teacher was caring and responsible. Will Awudabiran agree with the council's decision? Through the triad Ntsame Afane, the late teacher Obame Afane, and his widow Awudabiran, this play shows the wailers? performance of Fang pre-colonial memory in confrontational relations with citizenship. They expose the need for a balanced re-definition of cultural identity in the predatory world that Nsing embodies. The widow's final reward of the byere statute in recognition of her pride as a good citizen equalizes the interactions between cultural identity and citizenship. This play is an interrogation of a person's role as global citizen within a nation as well as internationally: Where do I stand? How useful am I to my nation, to the global world? And to future generations? The book is addressed to middle and high school students as well as scholars and students of African literature, visual arts and socio-cultural discourses.