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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 3 page book review that offers a summary and comments on this novel by Mongo Beti, which offers a highly critical view of European-led Christian evangelism in southern Cameroon in the 1930s. The main thrust of the novel serves to refute the relevancy of Christianity to traditional African life and, in so doing, indicates that rather than aiding Africans in any meaningful way spiritually, the main effect of evangelistic efforts is to facilitate colonialism by creating social chaos. No additional sources cited.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khbeti.rtf
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relevancy of Christianity to traditional African life and, in so doing, indicates that rather than aiding Africans in any meaningful way spiritually, the main effect of evangelistic efforts is to
facilitate colonialism by creating social chaos. The narrative is related by Denis, a fourteen-year-old native, who is a servant to Father Drumont, an aging Catholic priest, who founded the
mission of Bomba and has evangelized throughout the surrounding region for the last twenty years. Drumont, accompanied by Denis and Zacharia, an African cook, takes a tour of the villages
surrounding Bomba. The impetus for the tour is that the local tribe, the Tala, is behind in their church dues. In retaliation, Drumont has not visited the villages for the
last three years. In each successive village, Drumont finds chapels in disrepair and ruin. While the Talas listen obediently, it is clear that they have little or no understanding
of Drumonts sermons. Polygamy and pagan dances continue even as Drumont proselytizes against these practices. Drumont is blinded by his severe ethnocentrism, despite having lived twenty years in Cameroon, as
he is not the least bit aware of how incongruous and alien his European-based anecdotes and sermons are to Africans. However, as the tour progresses, even Drumont is forced to
see the truth, that is, that the Talas supposed conversion to Christianity is a delusion. A principal focus of Drumonts evangelism has been to control the sex behavior of
the Talas and convince them to abandon their traditional polygamous marriage system in favor of monogamy. To support this goal, Drumont established a "sixa" at Bomba, which is a home
for young unmarried women, which supposedly encourages them to adopt monogamy. On returning to Bomba, Drumont is further demoralized when he, finally, realizes that the sixa has been run as
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