Communication and Conversion in Northern Cameroon : The Dii People and Norwegian Missionaries, 1934-1960

Was modern Christian mission to Africa primarily a colonial project and a civilizing mission or was it a spiritual revival spreading to new areas? This book tells the tale of the Dii people in northern Cameroon and describes their encounter with Norwegian missionaries. Through archival studies and through fieldwork among the Dii, an intriguing scenario is presented. Whereas the missionaries describe their mission as one of spiritual liberation, and the Dii highligt the social liberation they received through literacy and political independence, the author shows how both spiritual and social changes were results of captivation, miscommunication and constant negotiations between the two parties. CONTENTS......Page 6 Acknowledgements......Page 10 List of Maps......Page 12 List of Illustrations......Page 14 Maps......Page 16 Illustrations from the Dii-Mission Encounter......Page 18 I. Communicating Freedom or Colonial Evangelism?......Page 30 Anthropological History......Page 31 The Encounter between Dii and the Mission......Page 32 Regional Studies......Page 34 Colonial Evangelism?......Page 36 Communication, Discourse, Translatability and Worldview......Page 38 Understanding the Process of Communication......Page 39 The Octopus Concept of Discourse......Page 41 Translatability......Page 44 Mission as Worldview Encounter......Page 45 Norwegian Archival Material......Page 47 French Archival Material......Page 49 Fieldwork Experiences......Page 51 Fieldwork and Situatedness......Page 54 Delimitation of the Study......Page 56 II. Our Ancestors Used to Live on this Mountain......Page 59 The Dii......Page 60 The Arrival of Islam......Page 63 The Religious Content of the Jihad......Page 67 Islam and the Dii......Page 72 The European Colonial Race for Cameroon......Page 74 The French Colonial Administration and the Dii......Page 79 The French Colonial Administration and Christian Missionaries......Page 82 The Arrival of Christianity......Page 88 The "Crisis in Duru" – a Fight for Colonial Goodwill......Page 93 The Dii-Rey-Bouba Controversy; a Social Reorganisation of the Dii......Page 97 III. Like a Labyrinth is his Life – a Missionary Discourse on Conversion......Page 100 Conversion as a Process of Growth and Liberation......Page 101 Conversion as Liberation from Spiritual Oppression......Page 105 Conversion as Freedom from Social Oppression......Page 108 Conversion as Liberation from Ignorance......Page 110 Conversion as Liberation from Sickness......Page 113 Conversion as Liberation from Destructive Behaviour......Page 115 IV. And it is Really Thanks to You that We are Saved – a Dii Discourse on Conversion......Page 119 Methodological Considerations......Page 120 The First Encounter......Page 121 The Attraction of the Message and the Media......Page 124 Towards Social Change......Page 128 Liberation from Forced Labour......Page 131 The Missionaries Came with Tenderness......Page 133 The Creation of a Modern Myth......Page 137 Studying African Traditional Religion......Page 144 Dii Traditional Religious Rites......Page 150 Dii Cosmology: God, Ancestors and Myths of Origin......Page 158 Crisis and Change......Page 163 VI. Establishing a Church on the Dii-Plain......Page 167 Phase 1: Establishment, Progress, and Setback (1934–1939)......Page 168 Phase 2: Status Quo (1940–1947)......Page 173 Phase 3: Reconstruction (1948–1952)......Page 179 Phase 4: Consolidation and Growth (1953–1960)......Page 188 A New Dii Christian Identity......Page 194 Dii Traditions and Translatability......Page 196 New Elements in Dii Christianity......Page 201 Towards a Dii Christian Worldview......Page 206 Cognitive Worldview Assumptions......Page 209 Aff ective Worldview Assumptions......Page 210 Evaluative Worldview Assumptions......Page 212 Communication as Cultural Encounter......Page 214 Communication as Negotiation of Meaning......Page 216 Conversion – Colonisation of African Consciousness?......Page 219 Conversion – Change in Dii Plausibility Structure?......Page 223 The Dii Path towards Conversion......Page 227 Crisis......Page 228 Context......Page 229 Translatability......Page 230 Attitude......Page 231 Conservation – African Mental Maps of the Universe......Page 232 Concluding Remarks......Page 236 The First Pastors......Page 240 Students......Page 241 Appendix C: Norwegian Missionaries on the Dii-Plain (1934–1960)......Page 242 Appendix D: Statistics, Mission Work on the Dii-Plain (1934–1960)......Page 243 Bibliography......Page 246 Index......Page 254 Describing a fascinating case from the modern mission movement in Africa, this book offers new and valuable insight from the encounter between the Dii people and Norwegian missionaries. Spiritual and social changes were results of fascination, miscommunication and constant negotiation in a spiritual and civilizing marketplace.