The Intestines of the State : Youth, Violence, and Belated Histories in the Cameroon Grassfields

The young people of the Cameroon Grassfields have been subject to a long history of violence and political marginalization. For centuries the main victims of the slave trade, they became prime targets for forced labor campaigns under a series of colonial rulers. Today’s youth remain at the bottom of the fiercely hierarchical and polarized societies of the Grassfields, and it is their response to centuries of exploitation that Nicolas Argenti takes up in this absorbing and original book.Beginning his study with a political analysis of youth in the Grassfields from the eighteenth century to the present, Argenti pays special attention to the repeated violent revolts staged by young victims of political oppression. He then combines this history with extensive ethnographic fieldwork in the Oku chiefdom, discovering that the specter of past violence lives on in the masked dance performances that have earned intense devotion from today’s youth. Argenti contends that by evoking the imagery of past cataclysmic events, these masquerades allow young Oku men and women to address the inequities they face in their relations with elders and state authorities today. (20070702) The young people of the Cameroon Grassfields have been subject to a long history of violence and political marginalization. For centuries the main victims of the slave trade, they became prime targets for forced labor campaigns under a series of colonial rulers. Today’s youth remain at the bottom of the fiercely hierarchical and polarized societies of the Grassfields, and it is their response to centuries of exploitation that Nicolas Argenti takes up in this absorbing and original book. Beginning his study with a political analysis of youth in the Grassfields from the eighteenth century to the present, Argenti pays special attention to the repeated violent revolts staged by young victims of political oppression. He then combines this history with extensive ethnographic fieldwork in the Oku chiefdom, discovering that the specter of past violence lives on in the masked dance performances that have earned intense devotion from today’s youth. Argenti contends that by evoking the imagery of past cataclysmic events, these masquerades allow young Oku men and women to address the inequities they face in their relations with elders and state authorities today. Beginning His Study With A Political Analysis Of Youth In The Cameroon Grassfields From The 18th Century To The Present Argenti Pays Special Attention To The Repeatedly Violent Revolts Staged By Young Victims Of Political Oppression. He Then Traces The Influence Of This In The Present-day Dance Rituals Of The Oku Chiefdom. Centuries Of Youth : Remembering, Incorporation, And The Reclamation Of History -- Kings, Slaves, And Floating Populations : Discourses Of Centrality And Marginality In The Precolonial Era -- Masks Of Terror And The Subjection Of Cadets -- Aurora Colonialis : German Imperialism And The Modernity Of Slavery -- Embodied Histories : Royal Investiture, Masking, And Remembering -- From Slaves To Free Boys : Cadets' Resistance To Gerontocratic, Colonial, And Postcolonial Authority -- The Death Of Tears : Mortuary Rites And The Indeterminacy Of Dance -- Dancing Death : Memorial Celebrations, The Politics Of Ritual Laughter, And The Embodied Memories Of Youth -- Histories Of The Present, Histories Of The Future. Nicolas Argenti. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [319]-345) And Index. Note on Orthography Preface Acknowledgments 1. Centuries of Youth: Remembering, Incorporation, and the Reclamation of History 2. Kings, Slaves, and Floating Populations: Discourses of Centrality and Marginality in the Precolonial Era 3. Masks of Terror and the Subjection of Cadets 4. Aurora colonialis: German Imperialism and the Modernity of Slavery 5. Embodied Histories: Royal Investiture, Masking, and Remembering 6. From Slaves to Free Boys: Cadets’ Resistance to Gerontocratic, Colonial, and Postcolonial Authority 7. The Death of Tears: Mortuary Rites and the Indeterminacy of Dance 8. Dancing Death: Memorial Celebrations, the Politics of Ritual Laughter, and the Embodied Memories of Youth 9. Histories of the Present, Histories of the Future Notes Reference List Index The young people of the Cameroon Grassfields have been subject to a long history of violence and political marginalization. For centuries the main victims of the slave trade, they became prime targets for forced labor campaigns under a series of colonial rulers. This book presents a political analysis of the youth since the 18th century.