Orature at the Service of Environmental Sustainability in a Contemporary Cameroonian Setting: A Discourse on Bafut and Kom Spaces

The role of indigenous languages expressed through proverbs to sensitize a people of a community cannot be under estimated. This essay investigates the role played by the Bafut and Kom proverbs in the sustenance of the environment. Several attempts have been made to curb environmental problems through NGOs, World Bank, WWF, UN, etc. The authors of this paper feel that if this problem can be handled in a holistic manner based on literature, with emphasis being laid on the psychological, social, spiritual, educative language and human conditions; using the case of Bafut and Kom proverbs, then environmental consciousness and preservation will be become a reality. This
investigation was guided by eco-criticism (theory) by Glotfelty (1996) and New Historicism of Gallagher and Greenblatt (2000). Data for this investigation was collected through oral performances on the said proverbs. These proverbs were first written in indigenous languages, which were later translated to English for better analysis. The results reveal that the society stands to gain much in our efforts to sustain our environments, if we go back to our cultures (which we have neglected) in general and dig deep into our oratures in particular as well as our indigenous languages to disseminate environmental information which can help to educate the masses.

Keywords: Orature, Environment, Sustainability .