Table of contents
Recentring Cultural Infrastructure as Vectors of Social Cohesion and Sustainable Development in Cameroon
Alasambom Nyingchuo …………..…….…………………….…………….…1-18
Various art forms, such as theatre, film, painting, sculpture, music, and others, influence society by instilling positive values, raising awareness on pertinent issues confronting their lives, changing opinions, communicating ideas to reform society, empowering individuals economically, and fostering social cohesion. However, the paucity of cultural infrastructure in Cameroon underscores the disregard for this important sector by policymakers and stakeholders, at a time when Cameroonian society is in dire need of alternative and inclusive avenues for social dialogue. Also, previous studies have failed to shed light on the socio-economic benefits of cultural infrastructure in a pluralistic society like Cameroon and on how such infrastructure could help mend specific socio-political fissures, such as political, ethnic, and linguistic divides. Drawing on a broad review of the literature and international policy documents, this paper examines the state of cultural policy and cultural infrastructure in Cameroon and proposes strategies to improve their quantity and quality. Major findings indicate that cultural infrastructure, such as performance spaces, film halls, museums, and exhibition halls, benefits society in several ways, including job creation and economic development, identity creation that fosters social cohesion and reduces conflict, and sustainable development through innovation. This means that the culture and creative industries constitute a very important sector in Cameroon, and policymakers need to make deliberate efforts to create an enabling environment for this sector to thrive.
Keywords: Cultural Infrastructure, Social Cohesion, Sustainable Development, Recentring.
The Role of New Media in Cameroon Film Promotion: A Case Study of YouTube and Facebook.
Paul Animbom Ngong ………………………………………………………..19-42
For many years, films were primarily made for cinemas, which were the primary venues for experiencing film and film culture. However, advancements in digital communication have greatly changed how films are consumed. Easier internet access and mobile technology have shifted viewership from physical cinemas to homes and online platforms. This change brings both opportunities and challenges for filmmakers, especially in places like Cameroon, where film distribution networks have traditionally been limited and underfunded. This study examines how Cameroonian films can respond to the changing media landscape by leveraging new media platforms to enhance visibility, audience engagement, and revenue.
Using a mixed-methods approach, the study combines a quantitative analysis of online metrics with qualitative content and audience analysis. Data were collected from selected Cameroonian film channels on YouTube and Facebook, including 23 accessible titles, focusing on viewer statistics, user interactions (likes, shares, comments), and promotional strategies. The analysis also included case studies of films that successfully built audiences through online releases and social media promotion.
The findings show that new media platforms have become crucial tools for promoting and distributing films in Cameroon, as seen in high-reach titles such as Cutlass (Cameroon Cinema, 2022), Saving Mbango (Stephanie Tum TV, 2025), Way Home (ML Production237, 2025a), Bushfaller (Noble Arts Entertainment, 2023), Broken Home (Beffdram Movies, 2022), Nemesis (M&H Film House, 2025), and My Sister My Pride (Noble Arts Entertainment, 2023), which accumulate tens of thousands of views and sustained engagement over time. By contrast, other films, such as Standard 7 (Menkemndi Randy, 2024), Le Silence (africa LOVE, 2020), The Unexpected Pause (KelliD Creation, 2025), That Family (N.G.E TV, 2021), or lesser-known dramas in curated playlists, remain in the long tail with a few hundred to a few thousand views, indicating persistent visibility gaps despite the democratisation of access. YouTube serves as both a marketing outlet and an informal revenue stream through ad monetization, while Facebook fosters interactive audience engagement and builds fan communities. Despite challenges such as limited internet access, monetization issues, and copyright concerns, using these platforms has greatly increased the visibility of Cameroonian films locally and among diaspora audiences. The paper concludes that the active, strategic use of digital media is essential to the sustainability and global competitiveness of the Cameroonian film industry.
Keywords: new media, film reception, communication, exploitation, film audience
Traditional Attire on Screen: Negotiating Identity and Ethics in the Representation of Toghu in Cameroonian Cinema
Visi Sumbom Tubuo & Nfor Unity Meyeh …………………………………………….43-66
Traditional attire occupies a central position in African visual culture, functioning as a medium through which identity, history, and cultural values are communicated. In Cameroonian cinema, Toghu attire, an embroidered velvet garment that originated from the Bamenda people of the North West Region, has become a recurring visual symbol used to signify tradition, authority, and cultural authenticity. While its increasing presence in film contributes to cultural visibility, it also raises critical ethical questions regarding symbolic accuracy, cultural context, and representational responsibility. This article examines the cinematic representation of Toghu attire and interrogates how issues of identity and ethics are negotiated through its use on screen. Using a qualitative approach grounded in visual and semiotic analysis, the study analyzes selected scenes from the Cameroonian films GREED by Ngang Romanus and BITTER LESSON by Keka Tassi Sylvester. Drawing on semiotic theory, cultural heritage theory, and postcolonial representation theory, the article argues that Toghu attire is often deployed as a generalized marker of tradition, thereby simplifying its cultural meanings. The study concludes that ethical representation of traditional attire requires cultural knowledge, contextual sensitivity, and engagement with indigenous meaning systems. By foregrounding costume as a critical site of meaning-making, this article contributes to broader debates on African cinema, cultural identity, and ethical visual storytelling.
Keywords: Toghu attire, Cameroonian cinema, cultural identity, costume symbolism, ethical representation
Acting Without Craft? Performance, Improvisation, and the Politics of Credibility in Anglophone Cameroonian Cinema
Pani Nalowa Fominyen …………………………………………..………….67-93
This article examines acting in Anglophone Cameroonian cinema through a performance-ecological lens, arguing that screen performance in this context is best understood as situated professional competence rather than as a technical deficit measured against external cinematic norms. Drawing on close textual analysis of selected Anglophone Cameroonian feature films, audience-reception studies, and qualitative actor-interview data, the paper demonstrates how acting practices emerge under conditions of material scarcity, institutional fragility, and labour precarity. It shows that improvisation, theatrical expressiveness, explicit dialogue, and emotional intensity function as adaptive strategies that sustain narrative intelligibility, cultural legibility, and audience credibility when cinematic support systems are weak. Performance credibility is shown to be relational and culturally grounded, shaped by alignment between expressive strategies and audience interpretive frameworks rather than by adherence to universalised aesthetic standards. By reframing acting as labour carried out under constraint within a specific performance ecology, the article challenges deficit-based evaluations of Anglophone Cameroonian screen acting and proposes an analytical framework applicable to other minor and under-resourced cinemas.
Keywords: Anglophone Cameroonian cinema; acting craft; African cinema; Performance studies; Cultural labour; Minor or small cinemas
The role of songs and poems in STEM instruction. Get the full PDF
Frida Mbunda-Nekang & Eunice Fonyuy Fondze-Fombele ……………………………..…94-124
This study uses selected poems and songs to demonstrate how art can help learners notice, understand, value, and become interested in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) subjects. The focus is to use functionalism and multiple intelligence theories to examine how integrating songs and poems into STEM teaching can facilitate learning, nurture creativity, and improve student engagement with STEM subjects. Using a qualitative research design, the study purposively selected songs and poems by a Cameroonian poet and some musicians that convey STEM concepts and scientific thinking. It drew mainly from Ekpe Inyang’s anthology Taste of Nature and from a STEM-themed song by Bobe Yerima Afoakom, Our Environment/Njang Manjong, and Ben Pol, Mr Leo, Khendy Key, and Elijah Tembo in African songs for nature, accessed via YouTube. The data were analysed through content analysis, focusing on the linguistic and thematic features of the texts to identify how they communicate STEM ideas and foster skills such as critical thinking and understanding. This study reveals the value of literary and artistic expressions in enriching STEM learning experiences. It reveals that the selected songs and poems serve as effective instructional tools, appealing to diverse intelligence types, particularly the musical and linguistic, thereby embedding complex STEM concepts in memorable, accessible formats. The findings demonstrate that incorporating songs and poems in STEM curricula can significantly enhance students’ understanding of STEM content, build foundational STEM skills, and promote a more inclusive and engaging learning environment. This interdisciplinary approach underscores the importance of blending arts and sciences to inspire innovation and lifelong interest in STEM fields.
Keywords: Songs and Poems, STEM education, STEM awareness, STEM skills, Functionalism, Multiple Intelligences Theory.
Visual Rhetoric and Symbolic Capital in Cameroonian Private Higher Education: “Staging Quality as Postcolonial Legitimacy”
Margaret Fominyen ……………………………………………………….125-151
Private higher education in Cameroon is increasingly promoted through visual and performative claims of legitimacy rather than effective pedagogical practices. In a sector marked by informational opacity, competitive enrollment pressures, and uneven regulatory oversight, quality is experienced less as a verifiable practice than as a culturally mediated appearance. This article examines how institutions mobilize architecture, branding, accreditation artifacts, ceremonial rituals, and digital imagery to make quality visible, credible, and socially recognizable. Drawing on an eight-month ethnographically informed critical visual analysis of sixteen institutions in Yaoundé and Buea, the study introduces the concept of a visual economy of quality, showing how legitimacy is assembled, circulated, and converted into material resources. Analysis demonstrates that visual performance functions as a rational response to structural constraints while creating a bias toward auditable representations, producing a tension between staged credibility and pedagogical substance. The article contributes to African higher education studies by foregrounding the visual as a site for negotiating power, recognition, and knowledge
Keywords: Visual culture; institutional performance; postcolonial legitimacy; higher education; symbolic capital.
Beyond National University Commission (NUC) Accreditation: Institutional, Policy, and Awareness Barriers to the Implementation of Industrial Design Education in Nigerian Universities
Shagaya Mashood Olanrewaju …………………………………………152-166
Industrial Design (ID) is globally recognized as a strategic discipline that links creativity, technology, and manufacturing to national development and economic competitiveness. In Nigeria, the National Universities Commission (NUC) has approved a comprehensive Industrial Design curriculum, largely domiciled within the Faculties of Environmental Sciences. Despite this formal accreditation, the implementation of Industrial Design programmes across Nigerian universities remains weak, uneven, and, in many cases, entirely absent. This conceptual paper critically examines the systemic, institutional, and policy-related barriers constraining effective implementation, including limited awareness, weak student interest, misaligned educational pipelines, institutional preference for other environmental disciplines, high establishment costs, leadership inertia, and limited political will. Drawing on a conceptual thematic synthesis of existing literature, policy documents, and contextual evidence, the paper argues that accreditation alone is insufficient to sustain vocational and creative programmes without coordinated policy support, institutional commitment, and educational alignment. The study contributes to design education and higher education policy discourse by offering a multi-level explanation of programme marginalisation and outlining reform pathways relevant to Nigeria and comparable developing contexts
Keywords: Industrial Design Education; Higher Education Policy; Institutional Barriers; Creative Economy; Nigeria.
Language as a Form of Weaponisation in Crisis: The Case of The Current Anglophone Cameroon Crisis. Get the full PDF
Amohlon Nunde Agiamte Mbom, Seino Evangeline, & Esther Phubon Chie ………………………………………………………………………………….167-192
This article examines how political discourse functions as a tool of power, marginalization, and radicalization within the context of the current Anglophone crisis in Cameroon. Focusing on a 2016 speech by the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji, delivered on CRTV during a national debate on unity, the study investigates how language can escalate social tension. Focusing on Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Critical Stylistics as theoretical frameworks, the research was guided by the qualitative textual analysis model to uncover discursive strategies, such as declaratives, historical allusions, metaphor, mitigation, and exclusion, that the speaker employs to assert dominance and dismiss dissent. The speech was selected using purposive sampling because of its influential role and timing during the early phase of the crisis. Findings show that the denial of the Anglophone problem and symbolic delegitimization of marginalized voices provoked strong backlash, intensifying rebellion and prolonging the conflict. The article argues that in fragile political settings, language is not neutral but instrumental in shaping ideological boundaries and triggering resistance. It concludes that discourse sensitivity is essential in conflict communication to avoid deepening societal divisions.
Keywords: Discourse, radicalization, political-discourse, Anglophone crisis, Critical Discourse Analysis
Myth and Legend: A Retraditionalisation of The Cultural Episteme in Who Fears Death and Children of Blood and Bone
Terrence Ntumnyuy M & Mbuh Tennu Mbuh ………………………193-208
The fact that universal civilisation has for a long time originated from the European centre has maintained the illusion that European culture was, in fact, and by right a universal culture. This study investigates myth and legend in Nnedi Okorafor’s Who Fears Death and Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone in order to reactivate the revival of some traditions or ancestral practices with the aim of sustaining the reimagining of an Africa whose identity is not conferred from outside but from within, bearing in mind that there are enabling influences from without. With the tools of Afrofuturism and magical realism, the study highlights the reawakening of African people who are taking an interest in their past. Through textual analysis, myth and legend are appraised and critiqued in terms of their spatio-temporal trajectory. The study recognizes that it is important for the African to reindigenise and reappropriate his own cultural consciousness and to identify more composite paradigms for his renaissance. The findings reveal that myth and legend in Who Fears Death and Children of Blood and Bone serve a didactic purpose, procure entertainment, critique social norms, shape the community identity, and form the African personality. The study concludes that Africans need to move towards renewed respect for indigenous ways and the conquest of cultural self-contempt in order to attain cultural relevance at global stage and a collective cultural consciousness
Keywords: Myth, Legend, Retraditionalisation, Culture, Episteme.
Handicraft Galleries in Bamenda (North-West Region of Cameroon): An Overview of Two Case Studies
Nahgwah Charlotte Fomba & Yakam Yola A Juma …………………209-223
Handicraft galleries serve as venues for numerous cultural exchanges and creative pursuits, as well as spaces for intercultural dialogue. They are places where various forms of art and craft are stored. Handicraft galleries can be displayed openly or privately, allowing or restricting direct access depending on the owner’s preferences. They are also connected to the economic sector. This study aims to expand knowledge of handicraft galleries by focusing on several cases in Bamenda, the capital of Cameroon’s North-West region. The research employed a qualitative methodology, relying extensively on existing literature and field observation. The findings demonstrate that handicraft galleries adopt various approaches to serve the public through their roles. They function as educational institutions, cultural representatives, and economic units, aiming to engage both current and future generations.
Keywords: Handicraft, gallery, overview, values, institutions
Safeguarding Sacred Cultural Heritage in Kom Fondom of Bamenda Grassfields Since 1865: Stakes, Challenges and Influence. Get the full PDF
Ngai Killian Ncham & Ngam Confidence Chia ……………………..224-245
The inhabitants of Bamenda Grassfields knew how to carefully use their hands to make ends meet. Gifted in handicraft, they have used the geography and its features as their springboard. Through inspiration or learnt skills, outstanding crafts were produced either to preserve vital information or as a business. With limited knowledge of this craft’s importance, the advent of Christianity led to some of these dignified objects being idolized, creating conditions favorable to their commercialization across borders or as gifts in exchange for gunpowder and other imported goods. The heavy benefits derived from the commercialisation of these crafts opened expansive windows for theft, looting, and trafficking, leading to the devaluation of some sacred artefacts. The desire of the United Nations and the yearning of some non-governmental organisations for the conscientious and intentional safeguarding of cultural heritage have not gone unheeded by researchers, especially Historians. These intentional moves, which embodied restitution and restoration, have prompted an avalanche of researchers worldwide to question functionalism and the quiddity (authenticity) of these crafts, as envisaged by their safeguarding. In the Bamenda Grassfields, particularly in Kom Fondom, despite several notable attempts by researchers and the government to address restitution, the demand to safeguard this sacred tangible heritage has not yet reached a satisfactory level. In an effort to bridge this gap left by previous researchers, we utilised both primary and secondary data sources. Throughout the research, it has been observed that the timid moves towards safeguarding Kom’s Sacred tangible heritage have been motivated by limited knowledge of its importance and a lack of curators, among other factors.
Keywords:Kom Fondom, Sacred, Tangible Heritage, Safeguard
Women Representation and Empowerment in Perpetua K. Nkamanyang Lola’s The Lock on my Lips and Anne Tanyi Tang’s Ewa. Get the full PDF
Dawisu Ndzewiyi …………………………………………………………..246-273
The persistent marginalization and subjugation of women in contemporary Cameroonian society, particularly within social, economic, and political spheres, remain a significant concern reflected in literary productions. This study examines the representation and empowerment of women in The Lock on My Lips by Perpetua K. Nkamanyang Lola and Ewa by Anne Tanyi-Tang, with the aim of analyzing how female resistance against male dominance is dramatized. The objectives of the study are to investigate the forms of oppression experienced by women, examine the strategies of resistance and retaliation employed by female characters, and evaluate how empowerment is portrayed as a transformative tool. Anchored on Liberal Feminist Theory, the study adopts a qualitative research methodology, using textual analysis as its primary method. The instruments employed include close reading, note-taking, and thematic categorization of selected texts. Data are analyzed using thematic and content analyses to identify recurring patterns in gender representation and resistance. Findings reveal that women are portrayed within rigid societal stereotypes structured along social, economic, and political lines; however, the playwrights equally present education, economic independence, and self-assertion as mechanisms of empowerment and resistance. The study concludes that the plays challenge patriarchal structures and expose systemic inequalities. It therefore recommends increased advocacy for female education, economic inclusion, and policy reforms that promote gender equity in Cameroonian society.
Keywords: Women, Representation, Empowerment, Drama, Resistance
Phénoménologie de la mode africaine contemporaine : préoccupation sur la sobriété vestimentaire des femmes rondes. Get the full PDF
Kede Eloundou Guy Bienvenue et Lonkeng Signing Jasmine Lucresse ……………………………………………………………………………………………274-315
La mode, en tant que phénomène socioculturel dynamique, ne se limite pas à une expression esthétique ; elle constitue également un reflet profond des normes, des valeurs et des identités au sein d’une communauté donnée (Barthes, 1967 ; Entwistle, 2000). Sur le continent africain, la mode contemporaine se situe au carrefour d’influences globales et de traditions séculaires, générant des esthétiques vestimentaires d’une richesse et d’une complexité remarquables. Cependant, l’intégration des diverses morphologies corporelles, en particulier celle des femmes à forte corpulence, dans le discours et la pratique du design de mode africain, soulève des questions pressantes en matière de représentation et d’adéquation culturelle. Le présent article se propose d’explorer la phénoménologie du design de mode africain contemporain, en se concentrant spécifiquement sur la conceptualisation et la matérialisation de créations vestimentaires qui conjuguent sobriété, décence culturelle et valorisation esthétique de la morphologie des femmes rondes. Partant du constat d’une offre souvent inadaptée, voire perçue comme “indécente” par son exposition excessive du corps, cette étude s’inscrit dans une démarche visant à pallier cette lacune. Nous postulons que le développement de vêtements qui respectent les mœurs tout en célébrant la diversité corporelle est non seulement réalisable, mais également impératif pour l’autonomisation et le bien-être des femmes concernées (Rodgers & Melioli, 2016). À travers une approche méthodologique rigoureuse, nous présenterons une expérimentation de design aboutissant à des prototypes illustrant cette convergence harmonieuse entre esthétique, fonctionnalité et éthique culturelle.
Mots-clés : Mode africaine contemporaine, Design de mode, Phénoménologie, Femmes rondes, Sobriété vestimentaire, Valorisation morphologique, Prototype vestimentaire, Inclusion corporelle, Esthétique africaine.
