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The Mortuary Sphere, Privilege and the Politics of Belonging in Contemporary Cameroon

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2011

Nantang Jua
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Abstract

Concern with new modes of accountability has foregrounded the politics of belonging, giving prominence to the concepts of autochthony and allogeny. In Cameroon, this has provoked a shift in policy-making from an earlier distinction between the disciplined citizen and the subject. Despite this distinction, all Cameroonians were considered rights-bearing citizens in the early post- Independence era and as such could settle anywhere in the country and not be discriminated against. This has been rolled back as a result of overcoding and the assigning of a code to a people and a people to a territory is now in vogue. This has far-reaching policy implications. It problematizes the question of identity and has engendered the argument that this can be resolved only at death – identity should be determined by where one is buried. The centrality of overcoding, especially its extension into the mortuary realm, has enabled confusion, both legal and symbolic, which is instrumentalized and manipulated by the state, traditional authorities and relatives of the dead to serve varying and varied interests. Death, though a private affair, has now been thrust into the public space. Focusing on the burial of four ‘big men’, this paper shows how these interests are negotiated and fought over. Since space, power and tradition impact on this process, outcomes cannot be determined a priori. It is this impossibility that has given renewed relevance to the question: ‘Whose corpse it anyway?’

Résumé

L'inquiétude suscitée par les nouveaux modes de responsabilité a mis la politique d'appartenance au premier plan, conférant une place importante aux concepts d'autochtonie et d'allogénie. Au Cameroun, ceci a amené les décideurs à revenir sur la distinction entre citoyen discipliné et sujet. Malgré cette distinction, tous les Camerounais étaient considérés comme des citoyens titulaires de droits dans les premiers temps de la période postind épendance et pouvaient, en tant que tels, s'établir n'importe où dans le pays sans être discriminé. Ce n'est plus le cas, sous l'effet d'un surcodage, et l'affectation d'un code à un peuple et d'un peuple à un territoire est aujourd'hui en vogue. Les implications politiques en sont considérables. Ce phénomène problématise la question de l'identité et engendre l'argument qu'elle ne peut se régler qu'au décès, à savoir qu'il conviendrait de déterminer l'identité d'une personne selon le lieu de son inhumation. La centralité du surcodage, notamment son élargissement au domaine mortuaire, a permis la confusion, tant juridique que symbolique, instrumentalisée et manipulée par l'état, les autorités traditionnelles et les parents du défunt pour servir des intérêts variables et variés. Le décès, bien qu'affaire privée, est désormais porté sur la place publique. à travers le cas précis de quatre ≫grands hommes≪, ce papier montre le mode de négociation et de lutte pour ces intérêts. L'espace, le pouvoir et la tradition ayant un impact sur ce processus, il n'est pas possible d'en déterminer les conclusions à priori. C'est cette impossibilité qui a redonné toute son actualité à la question: ≫à qui appartient le corps?≪

Type
Articles
Information
Africa , Volume 75 , Issue 3 , August 2005 , pp. 325 - 355
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2005

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