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THINGS OF THE GROUND: CHILDREN'S MEDICINE, MOTHERHOOD AND MEMORY IN THE CAMEROON GRASSFIELDS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 April 2011

Nicolas Argenti
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Abstract

Soon after birth, infants in the Cameroon Grassfields chiefdom of Oku are submitted by their parents to rites known generically as ‘children's medicine’ (k∂fu ∂bwan). Ostensibly performed to protect infants from harm and illness, the rites are in fact fraught with tension: they embrace contradictory perspectives regarding the social role of the mother and belie the normative ideal extolling her as a figure of nurture and protection. The article argues that, beyond their overt purpose and symbolism as rites of passage, the rites evoke collective memories of child abductions and contemporary anxieties regarding the anticipated departure of older children and adolescents into foster care or migrant labour. Going beyond a classic tripartite model, the article takes a long-term view that sees life-crisis rituals as a form of collective memory that bears witness to social tensions that cannot be resolved – in this case the contradictions inherent within the hallowed image of the mother and the compromised nature of parental love.

Résumé

Peu de temps après la naissance d'un enfant, les parents de la chefferie oku, dans les Grassfields du Cameroun, pratiquent sur leur nourrisson des rites connus sous le nom générique de «médecine des enfants» (k∂fu ∂bwan). Apparemment destinés à protéger le nourrisson contre le mal et la maladie, ces rites sont en fait chargés de tension : ils épousent les perspectives contradictoires concernant le rôle social de la mère et dissimulent l'idéal normatif encensant l'image de la mère nourricière et protectrice. L'article soutient que ces rites, au-delà de leur objet affiché et de leur symbolisme en tant que rites de passage, évoquent des souvenirs collectifs d'enlèvements d'enfants et d'anxiétés contemporaines concernant le départ anticipé des enfants plus âgés et adolescents, placés en famille d'accueil ou travailleurs immigrés. S’écartant d'un modèle tripartite classique, l'article considère à long terme les rituels individuels comme une forme de mémoire collective qui témoigne des tensions sociales impossibles à résoudre, dans le cas présent les contradictions inhérentes à l'image sacralisée de la mère et à la nature compromise de l'amour parental.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 81 , Issue 2 , May 2011 , pp. 269 - 294
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2011

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