Camfranglais: The Making of a New Language in Cameroonian Literature

by Peter W. Vakunta

This study raises awareness to the emergence of a new genre in world literature-hybridized literature. It rejects the assumption according to which literatures written in less commonly taught languages should be subsumed into one universally accessible global idiom. Instead, Vakunta challenges literary scholars and readers of literature to regard untranslatability as the key to cross-cultural engagement. The book's multiple approaches and innumerable sources generate complex interdisciplinary connections and provide an excellent introduction to a complex literary phenomenon alien to literati resident outside the officially bilingual multicultural and multilingual Republic of Cameroon.

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Reviews

“Dr. Peter Vakunta masterfully leads the reader on an exploration of the emergence of Camfranglais from both sociopolitical and linguistic perspectives in this book. A thorough discussion of the many issues surrounding cultural identity and language use in contemporary Cameroon, the author offers a cogent argument for the recognition of Camfranglais as a legitimate literary language employed for nuanced expression concomitantly with Cameroonian national identity.”: Dr. Erin N. O’Reilly, Associate Professor, Defense Language Institute, Foreign Language Center, Monterey, California.