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The Disillusioned African

The Disillusioned African

Francis B. Nyamnjoh

This humorous tale of the naïve and curious African student-cum-philosopher wandering between North and South, the rural and the urban, has been in gestation for a period of nearly two decades. With allusion to traditions of the philosophical novel and the picaresque, Nyamnjoh's protagonist travels from his African village to the sharply divided and socially cruel world of 1980s Britain. By casting aside his disillusion and the traps of servitude and victimhood, The Disillusioned African reveals his creative potential for curiosity and adventure. He brings a bird's eye view, always affectionate, gently mocking, to the cultural idiosyncrasies of the new world he encounters, which throws his own African culture, politics and socio-economic realities into light relief.

ISBN 9789956558025 | 264 pages | 203 x 127 mm | 2007 | Langaa RPCIG, Cameroon | Paperback

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Reviews

'Whatever the imagined future for Africa, this courageous book will certainly provide, for both its foreign readers and the young generation of Cameroonians, a provocative insight into the complex web of despair, frustration, paradox and hope on the eve of the 21st century.'

Louise Cuming, Catholic University of Central Africa

'In his characteristically humorous style, Nyamnjoh portrays the various social ills in society and castigates the political elite he holds largely responsible.'

Piet Konings, African Studies Centre, Leiden, The Netherlands.

'Francis Nyamnjoh has a particular way of saying very serious things in the most unserious manner. He entertains, and in the process he moralises, he teaches, he gives you lessons learning experience and philosophy to give you a view of the dilemma of the African.' 

Sammy Beban Chumbow, Professor of Linguistics, University of Yaounde I

About the Author

Francis B. Nyamnjoh

Francis Nyamnjoh is the author of five works of fiction – three novels: The Disillusioned African (1995), Mind Searching (1991), A Nose for Money (2006); a play, The Convert (2003), and a book of short stories, Stories from Abakwa (2007). He has authored and edited several scholarly works, including recently, Africa's Media: Democracy and the Politics of Belonging (Zed Books, 2005). His background is in sociology, and he has held academic posts in Cameroon, Botswana and South Africa, and is currently Head of Publications and Dissemination at the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA).

Visit Francis Nyamnjoh's blog here.

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