Kenjo Wan Jumbam

The arrival of Christianity in a village in Cameroon. To Jumbam’s great credit, nothing is presented as either wholly good or wholly bad. Told through the eyes of a child, the book offers a fairly nuanced view of the collision between Christianity and traditional African religion as well as the forcible imposition of Western mores and customs on a local village and society. Even those villagers who adopt Christianity do so through the filter of their own upbringing, understanding, and world view. And early 20th-century African Christianity is not remotely the same as early 20th-century Western Christianity. There is humor, pathos, sarcasm, and a great deal of insight here. While not great literature, I found the book well worth the time for its understanding and appreciation of points of view and of cultures which, while not precisely in opposition, were hardly in sympathy with each other. If you can find this, I’d recommend it.… (mais)