عنوان

And it is Really Thanks to You that We Are Saved ... An African Discourse on Conversion and the Creation of a Modern Myth

Number

LA110378

.Language of Text, Soundtrack etc

انگلیسی

Title Proper

And it is Really Thanks to You that We Are Saved ... An African Discourse on Conversion and the Creation of a Modern Myth

General Material Designation

[Article]

First Statement of Responsibility

Tomas Sundnes Drønen

Place of Publication, Distribution, etc.

Leiden

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

Brill

Text of Note

This article seeks to analyse why young members of the Dii people in Adamawa, Northern Cameroon, in middle decades of the 20th century converted to Christianity, presented to them by Norwegian missionaries. Through the Dii discourse curiosity connected to the new message, importance of the mission schools, the attitude of the missionaries, and the importance of improved social status are presented as reasons behind conversion. In addition, Dii self-narration presents liberation from social oppression, from the Muslim dominant Fulbe and the French colonial administration, as the main reason behind the Dii change of plausibility structure. In order to legitimise the social and religious changes that followed acceptance of Christianity, the Norwegian missionaries were turned into mythic heroes of liberation and used by the new Dii elite to strengthen ethnic boundaries through a Dii 'construction' of recent historical past. This article seeks to analyse why young members of the Dii people in Adamawa, Northern Cameroon, in middle decades of the 20th century converted to Christianity, presented to them by Norwegian missionaries. Through the Dii discourse curiosity connected to the new message, importance of the mission schools, the attitude of the missionaries, and the importance of improved social status are presented as reasons behind conversion. In addition, Dii self-narration presents liberation from social oppression, from the Muslim dominant Fulbe and the French colonial administration, as the main reason behind the Dii change of plausibility structure. In order to legitimise the social and religious changes that followed acceptance of Christianity, the Norwegian missionaries were turned into mythic heroes of liberation and used by the new Dii elite to strengthen ethnic boundaries through a Dii 'construction' of recent historical past.

Date of Publication

2007

Physical description

156-183

Title

Exchange

Volume Number

36/2

International Standard Serial Number

1572-543X

Subject Term

CAMEROON

Subject Term

CONVERSION

Subject Term

DII

Subject Term

MYTH

Subject Term

NORWEGIAN MISSIONARIES

Tomas Sundnes Drønen

Call Number

10.1163/157254307X176589

Electronic name

p

[Article]

275578

a

Y