Legal oppositional narrative : a case study in Cameroon / Stephen L. Bishop.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bishop, Stephen L., 1968-

Series:

After the empire

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cameroonian literature--History and criticism.

Cameroonian literature.

Law and literature--Cameroon--History--20th century.

Law and literature.

Cameroonian literature (French)--History and criticism.

Cameroonian literature (French).

Cameroonian literature (English)--History and criticism.

Cameroonian literature (English).

Law in literature.

Opposition (Political science) in literature.

Social justice in literature.

History.

Cameroon.

Physical Description:

xxii, 166 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Lanham, MD : Lexington Books, [2008]

Summary:

This book examines the possibilities of opposition to government-supported, dominant social orders through legal writing using post-Independence Cameroon (1960-1961) as its example. "Legal writing" in this case encompasses traditional fictional works such as novels, plays, and short stories that deal with legal themes, settings, and language, but also works with nontraditional narratives, such as legal case decisions, textbooks, and articles. An investigation of these Cameroonian texts demonstrates the potential use and effectiveness of oppositional narrative, as defined by authors such as Ross Chambers and Michel de Certeau, within postcolonial legal systems to influence a different reading of the legal and social order.

The investigation treats both narratives of resistance and opposition, and concludes that oppositional literary and legal storytelling offers more hope for subverting and changing the dominant social discourse than more conventional means of legal resistance. Although the two approaches overlap, oppositional legal narratives offer greater opportunity for fostering lasting social justice than legal narratives of resistance, especially within the legal system of Cameroon, which is both unduly influenced by the federal government and singularly complex in its organization. This system is split between indigenous legal traditions, Francophone civil code law, and Anglophone common law, and thus presents a complex, pluralistic legal and social atmosphere that is unsuitable for dictatorial, revolutionary change, while at the same time offering potential discursive space for oppositional writing and reading.

Contents:

Introduction: why Cameroon matters

Why law and literature matters in the African context

Always already outlawed

Clando writing and judicious reading

Legally appropriate appropriation

Writing clandos and reading juridis.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 157-164) and index.

ISBN:

9780739113189

0739113186

OCLC:

175289996