Reliving The Twilight: A Review of Dibussi Tande's No Turning Back

Reviewed by Kangsen Feka Wakai (Originally published in The Frontier Telegraph Vol. II No. 8 of January 29, 2008)

Dibussi Tande No Turning Back: Poems of Freedom 1990-1993 - Available on Amazon.com and Michigan State University Press)

To suggest that Cameroon embodies the tragedy that befell African peoples when European colonialism imposed itself on the continent is quite an understatement.   

Today, Cameroon, like a host of its African neighbors has become a landscape on which real and imagined identities are contested.   This struggle within Cameroon, albeit critical in its evolution as a geo-political entity, occurs against a backdrop of political misrule, economic stagnation, social tensions, and systematic graft.

Modern Cameroon occupies an area that was 'discovered' by the Portuguese, claimed by the Germans, colonized by the English and French and is now the personal playground of an avaricious cult. It stands amongst one of the last colonial frontiers on the African continent.

Cameroon requires prudent study and evaluation when one considers the fact that it is the only country in Africa, and perhaps the entire formerly colonized world with two independence dates. It wasn't by choice.

In fact it earned its place in this caste because in reality Cameroon is actually comprised of two nations. One of them is English speaking and the other French speaking, both of them unenviable vestiges of that infamous conference of 1884.   

A fragile fabric binds them together. There are historians and political scientists by far more competent to elaborate more on the unholy liaison between these two entities and the strains that have characterized their relationship since 1961. I will spare the reader the details.   

On June 9 th of 2007 I met African-American activist and writer Amiri Baraka. He was hosting an informal lecture and Q&A session at Texas Southern University's Martin Luther King building in Houston.   

Baraka, a veteran of political and socio-cultural struggle with scars to show for it began his lecture by posing this question to the audience:   

"For whom do you write for?"

He must have repeated the question at least once or twice. I do not remember.   

But I do know that Baraka's question assumes a socio-political relevance when one begins the ritual of interpreting Dibussi Tande's verse in the aptly titled NO TURNING BACK , Poems of Freedom 1990-1993.

In this first collection of verse, the author assumes multiple roles: actor, chronicler, interpreter and conscience of a generation during an era of redefinitions and realignment of loyalties.

If the poet is the conscience of any given nation then Tande is the conscience of his generation.  A generation who's coming of age coincided with Cameroon's coming of age, as a political entity anyways, a resultant of the so-called political wind of change, democracy strewn to its wings, which blew across the continent.

In Part I, visions, the author becomes a poetic seer prophesizing of an impending storm.

I. Visions
I hear a sound so loud
Announcing the gathering clouds
Signs of an impending storm
That's about to come.

The first poem, The Gathering of Clouds, sets the tone for the entire collection; it is a throwback to the turbulent 1990s.

The Cry (Freedom!!), No Turning Back and Detention Blues are a poet's revelations and yearnings for dignity under virulent circumstances rife with violence, corruption and treachery but deciding to confront tyranny head-on, daring it to make its cannons roar, but reminding it that the dove shall soar .   

Detention Blues is a poetic chronicle of the orgy of violence that was unleashed on opponents of the regime, mostly university students who defiantly demanded political change.   

Then, the poet meets America and America meets the poet. In Black Power, the poet shows solidarity with black Los Angeles residents who took to the streets to vent their anger at the Los Angeles judicial machinery after the Rodney King verdict.

II. Tribulations
Beyond the promise
  Is the lament of a people misused
   Beyond the promise
      Is nothing but a desolate muse
        Beyond the promise
          Is a tale of dreams shattered
           Beyond the promise
            Is a story of lives battered
              Beyond the promise is no promise.

Art, according to Jay Cantor, as suggested in The Space Between: Literature and Politics , 'is supposed to be self-reflexive, concerned with how we order reality, make our world, deceive ourselves or deceive...It criticizes our perceptual habits. It severs us from the myths we were deluded by. It clears the vision and thus clears the ground for action'.

The poet does exactly what Cantor suggests. He is persistent in his attempts to reorder the reality in which he finds himself, the global reality. He is not comfortable solely with being chronicler of events; he reassumes his role as actor/participant and critique of this unfolding drama. He mourns a friend and loved one, puts Winnie on the dock, and castigates plunderers, false political messiahs and dream killers. The poet even sings a song for martyrs and Africa, mourning her pulverized dreams.

The poet seeks peace in a warring world.    Like the dove, symbol of peace, of which he writes, he soars and embraces humankind. 

III. Songs of Hope
It has been taken over
By the tyrant from across the river
Who now controls the empire;
The one and only umpire
Who treats his new acquisitions with contempt.

These poems address the subject of Cameroon, which has been called everything from a colonial creation, a forced marriage to a partnership betrayed, but one thing is certain, Cameroon has a national crisis, one of identity.

The poet in this final segment becomes somewhat of a mouthpiece for English speaking Cameroon.   He moans, vents and rages, but most importantly he attempts to inspire the uninspired about a promise denied and a stolen nation.   

No Turning Back then becomes another reminder of the resilience of English speaking Cameroonians whose plight Dibussi Tande has added another tale to their story, a story that must be told, again and again.   

Perhaps under more erudite eyes, the collection could be rightfully called protest literature; even though, No Turning Back is more than about protest, it is a story of a man trying to engage his reality. 

In fact it is an important document chronicling, through verse, the events of an era in a given space with unmitigated passion.   Perhaps it is the poet's sensitivity towards the plight of humankind that makes his visions, tribulations and hopes idyllic.   

Consider this...

Between 1990-1993, many Cameroonians were arrested, brutalized, exiled and killed.    Dibussi Tande was one of them. He was one of those who lived. Others died.   He lived to tell his and their story. This work is a tribute to that twilight in Cameroon's history.       

Back to Baraka, one might be tempted to ask the question:

So, for whom does Dibussi Tande write for?   

Dibussi Tande writes for the oppressor and oppressed. He writes for Cameroon.

Comments

[Nga Adolph]

There are some literary lessons one can draw from Kangsen Feka Wakai in his various literary reviews which I had the opportunity to read.In 'The Enchantments','Asphalt Effect' and a number of Francis Nyamnjoh's works.
When u look at his style of appreciating a literary work it doesn't only involve evaluation per se but also personal,impressionistic,or emotional apprehension of the work.Ofcourse,the emotional or personal aspect of reading a work is very important as it decides whether we want to go on to study a work and how we are going to do it.However, when personal appreciation leads to subjective and vague judgement,it should be rightly avoided.
Through Wakai's reading of a work like the 'The Enchantments'he does all to interprete the meaning of the work taking care to conserve the rich meaning behind the work.
I think much still has to be done to beef up literary criticism in Cameroon by encouraging more literary intellectuals getting into that field so as to maintain the quality of our literary works.In countries like neighbouring Nigeria I think its a well developed and organised field reason why Nigerian writers enjoy a certain degree of literary fame around the world.Giving the opportunity for young and budding writers like C.N Adichie in her "Half of a Yellow Sun" to enter the limelight.

Nga Adolph.
Leuven_Belgium

[Mondo]

Hi Adolph,

Every literary critique is personal, and is determined by the background, literary and even political inclination of the reviewer. You mention Adichie. Please, read the reviews of her work in Western newspapers such as The Guardian, Independent (UK) Washington Post, New York Times, Le Monde, and you'll understand what I mean.

And talking about Adichie, her popularity has nothing to do with the quality of literary criticism in Nigeria (she became famous in Nigeria thanks to her fame in the West, not the other way round). Adichie is one of the lucky ones who stumbled on a literary agent who could place her book with a reputable publishing house like Random House. Give the Nyamnjoh's and other Cameroonian writers the same exposure, and they too will become household names at least in Africa. What Cameroonian literature in particular and African literature in general lacks is not serious critique but the kind of exposure that the now defunct African Writers series offered first generation writers like Mbella Sonne Dipoko in Cameroon and even Achebe and Soyinka in Nigeria. Resolve that problem and the Adichies would not be the African exception but the rule.

That said, I raise my hat to the likes of Kangsen Wakai who even bother to buy, not to talk of reviewing (!!!), the few books being published by Cameroonian poets, novelists, etc.

Mondo Cyril

[Nga Adolph]

Nada,not every literary critique is necessarily personal.A literary critique can evaluate a piece of work in an objective manner by bringing in the held opinions of other writers or scholars on a particular subject.Still,literary criticism maybe influenced by social,cultural,political etc considerations which have nothing to do with the critique's personal opinion.
Its a pity not to recognise the role of literary criticism in fostering the quality of literary work.Literary criticism provides the poet or writer with the tools for self_evaluation and self_improvement.The "common reader" would rely on a good literary critique to explain a complex work.
When u say that Adichie's "fame" comes from the fact that she "stumbled on a literary agent who could place her book with a reputable publishing house",I consider it a joke in bad taste.Before any reputable publishing house worth its salt accepts to publish a piece of work,they employ the services of experts to give a wall to wall anaysis of the quality of the work and whether the book can sell on the market.The 29 year old Adichie's work is simply a masterpiece and that's why it gained international prowess.
We always give excuses for our inadequacies.If the works of Nigerian writers find the necessary exposure what stops our own writers from having such an exposure? During the heydays of the African Writer series(AWS), yes we had the Dipoko's,Jumbam's,Sotabinda's et al and they had their Soyinka's,Achebe's et al.Today we have just a few serious writers we can boast of safe for people like the Nyamnjoh's.The problem to resolve is the quality of the work of our writers and encouraging a reading culure in Cameroon.

Nga Adolph,
Leuven_Belgium

[Cyril]

Adolph,

In your piece, you argued that Adichie was popular because of the quality of Literary criticism IN NIGERIA. I said that was not true. Nothing you have written changes that fact. Adichie is a great writer but unlike many great writers in Nigeria and elsewhere in the world, she found a literary agent who had enough clout to have the work of her client to even be reviewed by the publisher of her first work, purple hibiscus. The success of that work had absolutely nothing to do with literary criticism in Nigeria. That is the point I am making.

You call Nyamnjoh a serious writer. good. But how many Cameroonians know him as such? How many have ever seen a single copy of his books? Do you sincerely believe that there are no writers as good or better than him in Anglophone Cameroon? The problem in Cameroon is not the absence of writers but of outlets. A novel or a play by a literary giant such as Bole Butake which is published by CEPER never finds its way out of Cameroon. Thus Butake will NEVER have the clout of his Nigerian counterparts who are as talented or less talented than him but who teach in Western universities and can therefore be published by publishing houses that have access to amazon.com and other online retail outlets.

Back to the issue at hand. A good literary criticism is one that situates a work in its appropriate context. Wakai does just that by making the reader to clearly understand that this work is part of an emerging literature which was born out of the political turmoil of the early 1990s. That is what will interest the regular reader. Now, it is for literature departments to deal with issues of rhyme and rhythm, metaphor, satyre, etc. without being bothered by the broader socio-political context of their creation.

So there are different types of reviews, and Wakai's is just one of them.

BTW, I just did a google search for this book and came across the kind of "serious review" that you seem to like which si done by a university lecturer and I frankly do not see how it is different from Wakai's - you can check it out for yourself and we'll take it from there - http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/books/43388