日　時：2011年7月28日（木）14:30～16:30
場　所：稲盛財団記念館 3階 318号室

中部アフリカ研究会
イスラーム地域研究センター
(お問い合わせは木村大治 kimura[at]jambo.africa.kyoto-u.ac.jp までお願いします。) 

【概要】

ISLAMIC RENEWAL IN NORTHERN CAMEROON
 

by Ousmanou Adama,
Graduate School of Letters, Nagoya University, Japan

Northern Cameroon is a territory where ethnic and religious diversity
is in constant change. The (self-)identification of population groups
as Fulani (sedentary Fulbe) or Mbororo (pastoral Fulbe) has varied,
both historically and currently, with time and ecological location as
well as with the knowledge and interest of the conceptualizer. The
progressive spread of Islam in communities that have not completely
lost their past religious traditions, such as Mbororo and Fulani,
gives a new dimension to the control of political power in Northern
Cameroon.
This study examines the role of Islam in the ethnic differentiation
and political manipulation of these two groups. I argue that Islam
brings no change in psychological attitudes towards magic. The
introduction of new, Islamic techniques into the general body of
magical practice constitutes simply an addition or substitution of
older practices, such as writing amulets. In recent years, a public
debate on Sufism and Islamic renewal has emerged in Northern Cameroon,
triggered by the increase of Islamic education and the pilgrimage to
Mecca among Fulani and Mbororo. In this context, new religious
movements have been appropriated by the Mbororo, which may be read as
an attempt at integration into the national community through
religion.
We opted for a comparative approach in studying these religious
phenomena, such as to analyze their relevance and role in the
construction and re-composition of postcolonial national groupings in
Cameroon.