Diogenes · 1974 · 97 citations · 0 references
HumanitiesHistoryReligious StudiesAfrican HistoryEthnologyIndigenous StudiesAfrican ReligionsAfrican Traditional ReligionsColonialismDecolonizationEnslaved ReligionNatural HistoryAfrican Indigenous ReligionChristianity In AfricaColonial ImpactConversion Among Enslaved PeopleIndigenous ConversionNineteenth-century HistoriographyTribal GenealogiesTribal Organization
The Fang, a conquering people, overran the southern Cameroons and northern Gabon during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Their conquest followed a rather curious pattern: without a deliberated tribal organization, one family after another picked up and descended to the sea. Their conquering past has deeply influenced the Fang; they do not hesitate to appropriate new techniques and ideas, confident that they are strong enough to assimilate almost anything into their culture. Eager for innovations and change, the Fang are convinced that progress never rests, and they are not hindered by nostalgia which they feel is sterile and unjustified. It was natural for them to seek out Western civilization and try to assimilate it. As a result there was a massive conversion to Christianity among the Fang.