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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Islam or Christianity? The Choices of the Wawa and the Kwanja of Cameroon
Author:Gausset, QuentinISNI
Year:1999
Periodical:Africa: Journal of the International African Institute
Volume:69
Issue:2
Pages:257-278
Language:English
Geographic term:Cameroon
Subjects:religious conversion
Kwanja
Wawa
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
Religion and Witchcraft
conversion
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/1161025
Abstract:This article addresses two questions. First, it examines why the Wawa and the Kwanja, two neighbouring groups living in Banyo District, Cameroon, converted to Islam and Christianity in the 1960s. It argues that the Wawa and Kwanja who converted around the time when Cameroon gained independence intended primarily to adopt a religious identity which was seen as modern and supportive of their new national identity. Secondly, the article analyses the reasons why the Wawa converted to Islam while most Kwanja chose Christianity, arguing that their choices depended primarily on how they interacted with, and defined their own identity vis-à-vis the neighbouring Fulbe, who brought Islam when they conquered Adamawa in the 19th century. The data for this article were collected during a total of eighteen months' fieldwork among the Wawa and the Kwanja between 1992 and 1996. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French.
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