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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Building in the Name of God: Architecture, Resistance, and the Christian Faith in the Bamileke Highlands of Western Cameroon
Author:Malaquais, DominiqueISNI
Year:1999
Periodical:African Studies Review
Volume:42
Issue:1
Period:April
Pages:49-78
Language:English
Geographic term:Cameroon
Subjects:Christianity
Bamileke
political action
religious buildings
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
Religion and Witchcraft
Architecture and the Arts
External link:https://www.jstor.org/stable/525528
Abstract:Architecture functions as a powerful tool in the construction of political power. So, too, can it play an important role in resistance to such power. This essay explores uses of the built environment, of topography, building methodology, and approaches to the landscape by different sectors of the Bamileke community (West Cameroon) over the period 1906-1996. Its principal focus is architecture and architectural practices associated with an institution imposed by the German and French colonial regimes: the Christian church. How and why, primarily through the medium of architecture, did different factions within the Bamileke community (chiefs and their allies, priests and pastors, untitled men, youths, women) make use of Christian institutions to further their goals and enhance their position within the social order? Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English and French.
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