OLAC Record oai:soas.ac.uk:MPI1074056

Metadata
Title:		Second interview session held in Nyambat on Bati's cultural life
		Nya-Anthropology-02
		Documentation of Bati Language and Oral Traditions
Contributor (consultant):		BIKOKO
		MBESSI MAKONDO
		LIYEB BWOSSI
Contributor (researcher):		NGUE UM
Coverage:		Cameroon
Date:		2016-08-03
Description:		This session is a follow-up of the first interview dealing with the cultural life of bati people, with special emphasis on its Nyambat component. Mbessi makondo, a native of Kelleng, is in charge of monitoring the interview. The researcher (Emmanuel Ngué Um) is taking part in the session as non-participant observer. He his merely in charge of setting recording devices, then goes behind the scenes to avoid the observer's paradox. Most of the questions which have been addressed to Liyep André in the previous recording, are repeated at Bikoko's compound. They include: the history of Bati as a community, the history of their migration and settlement into their present locations, relationships with neighbors, war experiences, religious and cultural practices, taboos, etc.
		The documentation of Bati language and oral traditions aims at creating a repository of language and cultural data representative of the five varieties spoken in the Bati Canton, in the Littoral region of Cameroon. Number of Bati speakers is estimated at 800. The resulting corpus will lay the empirical ground for cross-dialectal studies in linguistics and others fields in the humanities such as anthropology, which will better inform on the bi-vectorial dynamics of Bati language and identity, torn as they are, between the Mbam and the Basaa groups respectively.
		The interview is conducted in Bati (both Nyambat and Kelleng varieties), with occasional shifts to Basaa.
		Bikoko is the ruling Chief of Nyambat. He is also a paramount traditional priest and custodian. Over the course of his initiation, he has been enthrusted with the highest attributes in the Bati-Mpoo-Basaa religion and priesthood. In this capacity, he is believed to have healing and divination powers. With regard to kinship, Bikoko is the elder brother of Liyep André, who is also taking part in this recording session. Bikoko is a father and grand-father to numerous offspring.
		Mbessi Makondo Gilbert as acted as one of the key informants for the research team during the first year of the project. Due to his extensive multilingualism coupled with a high sense of public network and relations, he has assisted the research team in most of their whereabouts throughout the various consultants who have agreed to lend themselves to research exercises. In some cases, Mbessi Gilbert has acted as the interviewer. This approach has been privileged in surveys dealing with anthropological, cultural and religous aspects. He had been trained by the research team in the monitoring of interviews, and in questionnaire administration, and has proven to be a talented and committed research assistant.
		Emmanuel Ngué Um is the Principal Investigator for the Bati project. He is mainly employed at the University of Yaoundé one where he holds the position of Senior Lectuer of Linguistics, in the Departement of Cameroonian Languages and Cultures at the Higher Teacher Training School. Ngué Um is also Associate Researcher at CERDOTOLA, where he is charged with the responsibility of Archive Manager for ALORA (Archive of Languages and Oral Resources of Africa).
		Liyep André is a retired worker who has worked in a sugar cane company based in Mbanjock in the Center region of Cameroon. He is married and a father of many children. He socially enjoys a prestigeous rank due to his professional past, but sometimes feels frustrated with regard to traditional ruling practices. Being an active christian believer, he bemoans the corruption of local traditional custodians, who take advantage of the power associated with the exercise of ancestral priesthood (Mbog), for their personal benefit. Liyep André tends therefore to be critical of the traditional ruling authorities, whether they act as village chiefs or traditional priests.
Format:		audio/x-wav
Identifier:		oai:soas.ac.uk:MPI1074056
		MDP 0332
Identifier (URI):		https://lat1.lis.soas.ac.uk/ds/asv?openpath=MPI1074056%23
Publisher:		Emmanuel Ngue Um
		International Center for Research and Documentation on African Traditions and Languages CERDOTOLA
Subject:		Interview
		semi-guided interview
Type:		Audio
OLAC Info
Archive:		Endangered Languages Archive
Description:		http://www.language-archives.org/archive/soas.ac.uk
GetRecord:		OAI-PMH request for OLAC format
GetRecord:		Pre-generated XML file
OAI Info
OaiIdentifier:		oai:soas.ac.uk:MPI1074056
DateStamp:		2018-01-11
GetRecord:		OAI-PMH request for simple DC format
Search Info
Citation:		BIKOKO (consultant); MBESSI MAKONDO (consultant); NGUE UM (researcher); LIYEB BWOSSI (consultant). 2016-08-03. Emmanuel Ngue Um.