Swedish Ventures in Cameroon, 1833-1923: Trade and Travel, People and Politics (Cameroon Studies, Vol 4) [Illustrated] [Paperback]

Knut Knutson (Author), Shirley Ardener (Author, Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2003 | Series: Cameroon Studies, Vol 4

The 1880's were a critical time in Cameroon. A German warship arrived in the Douala estuary and proclaimed Cameroon a protectorate. At that time, two Swedes, Knutson and Waldau, were living on the upper slopes of the Cameroon Mountain. Very little is known about their activities. One of them, Knutson, wrote a long memoir of his time in Cameroon (1883-1895) which is published here for the first time. It gives fascinating insights into everyday life in Cameroon and into the multifaceted relationships among the various Europeans, and between them and the Africans, at the end of the 19th century. Together with appended contemporary correspondence, legal opinions, and early (translated) texts, this memoir must be considered as a unique and invaluable primary source for the pre-colonial history of Cameroon.

Editorial Reviews

Review

... a rich source of information on the detailed operation of a new colonial business venture and on a number of key events in the developments of the protectorate and the plantations. Accounts like this, which give details of the relationships between different groups of colonists and between colonists and Africans in nineteenth-century Cameroon, are rare and are great treasures.A" * African Affairs On being asked to review this book, it must be confessed, I was not bowled over with enthusiasm ... Once into the text of Knutson's Memoir, however, one becomes hooked, as well as convinced that this document was well worth translating from Swedish for publication.A" * African Affairs Knutson's memoir is very well balanced out with the addition of extracts from the diaries of some of those he refers to, as well as of other contemporary commentators on that region.A" * Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute In publishing these two books [Swedish Ventures and Cameroon's Tycoon] Berghahn have done West-Central African studies proud. The authors are highly regarded Cameroonists - The two volumes make an important contribution to the late pro-colonial and early colonial history of the Cameroons.A" * The Australasian Review of African Studies " - a fascinating account - [of considerable] ethnographic and historical value." * Social Anthropology "While the volume is best suited for specialists of Cameroon, its coverage of economics, gender, ethnography and racial stereotyping also recommends the book to anyone interested in the multiple dimensions of European-African encounters. It would make a splendid assigned reading for courses on European colonialism generally and German imperialist ventures in particular." * H-Net

About the Author

Shirley Ardener teaches at the Center for Cross-Cultural Research on Women, University of Oxford, and is a member of the Centre for Cross-Cultural Research on Women, of which she was also the founding director.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Berghahn Books; illustrated edition edition (February 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 157181311X
• ISBN-13: 978-1571813114
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,338,330 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #47 in Books > History > Africa > Cameroon

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