Louis-Marie Pouka was a
Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
ian
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
who advocated the
assimilation of Cameroonian peoples into
French culture
The culture of France has been shaped by geography, by historical events, and by foreign and internal forces and groups. France, and in particular Paris, has played an important role as a center of high culture since the 17th century and from t ...
. Pouka believed that
colonialism
Colonialism is a practice or policy of control by one people or power over other people or areas, often by establishing colonies and generally with the aim of economic dominance. In the process of colonisation, colonisers may impose their relig ...
was part of God's plan to bring African peoples into the wider world. His belief in the superiority of French culture and lifestyle is evident in his 1943 poem "Pleurs sincères", which "laments the indignities imposed on French citizens during German occupation" but makes no mention of cruel practices of French
colonials in
Cameroun
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
, such as the imposition of
forced labour
Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...
on Africans.
[Mbaku 79.]
Pouka moved to France in the 1940s. The society he found there failed to live up to his idealistic expectations, but he explained such elements away as deviations from God's plan for Cameroonians and the belief that God would punish those French people whom he found cruel or exploitative. Nevertheless, when Pouka returned to Cameroun in the 1950s, his poems were increasingly characterised by a "vague uneasiness".
Pouka struggled to reconcile his belief in French culture and equality and his realisation that colonialism did not allow for the equality of Africans and Europeans.
Notes
References
* Mbaku, John Mukum (2005). ''Culture and Customs of Cameroon''. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press.
Cameroonian poets
Cameroonian male writers
Male poets
French-language poets
Possibly living people
{{Africa-poet-stub