Traditional and new houses, old and new paths to social status in the Mandara highlands, Cameroon

Datos Bibliográficos

ID18978676
AutoresMelchisedek Chétima (0000-0002-4248-4838, Université du Québec à Montréal, autor de correspondencia)
Año2023
Volumen57
Número3
Páginas625-643
Fecha de publicación2023-09-02
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaCanadian Journal of African Studies / Revue canadienne des études africaines (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0008-3968 • E-ISSN: 1923-3051
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00083968.2023.2210697
OpenAlexW4382937406
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas43

This article suggests that in the Mandara Mountains, houses, whether traditional or modern, are means by which social relations are continuously created, reproduced, justified and transformed. This approach has relevance for the literature insofar as authors have mainly focused on the role of elite and public buildings in the generation and maintenance of power and hierarchies, while domestic architecture has been studied mainly as a symbol of group values. Building materials and architectural shapes of houses are continually morphing in the Mandara Mountains, but the social practices related to the use of the inhabited space remain unchanged. The study is original because the existing literature on the Mandara Mountains focuses more on traditional architecture. While this area has surfaced in the news as a hinterland of Boko Haram in neighbouring Nigeria, recent cultural and, in particular, architectural transformations have not received much attention

Archaeology · Elite · Geography · Political science · Politics · Symbol (formal) · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Architecture · Computer Science · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · Urban and Rural Development Challenges