The Invisible Affects the Visible

One remarkable aspect of life in most Black African societies is the popular belief in a world of spirits, which, by nature, is invisible to the non-initiated and the non-spiritual individuals but vibrant enough to affect human life in the real world. In line with this belief, many African storytellers, including Cameroonian and Nigerian cineastes, endow their fictional narratives with elements that reflect this myth. In most epic or religious Nigerian and Cameroonian films, specific characters are made to interact or partner with supernatural entities to resolve problems that affect their quotidian lives. Themes such as spiritual and physical voyages to the spirit world as well as the visit of emissaries from the invisible world to the humans’ world are strong characteristics of them. Although a number of studies have focused on the theme of the underworld in Nigerian and Cameroonian films, very little attention has been devoted to the portrayal of the spirit world versus the real world, nor to the interactions between both. Using secondary sources and critical analysis, this chapter seeks to fill the aforementioned gap by focusing on how Nigerian and Cameroonian filmmakers use cinematic codes to represent the relationship between the spirit and the real world

EPIC · Human life · Narrative · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies