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Bernard Nanga

ベルナール・ナンガ

Berunāru Nanga

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1934-05-03 （Mbankomo, Cameroon）
Died
1985-03-13 （Yaoundé, Cameroon） age 50
Nationality
Cameroonian
Languages
French
Religion
Christianity
Residence History
Mbankomo → Strasbourg, France → Yaoundé

Career

Occupations
Professor, Poet, Novelist
Active Years
1965-1985
Affiliations
University of Yaoundé, Department of Philosophy
Influenced By
Vienna Circle (Logical Empiricism), Catholic theology / monastic education
Influenced
Younger Cameroonian writers and scholars of contemporary literature

Education

Efok mission school
Period: 1950年代
Year of Graduation: 1958
Country: Cameroon
Primary/secondary level; received instruction in Latin and Greek.
Major Seminary of Otele
Philosophy and Theology
Degree: 修士相当（神学・哲学の課程修了）
Period: 1958-1962
Year of Graduation: 1962
Country: Cameroon
Studied under Benedictine monks and was ordained a priest; later requested return to secular status.
University of Strasbourg
Philosophy & Sociology / Philosophy / Sociology
Degree: 哲学の学位（1965）、社会学の学位（1968）、第3サイクル博士（1971）
Period: 1962-1971
Year of Graduation: 1971
Country: France
Degree in philosophy (1965), degree in sociology (1968), defended a third-cycle doctoral thesis in March 1971.

Awards

Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire
1982
Work: Les Chauves-Souris (The Bats)
Organization: Présence Africaine (associated)
Result: 受賞
Noma Award for Publishing in Africa
Organization: Noma Award committee
Result: 言及（受賞の可能性あり）

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Les Chauves-Souris (The Bats)

1980 Fiction (social critique)

A novel critiquing societal problems such as corruption, consumerism, and inefficiency. Initially censored in Cameroon and only sold freely in the country some years later.

social critiquecorruptionconsumerism
Translations
  • Translated into English, German, Spanish and Italian

La Trahison de Marianne

Fiction

Explores cultural contrasts between Marianne (a woman he referred to) and Africa, depicting personal and cultural conflicts. Exact publication year is unclear.

cultural contrastindividual and society
Translations
  • Has records of translations into English and other languages

Poèmes sans frontières (Poems without Borders)

1987 Poetry

A collection of poems reflecting on beauty, love, life, death, and intercultural relations. Published posthumously in 1987.

beautyloveintercultural relationsdeath
Translations
  • Translated into English, German, Spanish and Italian

Bibliography

  • Les Chauves-Souris
  • La Trahison de Marianne
  • Poèmes sans frontières
  • Vive la tribu (play; mimeographed)

Translations of Works

  • Les Chauves-Souris has been translated into English, German, Spanish and Italian

Style & Themes

Literary Style
lyrical yet socially criticalphilosophically reflective prose
Recurring Motifs
cultural clash and reconciliationbeauty and deathconflict between individual and society

Legacy

Considered an important Cameroonian and African writer. Major works have been translated and studied academically. His writings, which encountered censorship and engage political contexts, are recognized and analyzed.

In Popular Culture

  • Les Chauves-Souris was initially censored in Cameroon; this fact is often mentioned in literary-historical contexts.

Trivia

  • Originally ordained a priest but later requested laicization and married.
  • His major novel Les Chauves-Souris won the Grand prix littéraire d'Afrique noire in 1982.
  • At his death he was working on an unfinished novel, 'The Time of the Vampires'.
  • Died in Yaoundé in 1985 under unclear circumstances.