Vol. 33 No. 4 (2024): NJAS Special Issue: Becoming (Un)Equal in Age: Seniority and Superiority in African Societies
Special Issue: Becoming (Un)Equal in Age: Seniority and Superiority in African Societies

“This Child is This Small Only on His Age”: Negotiating Age and Authority in Everyday Interactions in Ngəmba, Western Cameroon

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Solange Mekamgoum
University of Hamburg
Bio
DOI: https://doi.org/10.53228/njas.v33i4.1142

Published 2024-12-19

Keywords

  • age dynamics and social roles,
  • conceptualisation of age,
  • social interactions,
  • Ngəmba,
  • Western Cameroon

How to Cite

Mekamgoum, S. (2024). “This Child is This Small Only on His Age”: Negotiating Age and Authority in Everyday Interactions in Ngəmba, Western Cameroon. Nordic Journal of African Studies, 33(4), 353–373. https://doi.org/10.53228/njas.v33i4.1142

Copyright (c) 2024 Solange Mekamgoum

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

This paper examines the emic concepts pertaining to age in Ngəmba, a language spoken in the Western Region of Cameroon. It explores both the terminological concepts available in the language for talking about age and their usage in everyday speech. Drawing upon video recordings of spontaneous interactions obtained through ethnographic and linguistic fieldwork conducted between 2015 and 2023 within this community, I analyse how age disparities and similarities are negotiated through social interactions. This includes examining advice speech events and interactional routines such as turn taking, bodily actions, and linguistic behaviours during greetings and receiving gifts. The paper underscores the role of verbal and non-verbal indicators of power and familiarity in establishing relationships. By uncovering the age dynamics and the sociocultural significance of age in social interactions, this study makes a substantial contribution to the broader discussions on age negotiation and intergenerational dynamics. Furthermore, it addresses a notable gap in the existing literature on age-related topics in Ngəmba, paving the way for further exploration of the interplay between traditional values and evolving social dynamics concerning age within the Ngəmba community and beyond.

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