Chapter 3: The Translation of Cultural Categories
4.3. Micro-textual analysis of Oyono Mbia’s source texts
4.3.8. Forms of address
A strong coloration of the playwright’s native Bulu society is equally conferred on the plays by his introduction into the plays of forms of address typical of his society. In the author’s society, and indeed in most Cameroonian traditional societies, the words used to address people are closely related to the life in those traditional societies. In these traditional societies, it is considered polite and respectful to address one’s elders, superiors or people of importance by their titles, for example, Grandpa Abessôlô, Grandma Bella, Father Majunga, Uncle Mezoé, Aunt Cécilia, Chief Mbarga, Teacher Oyono, Witch-doctor Sanga-Titi, etc. These honorifics could be very troublesome for the non-Bulu/Cameroonian person, particularly a European one. For instance, Witch- doctor Sanga-Titi or Teacher Oyono sounds awkward in English. Furthermore, the notion of the extended family in certain African societies (as opposed to the nucleic family characteristic of the West) is stretched even further in the society depicted in the plays, whereby the entire village is considered as one big family, such that a woman old enough to be one’s mother is addressed as mother or conversely, a girl young enough to be a woman’s daughter is addressed as daughter by the woman.
Consequently, Grandma Bella may well be a neighbour of the speaker and Father Majunga is likely not to be a family member at all as in the following exchange between Missa Majunga and Owoundi in Le Train Spécial de Son Excellence:
i) Missa Majunga: (Ahuri) Quoi? Il t’a dit d’attraper une chèvre? [(Astounded) What? He said you should catch a goat?]
Owoundi : Oui Tita Majunga ! Une chèvre que le grand homme doit emmener avec lui à Yaoundé ! L’oncle Atangana m’a dit d’aider les autres enfants à l’attraper. [Yes, Tita Majunga! A goat for the great man to take with him to Yaounde! Uncle Atangana said I should help the other children to catch it.] (LTSSE:41).
The word « Tita » means « Father ». Owoundi thus addresses Missa Majunga as
“Father” whereas the latter is no blood relation of his at all.
However, in another exchange, this time in Jusqu’à Nouvel Avis between Ada and Meka, the relationship between the characters is different from the example just cited:
ii) Ada: (A un petit rire sans joie) En paix avec lui? Hum ! …Pas du tout, Tita Meka ! Mon mari ne cesse de me battre ces jours-ci ! [(Putting on an unhappy smile) Living in peace with him ? Hum! … Not at all, Tita Meka! My husband keeps beating me these days!]
Meka : (Ahuri, s’arrête de nettoyer sa pipe) De te battre ? Le grand fonctionnaire te bat ? Pas possible ! [(Incredulously, stops cleaning his pipe) Beating you?
The great civil servant beats you? That is not possible!]
Ada : Il me bat, Tita Meka ! [He beats me Tita Meka!] (JNA:23)
In this second example, Ada addresses Meka as “Tita” who is actually her older family relation, though not her biological father.
The other forms of address used in the three plays examined include “Na”, “Tit”, and
“Ah” as illustrated in the following examples:
i) Ada: Tiens, Mezoé! [Take, Mezoé]
Mezoé: (Prenant les deux assiettes) Merci, Ada! … Hmm ! l’odeur de la cuisine de Na’Cécilia ! [(Taking the two plates) Thank you Ada ! …The good smell of Na’Cécilia’s food!] (JNA:19)
i) Bella : (A Juliette) Qu’est-ce qu’elle t’a envoyé ? De la viande d’antilope ? [(To Juliette) What did she send to you? Antelope meat?]
Juliette : (Se dirigeant vers les étagères) Je crois bien que oui, Na’Bella ! On mangera cela après avoir fini de préparer le repas. [(Moving towards the shelves) I think so, Na’Bella ! We will eat it when we finish cooking.] (TPUM:61)
The form of address “Na” refers to “Mother” or “Grandmother” as illustrated in the above examples. In the first example, Ada and Mezoé are Na’Cécilia’s children, while in the second example Juliette is Na’Bella’s granddaughter.
Similarly, “Tit” refers to “Father” or “Grandfather” as illustrated by examples (iii) and (iv) below respectively:
iii) Atangana: Ah Tit’Abessôlô! Tu ne sais donc pas qu’il se passe des choses ici? [Ah Tit’Abessôlô ! Don’t you know lots of things are going on here ?]
Abessôlô : (Indifférent, allant à sa chaise-longue) Quelles choses ?
[(Unconcernedly, going to his deckchair) What things?] (TPUM:47) iv) Abessôlô : (Précipitamment) Ah Ada. Où sont les sept … euh … les fourchettes de
cette maison ? Va me les chercher pour … [(Hastily) Ah Ada. Where are the seven … er … the forks of this house? Go and bring them for me to …]
Mezoé : (Ada qui se dirigeait vers la cuisine) Ce n’est pas la peine, Ada ! Nous sommes en brousse, Tit’Abessôlô ! Je vais me débrouiller avec mes mains. [(To Ada who is going towards the kitchen) Never
mind Ada! We are in the bush Tit’Abessôlô! I will manage with my hands] (JNA:19-20)
In (iii), Abessôlô is Atangana’s father, and in (iv), he is Mezoe’s grandfather.
Examples (v) and (vi) below concern the form of address “Ah” which precedes the name of the addressee and is used for any person as a mark of respect and politeness.
v) Le Chef de Gare: Merci … Merci, ah Folinika ! ça suffit comme cela pour le moment. Va me garder le reste au frigidaire. Je dois rentrer à la
gare dans un moment. [Thank you … thank you Folinika! That’s enough for the moment. Go and preserve the rest for me in the fridge. I must go back to the station in a moment] (LTSSE:25).
Le Chef de Gare is just a regular customer at Folinika’s bar.
vi) Ondua: Ah Oyôn! Ne dis rien à ta soeur à propos du fonctionnaire! Ton père lui- même s’en char … [Ah Oyôn ! Don’t tell your sister anything about the civil servant! Your father himself will … ] (TPUM:18).
In this turn, Oyôn is a young family relation of Ondua. It is also worth noting here that Oyôn is a pet name of Oyono. The playwright cushions this and there is therefore no risk of the readers/audience assigning the names Oyono and Oyôn to different characters. In effect, the stage direction which immediately follows the utterance by Ondua clarifies the reader as to the identity of the character referred to. Also, the audience watching the play on stage and who has no access to the stage directions, will nonetheless see physically on stage that the person referred to as Oyôn by Ondua is the same one also referred to at some other instance of the play as Oyono.
In the plays, the form of address “Ah” which precedes the name of the addressee, is also often accompanied by an exclamation mark placed after the name as can be seen in the above examples. The non-Bulu/Cameroonian readers/audience could therefore easily take the word “Ah” as marking an exclamation considering that the same word
“Ah” is equally used in the plays in other contexts to mark an exclamation and not a form of address as in the following examples:
i) Mbia: (Flatté) Oui, de grandes médailles ! Mais pour que vous me connaissiez mieux, nous allons boire quelque chose ensemble. [(Flattered) Yes, great
medals ! However, in order to enable you to know me better, we will take a couple of drinks together.]
Tous : (Ravis : le moment tant attendu s’annonce enfin) Ah … quel grand fonctionnaire ! [(Delightedly: this is the moment they had been waiting for) Ah … What a great civil servant!] (TPUM:30).
ii) Tous : (Lui venant en aide) Abessôlô ! [(Coming to his aid) Abessôlô !]
Mbia : Ah !...Abessôlô ! Est-ce que je me trompe ? [Ah! … Abessôlô!
Am I mistaken?] (TPUM:32).
Readers/audiences not familiar with the Bulu culture could also mistakenly consider the forms of address “Tita”, “Tit” and “Na” as part and parcel of the indigenous names they precede, such as “Tita Meka”, “Tit’ Abessôlô” and “Na’Bella”, respectively.
All the various forms of address in the plays serve to demonstrate the very natural tendency in the traditional society to show respect through the use of such polite terms.
The author does not provide any form of cushioning at all for these forms of address because he considers his primary Bulu/Cameroonian readers/audience to be quite familiar with them.