Ndowé Proverbs and Tales
2009; Volume: 28; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
2327-9648
Autores Tópico(s)Caribbean and African Literature and Culture
ResumoThe Ndowe people live along the West Central African coast, in the countries today known as Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon.1 They are divided into three main linguistic groups. The Bongwe are all those Ndowe ethnic groups who begin a phrase with ngwe na ye (I am saying), including the Iyasa, Kombe, and One. The Boumba Ndowe begin a phrase with umba na we (I am saying), and consist of the Bapuku, Benga, and Duwala. The Bondongo Ndowe are the most scattered and linguistically diverse group. They comprise the Balengi (ingwe na ye), the Mbiko (mi he), the Mitsogo (me mbe), and the Mpongwe (mye ne) . The Ndowe are part of the Bantu-Kongolese group of Africans who share a common cultural, historic, and linguistic origin. Ancient Ndowe teachings intended help people cope with the mystery of life and all of its trials and tribulations are called metombo, whose singular is utombo (in Benga) or motombo (in Kombe) (A'Bodjedi, Ndowe Tales 89). Metombo are the psychoanalytic theories passed down the modern Ndowe from their ancestors, originating in the Nile Valley. Esoteric teachings, including metombo, are gradually presented Ndowe inquirers after initiation into the Ndowe maganga (mystery schools) . Ndowe initiation ceremonies take place in an ivunda (Bapuku, Benga, Kombe), a House of Life or Temple of Learning. The etymology of the Ndowe word metombo is derived from Mdu Neter, the language of the ancient Kemetians (Egyptians). Atum (or Atom) was part of an ancient African trinity consisting of KJiepera-Ra-Atum. Khepera became the sun at sunrise and symbolized a newborn. Ra represented the sun at noon and symbolized an adult male. Atum or Atom was the sun at sunset and symbolized an old man. Therefore, metombo (Ndowe psychoanalytic theories) originated with Atum, the wise, old, African man from the Nile Valley. Ndowe metombo incorporate the study of human psychology in its normal and abnormal aspect. An analysis of specific Ndowe words, Ndowe proverbs, and characters from Ndowe tales reveals the ways in which the ancient Ndowe understood the primitive human drives and the intimate relationship between sex and aggression, therefore anticipating Sigmund Freud's formulations. Freudian psychoanalysis identifies two kinds of psychic energy: one associated with the sex drive, or libido, and the second with the aggressive or destructive drive. On the clinical level, libido is composed of admixtures of sexual and aggressive drives. The Ndowe word for libido, edoko (Benga, Kombe) , comes from the Kombe verb edoka (to hit). The Ndowe noun ebode (Benga, Kombe) signifies fist. The Kombe word for anal intercourse is ivode, with the connotation of rough sex. The nouns ikito (Benga) and ityito (Kombe) mean cruelty, and they share a common etymology with the various Ndowe words for animal: tyito (Balengi) and tito (Bapuku, Benga) . The ty in Ndowe words is pronounced ch. The term ityito also refers the primitive, animal drive in humans. The word nginya (Benga, Duwala, Kombe) refers the survival instinct, whereas the words ngiya (Bapuku, Benga) and njiya (Kombe) mean chimpanzee. The words njiya (Iyasa) and ngina (Mpongwe) denote gorilla. The archaic Kombe verb enyamala means to lust for, sharing a common etymology with nyama (Iyasa, Kombe, Mpongwe, One), which means animal. Clearly, the ancient Ndowe perceived an intimate relationship between sex and violence and their association with the primal animal drives. The proto-Ndowe associated power and aggression with human The word for ambition, bovave (Benga, Kombe), is linguistically connected bevavo (Benga, Kombe), which means genitalia. Besides signifying substance of evil, the terms dinjangi (Balengi) , jemba (Bapuku, Benga), (Kombe), ihku (Mbiko), nyemba (Mpongwe), and evusu (One) also refer the aggressive drive. When a Kombe man says, Do not raise my evugu (aggressive drive), it is equivalent saying Do not raise my mabindi (testicles). …
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