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Abstract
In Cameroon, popular belief associates American literature with its country’s economic and political greatness. Yet, if millions of Cameroonians show a growing enthusiasm for a visit to the US, just a few are interested in learning its literature. Using theories on the reading and teaching of literature, statistical data based on a questionnaire, as well as mythological and comparative approaches to literature, this paper intends to point out the various causes of Cameroonian students’ lukewarm response to this literature and suggest some remedial strategies that may improve the reception of this discipline in Cameroon. The strategies recommended include the action of the Yaoundé-based American and Cameroonian officials, action which can foster the readers’ and scholars’ greater exposure to this discipline; the use of new technologies in the teaching of literature, which today, more than yesterday, has become a multimedia affair (Purves, 1997); and the comparative approach to the study of literary texts, as this approach connects American literature to the Cameroonian learners’ experience.
Highlights
Responses to literature vary according to its relation to the readers’ and learners’ experiences, interests and goals, as well as the methods used to teach it
Quoting Oslon and Torrance (2009), Singh (2014) points out that “different readers in different historical periods or in different cultural contexts might create and engage with written documents in dramatically distinctive ways.”. This statement highlights the fact that responses to literary texts are dependent on the readers’ and learners’ sensibility and motives
It was distributed to second year /level two students of the Department of English of the Faculty of Arts, Letters and Social Sciences of the University of Yaoundé I. This sampling is representative of the students’ population of the University. It was chosen because the students of this level are likely to be exposed to more American literary texts than the students of level one, who are just from high schools, and those of levels three, four and five
Summary
Responses to literature vary according to its relation to the readers’ and learners’ experiences, interests and goals, as well as the methods used to teach it. Espousing an author’s worldview implies that his/her text appeals to the reader’s experiences, interest and goals, as “most of us think of ‘why we read’ in terms of our immediate goals. Which texts should one read or learn? Quoting Oslon and Torrance (2009), Singh (2014) points out that “different readers in different historical periods or in different cultural contexts might create and engage with written documents in dramatically distinctive ways.”. This statement highlights the fact that responses to literary texts are dependent on the readers’ and learners’ sensibility and motives Quoting Oslon and Torrance (2009), Singh (2014) points out that “different readers in different historical periods or in different cultural contexts might create and engage with written documents in dramatically distinctive ways.” This statement highlights the fact that responses to literary texts are dependent on the readers’ and learners’ sensibility and motives
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