Multilingual backgrounds and the identity issue in Cameroon

Abstract

This paper seeks to establish at what point the language issue is relevant to the establishment of a Cameroonian identity which is devoid of complications (difficult though it may be) and which reflects the ideal citizen in this multilingual setting. It traces some of the historically linked sociolinguistic problems encountered in Cameroon to the quest for an adequately recognised identity vehiculated in a given language. This brings to light the divergent attachment to the official languages and the native Cameroonian languages and the various strata of identity they engender.