The Deaf Community in Cameroon

This paper represents ａ preliminary treatment of the ethnography of African Deaf communities, focusing on the Deaf community in the Republic of Cameroon. Ethnographic data on the population, organizations, sign languages, education, history, vocations and sign language interpreters within this Deaf community are presented. Certain anecdotes originating from Deaf churches and Deaf schools are also presented. The historical and cultural characteristics of African societies underscore the following research interests: (a) the multilingual situation of spoken languages and of sign languages; (b) the presence of foreign sign languages and the attitudes of Deaf people; and (c) the " unintentional results " Deaf Africans of low levels of development. In addition, two ideas to promote cultural anthropological research based on the fieldwork conducted within Deaf cultures are suggested: (a) the construction of databases on African Deaf communities and cultures; and (b) the training of Deaf and hearing fieldworkers who can conduct research in sign languages.