The tyranny of normative hedonism in postcolonial Cameroon: literary explorations

Abstract This paper explores the tyranny of normative hedonism in postcolonial Cameroon literature and argues that pleasure-seeking is tyrannical when the master’s pleasure translates into the marginalization of the subaltern population. It borrows critical perspectives from Achille Mbembe’s notion of the chaotic plurality of the postcolony. It contends that normative hedonism is a pervasive feature of Cameroonian anti-dictatorial literature. It focuses on Francis Nyamnjoh’s The Travail of Dieudonné, A Nose for Money, and Married but Available. The story in all the novels is set in the fictional land of Mimbo, ruled by a power-drunk elite, characterized by political corruption, kleptomania, and sexual excess, discussed here as examples of tyrannical normative hedonism. In Mimboland, the pleasures of power and the pain of domination are multidirectional and status-less. Reading these texts from this perspective allows the reader to explore the links between power and tyrannical pleasure-seeking as well as powerlessness.