Return To Cameroun

"I didn't mind that he was eating caterpillars, but that he was eating my caterpillars," recalls Arta Hope of a childhood schoolchum in Africa who took a little culinary license with her pets. It's one of the many choice anecdotes uncovered by Edward Guthmann: a white man searching for his roots in Africa. The grandson of Presbyterian missionaries Fred and Roberta Hope, Guthmann has created a winning portrait of his forebears through archival footage of turn-of-the-century Cameroun, interviews with the Hope's five daughters (one of whom is Guthmann's mother), and letters written by the Hopes and read by Pat Hingle and Gena Rowlands. Through the prism of hindsight we now know that the Christian efforts in native cultures were terribly disruptive--in abandoning centuries-old rituals and adopting foreign ways, a people's identity can be lost. Yet, in returning to Cameroun, Guthmann discovered that the people had fond memories of his grandfather Fred Pope, whose prime legacy--the Frank James Industrial School--is still a major feature of the area. Today, the people sing in churches built by the missionaries, but they do not offer up their song in English; today they sing in their native Bulu tongue. Guthmann's portrait is an evenhanded one: he doesn't unconditionally praise the missionary effort, nor does he simply label it as just another facet of evil imperialism. Beneath the buzzword tags, there's usually a human story--Return to Cameroun has found it. Highly recommended for larger collections. (R. Pitman)