Publish at January 30 2023 Updated January 30 2023
Once upon a time, Oyono Ada Ngone, a warrior of the Fang people. During the wars that opposed his people to other peoples (Bassa or Mvelle) he fell into a coma. After several days of lethargy, he came out of it with a divine inspiration that gave courage to his people already almost beaten by the opponent. His great divine revelation was the mvet.
His manufacture and use were accompanied by the original oral texts that are part of the cultural wealth of the Fang-Beti-Bulu peoples spread across five African countries (Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Congo Brazzaville and Sao Tome and Principe). This is a story that is very often told when it comes to venting about Mvet[1].
What is Mvet or mvet? Its retro-engineering will allow us to understand first its explicit functions, then to highlight its implicit functions that go beyond the musical instrument.
At the outset, we must differentiate between the Mvet with capital M and the mvet with lowercase m. According to the historian and musicologist Jopseph Owona Ntsama (2004), the "mvet - with a small m - is the harp-cithar that allows one to say the Mvet". As for the Mvet with a capital M, it is the epic (Bindang, 2016), the theater (Ondo, 2014), the narrative, the tale, etc.
Even though some scholars such as Christine Angèle Ondo (2014) state that the instrument would have existed in ancient Egypt, the fact remains that its conception and evolution are best understood only when one delves into the cosmogony of the Fang-Beti-Bulu peoples .
When he came out of his coma, according to the epic about the Mvet, Oyono Ada Ngone went to fetch a branch of raffia from which he made the instrument, which according to Steeve Ella, summarized by Narcisse Fomekong (2022: 50-51) has undergone four ages:
The first age is called Nna Otse. At this phase the instrument consists of a rod and a goat bow.
The Ekang Nna constitutes the second age. With this second stage, the central trestle appears. It consists of "a bend, a string, a resonator and a central bridge". It is here that one passes from the sounds to the speech, because the form makes it possible to release the mouth. It is during this phase that, "Nna Otse will explain to Ekang Nna, her son, how life came about and the origins of the universe."
The third age of the Mvet is the age of the Oyono Ada Ngone form. The instrument becomes more and more complex. It now has eight strings, with a central bridge and two resonators in the center. For many scholars, the true practice of the Mvet has as its landmark, this form of which Oyono Ada Ngone is the instigator: "Here begins the Mvett proper, for it was to Oyone Ada that the Mvett was revealed and that is why he is called the father of melodies."
Finally, we have the fourth (actual) stage which, according to Steeve Ella, varies from place to place. This is why the descriptions are different in different documents. In "Epic Music of Cameroon" (1986:17), the instrument has six major parts: a "dry bamboo stalk," "sounding strings," "rattan wire rings," "calabashes," and a "strap" that is attached at both ends to the bamboo stalk and allows the instrument to be easily carried as a shoulder strap.
Let's stop at this last age of the instrument to understand the functions of the six components.
The bamboo stem is the support, the backbone of the object. It can measure up to 130 cm long depending on the craftsman or mveter who makes it. It is the main element of support. The strings allow the mveteur or Mbom mvet[2], through his fingers and sometimes his teeth to produce sounds.
The calabashes are used to channel and resonate the sounds. As for the lanyard, it is used to carry the object as a shoulder strap. As for the rattan rings, not only do they allow the calabashes to be joined or sealed to the stem, but also to attach the strings. Beyond this arrangement, let us say artistic and musical, is a whole philosophy of the ancestral culture of the people whose object is the heritage. But to understand this knowledge transmitted by the mvet, we must join the object to the stories that accompany them.
It is important to note that a whole philosophy lies behind the Mvet of which there are three main types:
It is the content and the contexts in which they are practiced that make the difference. Each mveteur makes his or her own instrument. The skill of this art is the result of a transmission from a master to a disciple. Depending on the genre, initiation can take several years.
The Mvet Ekang explains the creation of the world, the root causes of the foundations of humanity according to the Ekang people. Characters in this genre are warriors who embody bravery, loyalty and determination. The battle is between the mortal and immortal worlds. The mortals must fight to defeat the immortals and take their place. It is often practiced during specific events such as mourning withdrawals.
As for Mvet Bibon, it is not metaphysical like the former. It emphasizes romantic relationships and physical traits, usually those of the African woman; it is the mvet of love par excellence. It is not only lyrical but also comical and is practiced during different types of ceremonies.
As far as the Engubi or Ngubi mvet is concerned, it narrates the journeys of the Beti and Bulu chiefs in particular and the daily lives of men in general. Through this genre, one can easily understand the way of life of the peoples involved in its practice. It is a satirical Mvet that denounces the faults of society and draws the attention of men to vanity.
The Mvet accompanied by the Mvet teaches about the history, philosophy, culture or identity of the Fang-Beti-Bulu peoples.
It is important to remember that the evolution of the instrument was dependent on the family composition of the one through whom God is said to have revealed the Mvet: "the multiplication of sounds that appear in the third phase is due to the expansion of Oyono Ada's family with more children and therefore more resonances. Thus the first string refers to the male; the other strings refer respectively to the first wife, the second wife, the third and so on." (Fomekong, 2022:52 ).
In sum; the mvet instrument falls under the craft engineering of the Fang-Beti-Bulu peoples. Its design, evolution, and use reflect the past and present of the peoples involved in its practice.
Even if its inscription as intangible heritage on the Unesco Representative List is slow in coming, the fact remains that its heritage and educational significance militates for its protection. Not only is one cultivated by listening to mveteurs, but also the initiation process through which its actors pass bears witness to a particular form of knowledge transmission.
Bibliography
ABESSOLO MINKO, Antoine, "In the Beginning was the Mvet," Full-length documentary, online, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRCGGC6R0IE
FOMEKONG DJEUGOU, Narcisse, Culture and Development: Le Mvet à l'épreuve des industries culturelles et créatives, 2022, Yaoundé, Ifrikiya.
Epic Music of Cameroon, Introductory Booklet, 1986, Yaoundé,
OWONA NTSAMA, Joseph, "Myth and History: the Example of the Mvet of the Pahouins," Enjeux, 2004, p. 32, online, available at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1-sNSmyKIgfkbfO2ncxyvRoHwhy-h-c2_xlr2pQsGeas/edit
OWONA NTSAMA, Joseph, "Le Mvet-oyeng à la croisée des chemins : constats et perspectives d'avenir. Proceedings of the International Colloquium of Brazzaville (Republic of Congo), 2016. Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, August 5-7, 2014, Yaoundé, CERDOTOLA, pp.81-100.
OWONA NTSAMA, Joseph, "Mvet et construction identitaire chez les Pahouins (le cas des Beti-BuluFang)" in BINAM BIKOI, Charles, Musique(s) traditionnelle(s) d'Afrique, 2010, Yaoundé, CERDOTOLA, pp. 61-73
ONDO, Christine Angèle, "L'espace corporel intérieur dans le Mvet," Africanistes, 2010, pp. 155-170, online, available at
https://africanistes.revues.org/2991
ONDO, Chritine Angèle, Mvett Ekang : Formes et sens. L'épique dévoile le sens, 2014, Paris, L'harmattan.
BINDANG NGUEMA ÑENGONO, Verónica, "Perspectivas diversas sobre el Mvet y reivindicación filológica de su carácter épico", 2016, UNED, pp. 199-222, online, available at
https://revistas.uned.es/index.php/endoxa/article/view/16609/14254
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[1] The Mvett or the Mvet, both spellings are acceptable.
[2] This is one of the multiple appellations of Mvet practitioner in the Fang language.
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