Abstract

This article presents an attempt to analyze the narrative of Mvett performance of the Fang/Pahouin people of Central Africa (Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Cameroun, and Congo-Brazzaville). Almost all the studies pertaining to the Mvett focus on the literary aspects of its text, even those that propose to look at its performance, quickly turn to the mentioned aspects. In this article, the author seeks to understand the intrinsic symbolism of the origins of the performance and its narrative, from materials contained in the myth itself. He uses a pseudo-archeological perspective to fill the gaps of the weakness of physical evidence in investigating the initial actions of the narrative. The author calls his approach pseudoarcheological because Archeology is based on digging and analyzing the vestiges of material culture on the field, which is not the case with Mvett, an essential but immaterial patrimony of the Fang people.

Keywords: Adzap, Aba (meba), Mvett, Odzabomga, Archeology of Performance, Fang people, Engong, Oküi, Oyono Ada Ngone, Nkum Ekiegn, Iron Smelter