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Ugochukwu, Francoise
(2000).
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/etudesafricaines.26
URL: http://etudesafricaines.revues.org/index26.html
Abstract
Partly based on archives, this description of the progression of French Catholic missions from Senegal to Igboland emphasizes the crucial roles played by the Congrégation des Pères du Saint Esprit (Spiritains) and the Société des Missions Africaines (SMA) from Lyon in collecting folklore, diffusing the Onitsha dialect throughout Igboland, and developing a system of writing for the language. By comparison with their predecessors (the British Church Missionary Society), these two missionary
organizations, through their prublications, opened the way for progress in Igbo studies. These authors can be considered to be harbingers of the current cooperation between France and Igboland in the context of Franco-Nigerian relations