Matthias Pauwels’ essay for the Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology, published online in advance of the paper edition.
Matthias Pauwels – ‘Intersections of Queer Art and African Indigenous Culture: The Case of Inxeba (The Wound)’: JBSP Special Edition Capital, Sex and Africa (Originally published online: 26 February 2020).
Abstract: This article assesses some recurrent criticisms based on respect for traditional culture levelled at artworks that thematise non-heteronormative gender positionalities in South Africa. More specifically, it reconsiders the stormy, local reception of the South African movie Inxeba (The Wound), a queer love story set in the context of the male initiation rites of the Xhosa community. The article focuses on criticisms of the movie based on the alleged misrepresentation and misappropriation of indigenous cultural practices. It aims to reflect on the complicated knot of problems that queer artists and activists have to navigate in South Africa, including entrenched heteronormative traditions, but also multiculturality and racial privilege. New ways of negotiating these problems are proposed through the development of a more complex topographical account of the intersections of multiple forms of marginality, as well as through the application of multiculturalist theories regarding ways to assist oppressed minorities in traditional cultures.
Full article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00071773.2020.1732578
Matthias Pauwels, Department of Philosophy, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
Accessing the JBSP Online: The online version of the Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology publishes articles in advance of the paper edition. Articles can be accessed via our publisher’s website: JBSP at Taylor & Francis Online. Access to the JBSP is free to all members of the society, who also receive the quarterly paper copy of the journal as part of their subscription. You can find out more about becoming a member and supporting the BSP on the membership webpage. If you are not a member of the BSP, you can purchase articles from the site, or log in using institutional or personal access via Shibboleth and OpenAthens.
Reminder: The call for papers is now open for the British Society for Phenomenology’s 2020 Annual Conference: ‘Engaged Phenomenology’, co-sponsored with Egenis at the University of Exeter and the Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environments of Health. The conference is to be held in Exeter, UK, from Thursday 3 – Saturday 5 September 2020. For more details – including keynote speakers – see the BSP 2020 annual conference homepage.