Work in Progress: Keguro Macharia, "Re-Thinking African Homophobia"

Prison writing has been central to producing and disseminating knowledge about homosexuality in post-independent Africa. Focusing specifically on poetry by South African Dennis Brutus and a prison narrative by Kenyan historian Maina wa Kĩnyattĩ, this talk outlines a genealogy for “African homophobia” that takes the transnational circulation of prison writing as its point of departure. I draw from recent scholarship on African prisons and from the emerging sub-field of African Queer studies to offer a new model for theorizing African homosexualities and homophobias within African (trans)nationalisms.

Macharia reccommends these readings for those who plan to attend the session:

• http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/may/21/complex-roots-africa-homophobia
• http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/may/26/homophobia-africa-not-single-story