Abstract

The LGBTQI+ category, with its Western roots, has become a contentious descriptor for sexual minorities in Africa. In South Africa, the rising number of violent and homophobic attacks against sexual minorities and lesbian women, often in the form of “corrective rape”, highlights the tension between marginalised communities becoming more visible and vocal about their rights and a conservative backlash. Of particular significance in post-apartheid South Africa is the growing visibility of black lesbians. Prior to the adoption of South Africa's democratic constitution, visibility of these women was very low, strengthening the erroneous assumption that homosexuality is unAfrican. African identity is often aligned with heteronormative ideals and homosexuality is often referred to as unAfrican, unChristian, and unnatural. Furthermore, the idea that lesbian sexuality is unAfrican and unChristian is used as an excuse for the violence perpetrated against lesbians. However, queer African writers are starting to challenge negative stereotypes. Zandile Nkunzi Nkabinde's 2008 autobiography, Black Bull, Ancestors and Me: My Life as a Lesbian Sangoma (Johannesburg: Fanele) is one of the few South African autobiographies that provides a first-person account of being a traditional healer and a black lesbian, which is useful for anchoring discussions around lesbian subjectivity and corrective rape from an African perspective. This article engages with this text, which offers a positive representation of the relationship between African culture and lesbian sexuality and constitutes a unique counter-discourse—a narrative of resistance—in the face of ubiquitous homophobia.

摘要

源于西方的 LGBTQI+ 类别已成为非洲性少数群体的一个有争议的描述。在南非，针对性少数群体和女同性恋者的暴力和恐同攻击（通常以“矫正性强奸”的形式）的数量不断增加，凸显了边缘化社区之间的紧张关系变得更加明显，他们的权利以及保守派的强烈反对。在种族隔离后的南非，特别重要的是黑人女同性恋者的知名度不断提高。在南非通过民主宪法之前，这些女性的知名度非常低，强化了同性恋不属于非洲的错误假设。非洲人的身份通常与异性恋的理想相一致，而同性恋通常被称为非非洲人、非基督徒和不自然的。此外，女同性恋的性行为是非非洲的和非基督教的，这种想法被用作对女同性恋实施暴力的借口。然而，酷儿非洲作家开始挑战负面的刻板印象。Zandile Nkunzi Nkabinde 2008 年的自传，黑牛、祖先和我：我作为女同性恋者的生活（约翰内斯堡：Fanele）是为数不多的南非自传之一，提供了作为传统治疗师和黑人女同性恋者的第一人称描述，这对于锚定周围的讨论很有用从非洲的角度来看女同性恋主体性和矫正强奸。本文与该文本相关，该文本对非洲文化与女同性恋性行为之间的关系提供了积极的表述，并构成了一种独特的反话语——一种抵抗无处不在的恐同症的叙述。