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Activism in Unsympathetic Environments: Queer Black Authors' Responses to Local Histories of Oppression

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University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 5-2019 Activism in Unsympathetic Environments: Queer Black Authors’ Responses to Local Histories of Oppression Jewel Lashelle Williams University of Tennessee, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Recommended Citation Williams, Jewel Lashelle, "Activism in Unsympathetic Environments: Queer Black Authors’ Responses to Local Histories of Oppression. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2019. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/5455 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Jewel Lashelle Williams entitled "Activism in Unsympathetic Environments: Queer Black Authors’ Responses to Local Histories of Oppression." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in English. Gerard Cohen-Vrignaud, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Michelle Commander, Gichingiri Ndigirigi, Patrick Grzanka Accepted for the Council: Dixie L. Thompson Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) Activism in Unsympathetic Environments: Queer Black Authors’ Responses to Local Histories of Oppression A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Jewel Lashelle Williams May 2019 Copyright © 2018 by Jewel L. Williams All rights reserved. ii Acknowledgements Without the village, I would not have been able to obtain this degree. First and foremost, I want to thank Enkeshi Thom, Vincent Price, and Gloshanda Lawyer for keeping me motivated in the darkest times of my graduate days. They believed in me and my project when I could not. When I was ready to give up on everything, Enkeshi stood up and pushed me even when I told her not to. I want to sincerely thank you for that, Enkeshi. Coming down to the wire, I want to thank my sister, Jazzimine, who tackled some boring and tedious tasks to help me complete the project on time. Jazzimine, along with my mother, never let me quit on the idea of getting those three letters behind my name. While that encouragement may have been annoying at the time, I want to thank them for relentlessly pushing me to finish what I started. In terms of professorial acknowledgements, I want to start by thanking Dr. Ernest Brothers for advocating for my last semester at UTK; luckily, he did not have to kill any chickens because of me. Dr. Brothers, thank you for caring enough to keep me in the game. I want to thank my dissertation committee, not only for agreeing to be on my committee but also for individually supporting my professional development throughout these past 2-3 years. Dr. Gichingiri Ndigirigi, I thank you. I was able to meet some of the best scholars in the Queer Africa field because of your putting me in contact with your network. That conference changed my dissertative goals for the better. Dr. Michelle Commander, I thank you. Your expertise and guidance in Afrofuturism helped to develop my Gomez chapter, the chapter of which I am most proud. I am also terribly grateful for your unflinching support in my decision to leave academia. You may not have known it, but you calmed a heavy heart. Dr. Patrick Grzanka, I thank you. Without actually knowing me, you met me with a smile and talked me through some of the most difficult aspects of the project—theory. Finally, I want to wholeheartedly thank my dissertation chair, Dr. Gerard Cohen-Vrignaud. Gerard, you dealt with roughly 3 years of vague ideas and missed deadlines. And you faced that chaos with the patience of a saint. My dearest committee, I will never forget your patience and obvious investment in my success. iii Abstract Queer black authors use locality as a strategy for incorporating difference into the definitions of a national or communal identity. Rather than universalizing the concept of tolerance or assimilating into hateful practices, these writers respond to anti-gay atmospheres by positioning themselves and other LGBT black citizens as integral to nation-building efforts. This conscious attempt to empower the minority makes the texts activist in nature. Furthermore, the activist effects of these literatures complement advocacy groups that strive to support LGBT populations in the same areas. Tendai Huchu’s Hairdresser of Harare (Zimbabwe), Nkunzi Nkabinde’s Black Bull, Ancestors and Me (South Africa), Jewelle Gomez’s The Gilda Stories (America), and Dee Rees’ film Pariah (America) serve as examples of various modes of this literary activism. The intellectual goal for this project is to destabilize the normative victim narrative attached to most analyses of queer black literature and to understand the agency that accompanies racial and sexual representations. iv Table of Contents Introduction--Positioning Authorship: Literary Activism and Queers of Color .................... 1 Chapter One--Intuitive Truths, Historical Conceptions: Alternative Affective Epistemologies in Tendai Huchu's Hairdresser of Harare....................................................... 27 Chapter Two--Behind a United Front: Transcending Social Exclusion in Nkunzi Nkabinde's Black Bull, Ancestors and Me: My Life as a Lesbian Sangoma ........................... 59 Chapter Three--Revisionist Politics: DEconstruction and Reconstrcting Internal Black Relations in Jewelle Gomez's The Gilda Stories ....................................................................... 89 Chapter Four--Disrupting the Persistence of the Victim Narrative in Dee Rees' Pariah .. 124 Conclusion--Stakes and Implications: Comparative Considerations .................................. 152 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................. 159 Vita ............................................................................................................................................. 182 v Introduction Positioning Authorship: Literary Activism and Queers of Color Although perhaps uncommon, I will begin with the overarching thesis of this dissertation: Queer black authors incorporate, and manipulate, particular local histories into their works in order to insert the gay black body into conceptions of the communal identity. Because localizing the argument for LGBT inclusion (rather than universalizing the concept of acceptance) acts as the most effective tactic for challenging national anti-gay sentiments, the strategies of historical manipulation vary depending on the location, gender, and activist-leanings of the author. Furthermore, the activist effects of these literatures complement the advocacy organizations that strive to support the LGBT populations in the same geographical areas. To provide the evidence that grounds this thesis, I consider three works produced and set within three different regions: Tendai Huchu’s Hairdresser of Harare (Zimbabwe), Nkunzi Nkabinde’s Black Bull, Ancestors and Me (South Africa), and Jewelle Gomez’s The Gilda Stories (United States). The intellectual goal for this project is to shift queer black conversations away from Western/white-based observations on the how or why of homophobia (especially on the African continent) and towards the ways in which authors respond to their perceived circumstances of LGBT/gender/race-based oppression. This shift will allow for a more fruitful and productive dialogue about anti-gay atmospheres found in different nations by deconstructing established hierarchies and thus allowing for a wider variety of critical voices on the matter. I want to begin with clarifying certain terms that will appear throughout this work: anti- gay, atmosphere, and response. Anti-gay sentiments are complex surroundings that affect LGBT individuals on a daily basis and on varying levels. My own definition of anti-gay refers to exclusionary practices and beliefs that reduce the quality of life for any non-normative 1 individual. The term includes both male and female members of the LGBT group, although I do acknowledge the gendered implications of the reference. If desired, one can imagine anti-lesbian or anti-queer as appropriate synonyms throughout this project in order to more succinctly cover the communities that face rejection. I do not use the word “cis-heteronormative” to discuss those with prejudices because the normative population doesn’t inherently mean that they hold anti- gay beliefs. Additionally, some homosexuals may also hold hostility toward other members of the LGBT group (or even toward themselves). Furthermore, anti-homosexual beliefs and actions manifest in several realms. Anti-gay beliefs are fostered by public and private spheres that introduce, encourage, and validate homophobia through paths such as familial ties, religious affiliations, and preferred news stations. This birthing and parenting of identity-based bias generate what I call an atmosphere—integrated routes of oppression. And
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