Corrective Rape and Black Lesbian Sexualities in Contemporary South African Cultural Texts
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Corrective rape and black lesbian sexualities in contemporary South African cultural texts Nadine Catherine Lake Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Centre for Africa Studies in the Faculty of the Humanities at the University of the Free State January 2017 Supervisor: Prof. Jenny Björklund Co-Supervisors: Prof. Helena Wahlström Henriksson and Prof. Heidi Hudson ABSTRACT Corrective rape and black lesbian sexualities in contemporary South African cultural texts N.C. Lake PhD Thesis, Centre for Africa Studies, University of the Free State The increased visibility of black lesbian identities in South Africa has been met with a severe backlash in the form of what activists term corrective rape. South African newspapers started to report on the incidence of this phenomenon in 2003 with black lesbians emerging in newspaper discourse as particularly vulnerable victims. The term corrective rape has been used to define rape that is perpetrated by heterosexual males against lesbian women in order to ‘correct’ or ‘cure’ them of their lesbian sexuality. The increased recognition of lesbian, gay, transgender and intersex rights in post-apartheid South Africa has meant increased visibility for sexual minorities but has simultaneously been marked by an increase in homophobic discourse and violence. Newspapers have reported on the brutal nature of corrective rape and have given sensationalised accounts of these rapes and violence. Black lesbian women have thus entered into the public sphere in post-apartheid South Africa as victims of homophobic rape and violence. Discourse in mainstream media or the printed press has contributed to the framing of black lesbians as unintelligible victims. Contemporary scholarship on black lesbians has consistently referenced the violence associated with their identity. The primary aim of the study is to clarify how lesbian women are represented in cultural texts and to identify counter discourses that focus on lesbian agency and desire, which is less commonly associated with their sexuality. Previous research on corrective rape has largely focused on the intersection between black lesbian identity and sexual violence as well as men and masculinities in a post- apartheid context. While this study deems it important to highlight prominent debates and media representations of black lesbian sexuality in South Africa it considers it important to resist the reproduction of narratives that associate black lesbian women with sexual violence. This study turns to literature in the post-apartheid context to examine how narratives of sexual violence challenge representations of women as objectified victims of violence. Rozena Maart’s novel The Writing Circle forms an important part of the literature chapter in this study. The recognition of oppression in women’s narratives of sexual violence and resistance on the part of the female characters in the novel constitute central counter i discourses. The thesis also examines an autobiography and its potential to lend inclusion to the narratives of those formerly excluded on account of their race, gender and sexual identification. An analysis of Zandile Nkunzi Nkabinde’s poignant autobiography illustrates the power of narrations of lesbian agency to undermine the gender norms that historically have restricted representations of black lesbian identity. The study examines how lesbian identities can be reconceptualised in public lesbian cultures or in queer archives. An archive of lesbian belonging that features in this study includes the portraits of lesbian women and their narratives in the work of visual activist and photographer Zanele Muholi. The narratives of survivability, mourning and belonging in Muholi’s archive uncovered and identified in this study assist in raising consciousness around the multiplicitous nature of black lesbian sexuality in Africa and beyond. January 2017 Keywords Corrective rape, black lesbian, homophobia, lesbian representation, sexual violence, discourse, activism, sexualities, queer archive, LGBT ii DECLARATION I, Nadine Lake, declare that the Doctoral Degree research thesis that I herewith submit for the Doctoral Degree qualification Africa Studies with a specialisation in Gender Studies at the University of the Free State is my independent work and that I have not previously submitted it for a qualification at another institution of higher education. I, Nadine Lake, hereby declare that I am aware that the copyright is vested in the University of the Free State. I, Nadine Lake, hereby declare that all royalties as regards intellectual property that was developed during the course of and/or in connection with the study at the University of the Free State will accrue to the University. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The materialising of this PhD would not have been possible without funding from the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship Programme. This funding enabled me to complete the work on my thesis at the Centre for Gender Research (CfGR), Uppsala University. The 22-month scholarship not only provided me with the time to write and focus on research but also to meet with and receive input from scholars from diverse gender studies backgrounds. I want to thank Anita Hussénius, director of the CfGR, for her special effort in welcoming me to the Centre where I had the opportunity to participate in seminars, conferences and guest lectures. My experience at the CfGR has contributed to an enriching PhD journey. The insight and guidance from my supervisors Jenny Björklund and Helena Wahlström Henriksson contributed immensely to this study. I want to thank them for their time and commitment and for the coordinating efforts made to supervise and provide support. I was fortunate to have supervisors who carefully considered the advice offered in terms of the development of this study but who also encouraged me to trust my instincts. Furthermore, I’d like to thank Elina Oinas from the University of Helsinki for her willingness to act as an opponent at my 90 percent seminar and for her comprehensive feedback which has benefited the final manuscript. I would also like to mention and thank my supervisor Heidi Hudson from the University of the Free State for her input into the study and for her support while I was on sabbatical in Sweden. Furthermore, colleagues and friends who have contributed to this study and been a part of the journey include Gabriele Griffin, Signe Bremer, Ann-Sofie Lönngren, Kaisa Ilmonen, Chitra Sinha, Yasmin Roofi, Klara Goedecke, Maja Bodin, Renita Sörensdotter, Cecilia Rodehn, Camilla Flodin, Anna Baral, Martha Blomqvist, Julia Benjaminson, Thomas Overfield, Kate Law, Anneli Bowie, Ted White, Steffi Cawood, Mandi Bezuidenhout, Helene Strauss and Jenny Lake. I would like to thank the Stevenson Gallery and Zanele Muholi for allowing me to use her photographs in the study. Finally, I’d like to thank my family for their support and encouragement. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE A BEGINNING: (REPRESENTATIONS OF) LESBIAN LIVES IN SOUTH AFRICA .................................................................................................................................................... 1 SOCIAL LOCATION AND THE TENSIONS AROUND SPEAKING FOR OTHERS .............................................................................. 3 RESEARCH AIM AND QUESTIONS ................................................................................................................................................... 4 CONTEXT .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 LGBT rights in South Africa: A liberal constitution versus a homophobic reality ....................................... 5 Gender-based violence and corrective rape ............................................................................................................. 10 PREVIOUS RESEARCH ................................................................................................................................................................... 15 Representations of lesbian sexuality in Western and African American feminist research .................. 15 Lesbian sexuality and sexual violence in Africa / South Africa ........................................................................ 17 Departing from the binary: Queer perspectives and voices in Africa ............................................................ 21 Representations of lesbian sexuality in cultural texts .......................................................................................... 22 DEFINING THE CONTRIBUTION .................................................................................................................................................. 25 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK....................................................................................................................................................... 28 Vulnerable and precarious identities ......................................................................................................................... 28 Intersectionality .................................................................................................................................................................. 31 “Talking back”: Can the subaltern speak? ................................................................................................................ 33 Cultural