1887
Volume 14, Issue 1
  • ISSN 2211-3770
  • E-ISSN: 2211-3789
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Abstract

Until recently, queer sexuality has been on the periphery of African literary imaginations. Studies on queer sexuality have paid attention to its representations on social media, Nollywood movies, and the Nigerian print media, with scarce attention to how contemporary literary texts construct queer people’s identity. Therefore, this article presents findings from Jude Dibia’s , drawing attention to how language is co-opted to construct gay identity and advance rights advocacy. Using Bucholtz and Hall’s Tactics of Intersubjectivity, the article examines Jude Dibia’s Walking with Shadows, the first coming out novel in Nigeria. The findings reveal that gay people are denied access to the same rights as heterosexuals in Nigeria and mainly encounter obstacles in the construction of their identity. The study offers insights relevant to the study of queer sexuality in African literature and contributes to identity politics in sexuality discourse.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/jls.00043.ogu
2025-02-03
2025-02-11
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Abah, Adedayo Ladigbolu
    2012 Mainstreaming homosexuality in Nollywood: The efforts and the challenges. ABC Journal of Advanced Research1(2): 57–69. 10.18034/abcjar.v1i2.13
    https://doi.org/10.18034/abcjar.v1i2.13 [Google Scholar]
  2. Adegbola, Olubunmi Funmi
    2022 The discursive construction of gay people in news reports of selected Nigerian newspapers. Journal of Language and Sexuality11(1): 80–100. 10.1075/jls.19009.ade
    https://doi.org/10.1075/jls.19009.ade [Google Scholar]
  3. Altman, Dennis
    2012Homosexual: Oppression and Liberation. St Lucia: University of Queensland Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Baudinette, Thomas
    2011 Constructing Identities on a Japanese Homosexual Dating Bulletin Board System: A Computer-Mediated Discourse Analytic Approach. Master’s Dissertation, Monash University, Australia.
  5. 2017 Constructing identities on a Japanese gay dating site: Hunkiness, cuteness and the desire for heteronormative masculinity. Journal of Language and Sexuality6(2): 232–261. 10.1075/jls.6.2.02bau
    https://doi.org/10.1075/jls.6.2.02bau [Google Scholar]
  6. Berger, Gregory, Hank, Lori, Rauzi, Tom & Simkins, Lawrence
    1987 Detection of sexual orientation by heterosexuals and homosexuals. Journal of Homosexuality13(4): 83–100. 10.1300/J082v13n04_05
    https://doi.org/10.1300/J082v13n04_05 [Google Scholar]
  7. Bucholtz, Mary & Hall, Kira
    2004 Theorizing identity in language and sexuality research. Language in Society33(4): 469–515. 10.1017/S0047404504334020
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404504334020 [Google Scholar]
  8. 2005 Identity and interaction: A sociocultural linguistic approach. Discourse Studies7(4–5): 585–614. 10.1177/1461445605054407
    https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445605054407 [Google Scholar]
  9. Caron, David
    2005 My father and I: Jewishness, queerness, and the Marais. GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies11(2): 265–282. 10.1215/10642684‑11‑2‑265
    https://doi.org/10.1215/10642684-11-2-265 [Google Scholar]
  10. Chan, Ka Ki
    2017 Family and homosexuality in Chinese culture: Rights claims by non-heterosexuals in Hong Kong. Sexuality & Culture211: 845–859. 10.1007/s12119‑017‑9425‑y
    https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-017-9425-y [Google Scholar]
  11. Dibia, Jude
    2005Walking with Shadows: A Novel. Lagos: Blacksands Books
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Dunton, Chris
    1989 “Wheyting be dat?” The treatment of homosexuality in African literature. Research in African Literatures20(3): 422–448.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Durkin, Matthew Patrick
    2017 “Unorthodox Conduct:” Re-membering Queer Africa in Literature and Film. (Unpublished) PhD Dissertation, Duquesne University.
  14. Fernández, Owen Harrinton
    2018 Indexing a gender identity in fictive dialogue: Bucholtz and Hall’s identity principles in translation. Hikma171: 55–74. 10.21071/hikma.v17i0.11088
    https://doi.org/10.21071/hikma.v17i0.11088 [Google Scholar]
  15. Green-Simms, Lindsey
    2016 The emergent queer: Homosexuality and Nigerian fiction in the 21st century. Research in African Literatures47(2): 139–161. 10.2979/reseafrilite.47.2.09
    https://doi.org/10.2979/reseafrilite.47.2.09 [Google Scholar]
  16. Green-Simms, Lindsey & Azuah, Unoma
    2012 The video closet: Nollywood gay-themed movies. Transition: An International Review107(1): 32–49. 10.2979/transition.107.32
    https://doi.org/10.2979/transition.107.32 [Google Scholar]
  17. Green-Simms, Lindsey
    2021 Walking with Shadows: Jude Dibia and Olumide Makanjuola in conversation with Lindsey Green-Simms. Journal of African Cultural Studies33(1): 101–108. 10.1080/13696815.2020.1816932
    https://doi.org/10.1080/13696815.2020.1816932 [Google Scholar]
  18. Griffith, Keri Ann
    2014 Strategies to Undo Markedness: The LGBTQ Use of Heteronormative Script and Social Injustice Narratives at a Civil Union Hearing. (Unpublished) Master’s dissertation, University of Colorado.
  19. Ikpo, Nnanna
    2017Fimí Sílẹ̀ Forever: Heaven Gave it to Me. London: Team Angelica Publishing.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Jjuuko, Adrian
    2017 The protection and promotion of LGBTI rights in the African regional human rights system: Opportunities and challenges. InProtecting the Human Rights of Sexual Minorities in Contemporary Africa, Sylvie Namwase & Adrian Jjuuko (eds), 260–300. Pretoria: Pretoria University Law Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Jones, Lucy
    2012Dyke/Girl: Language and Identities in a Lesbian Group. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 10.1057/9781137271341
    https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137271341 [Google Scholar]
  22. Kuhar, Roman
    2003Media Representations of Homosexuality: An Analysis of the Print Media in Slovenia, 1970–2000. Ljubljana: Peace Institute.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Lopang, Wazha
    2014 No place for gays: Colonialism and the African homosexual in African literature. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science4(9): 77–83.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Lyonga, Frida
    2014 Un-African? Representations of homosexuality in two contemporary Nigerian films. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science4(8): 97–103.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. McLaughlin, Bryan & Rodriguez, Nathian
    2017 Identifying with a stereotype: The divergent effects of exposure to homosexual television characters. Journal of Homosexuality64(9): 1196–1213. 10.1080/00918369.2016.1242335
    https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2016.1242335 [Google Scholar]
  26. Morrish, Liz & Sauntson, Helen
    2007New Perspectives on Language and Sexual Identity. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 10.1057/9780230599406
    https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230599406 [Google Scholar]
  27. Nfah-Abbenyi, Juliana Makuchi
    1997Gender in African Women’s Writing: Identity, Sexuality, and Difference. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Okolo, Ifeyinwa Genevieve
    2016 Sexual predators or preys: Inter-racial sexual relationships in Jude Dibia’s novels. Unizik Journal of Arts and Humanities17(1): 1–15. 10.4314/ujah.v17i1.1
    https://doi.org/10.4314/ujah.v17i1.1 [Google Scholar]
  29. Okparanta, Chinelo
    2015Under the Udala Trees. London: Granta.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Okpiliya, James Otoburu & Akpan, Kufre A.
    2021 Jude Dibia’s Walking and the representation of queerness in the Nigerian context. International Journal of Humanitatis Theoreticus5(1): 1–12.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Okwara, Harriet Chinonso & Ogene, Mbanefo S.
    2022 Homosexuality: The aftermath of child neglect in Dibia’s Walking with Shadows. Awka Journal of English Language and Literary Studies8(2): 56–62.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Onanuga, Paul Ayodele
    2021 Coming out and reaching out: Linguistic advocacy on queer Nigerian Twitter. Journal of African Cultural Studies33(4): 489–504. 10.1080/13696815.2020.1806799
    https://doi.org/10.1080/13696815.2020.1806799 [Google Scholar]
  33. Onanuga, Paul Ayodele & Alade, Blessing Modupe
    2020 Ideological portrayal and perceptions of homosexuality in selected Nollywood movies. Quarterly Review of Film and Video37(6): 598–629. 10.1080/10509208.2020.1714324
    https://doi.org/10.1080/10509208.2020.1714324 [Google Scholar]
  34. Onanuga, Paul Ayodele & Schmied, Josef
    2022 Policing sexuality? Corpus linguistic perspectives to ‘government’ in homosexuality narratives on Nigerian Twitter. Journal of Gender Studies31(7): 1–15. 10.1080/09589236.2022.2066638
    https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2022.2066638 [Google Scholar]
  35. Pollali, Christina-Styliani & Sidiropoulou, Maria
    2021 Identity formation and patriarchal voices in theatre translation. Journal of Pragmatics1771: 97–108. 10.1016/j.pragma.2021.02.018
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2021.02.018 [Google Scholar]
  36. Qiao, Shujing
    2020 Identity Display and Transformation: A Socio-cultural Analysis of Suyin Han’s Autobiography, A Many-Splendoured Thing. PhD dissertation, University of Sydney.
  37. Sakalh, Nurray
    2003 Pictures of male homosexuals in the heads of Turkish college students. Journal of Homosexuality43(2): 111–126. 10.1300/J082v43n02_07
    https://doi.org/10.1300/J082v43n02_07 [Google Scholar]
  38. Sauntson, Helen
    2018Language, Sexuality, and Education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/9781316411353
    https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316411353 [Google Scholar]
  39. Senayon, Olaoluwa
    2018 The human and non-human: African sexuality debate and symbolisms of transgression. InQueer in Africa: LGBTQI Identities, Citizenship, and Activism, Zethu Matabeni, Surya Munro & Vasu Reddy (eds), 20–40. New York: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Sogunro, Ayodele
    2018 Citizenship in the shadows: Insights on queer advocacy in Nigeria. College Literature: A Journal of Critical Literary Studies45(4): 632–640. 10.1353/lit.2018.0037
    https://doi.org/10.1353/lit.2018.0037 [Google Scholar]
  41. Stamou, Anastasia G.
    2018 Studying the interactional construction of identities in critical discourse studies: A proposed analytical framework. Discourse & Society29(5): 568–589. 10.1177/0957926518770262
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926518770262 [Google Scholar]
  42. Stamou, Anastasia G. & Christou, Stavros
    2017 Sociolinguistic representations of the military in Greek comedy films, laughing at the army. Pragmatics and Society8(1): 1–25. 10.1075/ps.8.1.01sta
    https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.8.1.01sta [Google Scholar]
  43. Stamou, Anastasia G. & Petraki, Kornilia P.
    2022 Istanbul Greek identities in film discourse. Popular Communication20(2): 77–90. 10.1080/15405702.2021.1994575
    https://doi.org/10.1080/15405702.2021.1994575 [Google Scholar]
  44. Stamou, Anastasia G. & Saltidou, Theodora P.
    2015 ‘Right you are (if you think so)’: The sociolinguistic construction of youth identity in a Greek family sitcom. Journal of Greek Media and Culture1(1): 93–112. 10.1386/jgmc.1.1.93_1
    https://doi.org/10.1386/jgmc.1.1.93_1 [Google Scholar]
  45. Tcheuyap, Alexie
    2011 African cinema(s). Critical Interventions5(1): 10–26. 10.1080/19301944.2011.10781397
    https://doi.org/10.1080/19301944.2011.10781397 [Google Scholar]
  46. Urama, Evelyn Nwachukwu
    2019 The values and usefulness of same-sex marriages among the females in Igbo culture in the continuity of lineage or posterity. Sage Open9(2): 1–9. 10.1177/2158244019850037
    https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019850037 [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/jls.00043.ogu
Loading
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error