“I Compose Myself”: Lesbian Muslim Autobiographies and the Craft of Self-Writing in South Africa
In this article, I reflect on the complex history of self-writing by Black women in South Africa as a context for reading contemporary autobiographical literature by Muslim lesbians in the country. To theorize the innovative practices in such literature, I draw on the concept of “crafting” devised b...
| Published in: | Journal of the American Academy of Religion |
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| Subtitles: | Roundtable on LGBTIQ people in Africa |
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
[2015]
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| In: |
Journal of the American Academy of Religion
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| Online Access: |
Volltext (Verlag) Volltext (doi) |
| Summary: | In this article, I reflect on the complex history of self-writing by Black women in South Africa as a context for reading contemporary autobiographical literature by Muslim lesbians in the country. To theorize the innovative practices in such literature, I draw on the concept of “crafting” devised by the Zimbabwean feminist Patricia McFadden, a practice of particular value in the postcolonial moment. I also consider debates on the complexities of the politics of visibility in sexuality rights activism in postcolonial contexts. After reviewing theories of autobiography, race, and sexuality, I analyze six autobiographical narratives by lesbian Muslims that appear in the ground-breaking 2009 South African collection Hijab: Unveiling Queer Muslim Lives . |
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| ISSN: | 1477-4585 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: American Academy of Religion, Journal of the American Academy of Religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/jaarel/lfv075 |