Why are Homosexual Themes Taking over African Literature?

           

Many intellectuals say for African art to be really African, it has to be rooted in African values, beliefs, customs and t r a d i t i o n s . H o w e v e r, s i n c e colonization or let's say civilization, there has been a continual clash between Western and African values such that each jostles for supremacy. The discourse of homosexuality is not new on the continent but the wake of the millennium ushered in the legalization of this unnatural act in many European countries and then, the desire to let that spread all across Africa started. There was pressure, there was lobbying. Some of the developed countries even considered implementing laws that would limit or prohibit general budget support to countries that restrict the rights of LGBT people. As of today, of the 54 countries recognized by United Nations and African Union on the continent, homosexuality is outlawed in 34 and constitutionally banned in 9 with stiff penalties, some capital. While it is allowed in 21, 2: Cape Verde and South Africa constitutionally recognize it. some capital. While it is allowed in 21, 2: Cape Verde and South Africa constitutionally recognize it. 

Before Nigeria's President, Goodluck Jonathan, signed into law a bill criminalizing same-sex relationships and the support of such relationships, making these offences punishable by up to fourteen years in prison, there had been agitations from many individuals including writers and some civil societies on the subject-matter. And with the criminalization in January 2014, one would have thought that that was the last that would be heard of it around here. We know how the fire of creativity burns and how much a creative mind desires to explore new terrains of social issues. We also know it is way too absurd for any government to set up restricting rules of creative explorations. The question that stares at us in the face, nonetheless, is why homosexuality (a generic term for same-sex relationships) is taking over in many new African writings. We hooked up with a cross section of Nigerian writers, spoken word artistes and students to hear what they think.

Elijah Olasunkanmi Odetokun a.k.a Hollic, an author, page poet and spoken word artiste says ‘as much as I’m liberal and provide perfect premise to understand everyone and what they do, I also yearn for fair ground for all but it seems the plain level offered by the African writers’ community is for homosexuals and related writings. Because a thing is seen as against norms and we want to accommodate them doesn’t mean we should overem-phasize them more than others. It shares a similar situation with girl child advocacy and feminism. No one is talking about being human because we all want to accommodate homosexuality. Its recent prevalence in African writings is the fault of us all because bad things ha-ppen to bad people, it’s normal but when it happens to good people, we all begin to shout. It first started in Western writings but we saw it as normal because we perceive them as uncultured and abnormal people. But here it is today, in the midst of our so-called cultured Africans and we can only wail. It has come to stay and while we sip in its cup, let’s look out for other things we won’t want to wail about later.

Fr33zin' Paul, a popular spoken artiste says 'Well, homosexuality is a very sensitive topic, very sensitive. I know so many people who engage in it or advocate for those who engage in it. I want to believe it is their life and they are free to live their life the way they want but is homosexuality good? Of course not. It is abnormal and should be discouraged without insulting the personalities of those involved.  Most people who claim to be homosexuals especially on social media or write about it in their books, do it just to trend, to get noticed and to appear woke. Deep down, they don't do it. The social media puts a pressure on us that if we are not careful, we try to please everyone. I mean, when you were born, you were given a genital not two. A male should be for a female and a female for a male. It is common sense. Homosexuality is not a crime, homo-sexuality is like living your life in pretence and lies and lies and pretence should be discouraged'.

Mojisola Esther, an English student of Obafemi Awolowo University says 'Homosexuality is seen recently as a natural sexual feeling that shouldn't be judged by any religion. So, I think African writers see homosexuality as nor-mal civilization that Africa should experience even as the global world advances alongside the tech world’

John Chizoba Vincent a.k.a JCV, a writer and page poet says 'The issue of homosexuality taking over new African writings is a wave from the West. We all know Africans with their ways of getting acquainted with foreign cultures. If you don't write about queer, homosexuality or lesbianism, no one would recognize you. Since it is now under their laws, it is now legal to get married to your fellow man. Our young men here who find it difficult to manage wom-en would prefer getting married to their fellow men than the women. And as for the writing sphere, I think since some of these Western awards are being won by these writers who write about homosexuality and queer as being normal to life, so the push now is that every writer out there is aiming at these awards and the only way to channel their perspectives and views to be accepted by the foreigners is to click or accept the fact that homosexuality is a good thing or normal to life. My take here on homo-sexuality is that it is not African and it is not good for Africans, not only Africans but the whole world entirely. If you consider the statistics of the world, there are more women than men. If all men start getting married to men, whowill get married to the women? Or if all the women are getting married to each other, what will be the lot of men?

To wrap this up, we'll reproduce excerpts from the Facebook discussion facilitated by Brittle Paper's Assistant Editor and finalist for the Miles Morland and The Gerald Kraak Award, Otosierieze Obi-Young with a handful of guests comprising Romeo Oriogun, Winner of the 2017 Brunnel Poetry Prize: Arinze Ifeakandu, Finalist for the 2017 Caine Prize for African Wri-ting: Kelechi Njoku, Finalist for the 2017 Commonwealth Short Story Prize Africa Region and Laura Ahmed, Editor at 14 tagged  Unsilencing Queer Nigeria: The Language of Emotional Truth to reveal why and how writing about queerness started for them. Arinze Ifeakandu says his first encounter with queer literature was Jude Dibia' s Walking with  Shadows which he read in the university. He says 'I remember how, before getting into university, I tried to find that book. I looked  everywhere but did not find it. And before I started searching for it, I had searched for gay stories by Nigerian writers. Thinking of it now, it's pretty sad that I had to look that hard to find a single book. Reading Jude Dibia gave me the feeling of swimming in very charged waters, because politics was there fully. There was so much self-explanation in it, too, which left me longing for more, for something dispassionate and middle-fingerly—or not middle-fingerly, but, you know,  unbother-ed…I had read a novel by James Hadley, Chase, can’t remember which with queer characters on the fringes. I wrote an imitation of the novel, but placed the queer characters in the centre. I was not thinking of it in terms of subverting a narra-tive or any of such adult stuff, no. I was merely writing to fill a void I felt but could not explain. That novel, my version of Chase, was popular in my class, I must add. Furthermore, he says ‘with Chinelo Okparanta, we are seeing the beginning of the breaking of the silence. I think it was in the essay, We are Here, We Queer published in Brittle Paper, that I read that the absence of the queer body in Nigerian literature is an act of violence. I have never agreed so much with any s t a t e m e n t . I a m c u r r e n t l y reading Happiness Like Water, reading a story titled Grace and it feels good just to see the longing one woman has for another. What I find is that once a voice breaks forth, it opens doors for many others. 

Romeo Oriogun says ‘…I didn’t read any queer literature while growing up; there was no book with a queer person as a character in the old library in Benin where I spent most of my holidays, and so I thought queerness was a thing to be hidden. The first queer literature I read was a poem by Essex Hemphill. I thinkbwhat that poem did for me was to open my eyes to the pos s ibility of documenting the queer experience; that poem also led me to discover other poets that explore queerness in their works. I have always been indifferent  about it, I never knew itcould be written about, there was no precedent to look back on until I found Essex Hemphill. It was after Olubunmi was lynched to death in Ondo town that I started writing about queerness—there was ananger and a deep sadness that took hold of me, and the only way I could be free,  the only way I could fight, was to write’.