Effectiveness of Satire as a Narrative Tool in Contesting Queer Marginalization in Stories of Our Lives and They Called Me Queer

Abstract

This article set out to examine how gay men deploy satire as narrative strategies of challenging the societal-endorsed heteronormativity in two African queer anthologies: Nest Collective’s Stories of Our Lives and They Called Me Queer by Kim Windvogel and Kelly-Eve Koopman. The anthologies contain narratives entailing confessions of personal life experiences of characters who self-identify as gays in Kenya and South Africa. The objectives of this essay were to evaluate how satire is deployed by queer men as a contestation tool in religious spheres and to critique the use of satire as an instrument for disapproving marginalization of gays in political spheres. The questions the article sought to answer were: How is satire deployed as contestation tool in religious spaces by gays? To what extend is satire a device for fighting queer exclusion in political spaces by queer men? To situate the area of engagement, the essay majorly used the queer theory for conceptual analysis and interpretation of the texts. It adopted qualitative research methodology and the researcher close read then critically analyzed the anthologies to tease out the authors’ challenges to the heteronormative center using Africanist queer theory perspectives. Purposive sampling was used in selecting the two texts as they reflect on the larger African queer experiences and represent two diverse contexts in Africa, yet comparable. The findings demonstrate that gays continue to navigate their marginality by challenging and deconstructing social spaces including the religious and political spaces; hence able to assert their identities and exercise their agential capacity to cope in the predominantly heteronormative society. The findings contribute to the African queer theory studies, to the existing body of knowledge in queer Literature, and may help enhance policy debates on queerness and being queer in Kenya and South Africa, and broadly Africa.