The multiple configurations of same-sex practices and relationships across the African continent, alongside the problematic notion of homosexual, “lesbian,” and “queer” identities in the African context, have been addressed by various scholarly publications in the past couple of decades. Yet same-sex interactions, relationships, and politics between African women have not garnered significant attention either in feminist/queer studies or in African studies, and remain largely unrepresented in academic writings. This special issue of the Journal of Lesbian Studies proposes to fill this scholarly gap by exploring this topic from a variety of cultural and disciplinary perspectives. Contributions by scholars on the African continent are particularly welcome.

Argument

The Journal of Lesbian Studies, a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Taylor and Francis, invites proposal submissions for a special issue on the subject of “Lesbian”/Female Same-Sex Sexualities in Africa.

 The multiple configurations of same-sex practices and relationships across the African continent, alongside the problematic notion of homosexual, “lesbian,” and “queer” identities in the African context, have been addressed by various scholarly publications in the past couple of decades. Yet same-sex interactions, relationships, and politics between African women have not garnered significant attention either in feminist/queer studies or in African studies, and remain largely unrepresented in academic writings. This special issue of the Journal of Lesbian Studies proposes to fill this scholarly gap by exploring this topic from a variety of cultural and disciplinary perspectives. Contributions by scholars on the African continent are particularly welcome.

The Journal of Lesbian Studies is an interdisciplinary journal; hence, multi- and inter-disciplinary approaches are encouraged. Such approaches include, for example, cultural studies, literary studies, cultural anthropology, sociology, geography, social movement studies, political science, psychology, and public health. Contributions from the perspective of gender, queer, and sexuality studies and/or postcolonial or subaltern studies will be given particular consideration.

Main themes

Potentially relevant questions include, but are not limited to: how do women who engage in same-sex sexual interactions and relations represent themselves in Africa, both socially and discursively? How do they relate to Western concepts of lesbianism or homosexuality? How do they relate to culturally specific concepts of gender and sexuality in their respective ethnic groups? How do they theorize and negotiate the intersections of religion, racism, sexism, compulsory heterosexuality, and discrimination in their respective societies? How do they position themselves in relation to postcolonial and neocolonial politics? How do women respond to gender diversity and transgender experiences within lesbian and “queer” communities? How do these issues influence their identity formation or their negotiation of subjectivity and agency? In what kinds of local and global activism do they engage? What partnerships have lesbian movements forged with feminist movements in African countries and across the global South and North?

Submission guidelines

Please submit a one-page proposal, together with a two-page CV, to either Ashley Currier (Ashley.Currier@uc.edu) or Thérèse Migraine-George (Therese.Migraine-George@uc.edu) by

January 1, 2015. 

The guest editors will respond to proposals by February 1, 2015. Complete manuscripts of approximately 7,500-8,000 words will be due by May 1, 2015.

Guest editors

• Ashley Currier (Associate Professor, Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, University of Cincinnati)
• Thérèse Migraine-George (Associate Professor, Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, University of Cincinnati)