In an other world : representations of the other in queer African speculative short stories

Abstract

This dissertation examines the manner in which queer African speculative fiction short stories navigate the other – that which is perceived as not belonging, or being outside of what is considered ―normal‖ – and how this other is represented. By setting their stories in both familiar and unfamiliar settings, and by blending mythological and futuristic elements, African speculative fiction authors imagine a diversity of emancipatory possibilities. Given that speculative fiction explores the limitations of time and manipulates it as necessary, this dissertation explores the different temporalities used in African speculative fiction. In particular, the focus is on utopian, dystopian, and mythological temporal frameworks. This dissertation also explores how each of these frameworks influences the existence and understanding of queerness and its consequences. Additionally, speculative fiction is a genre that successfully engages with both entertainment and social critique. I contend that the stories read here are political in nature; in a homophobic world insisting on the presence of queers in alternative time-space dimensions turns this literary practice into a profound, political act.