Of wounded killers and ‘failed men’ : broadening the quest for liberating African masculinities

Abstract

In order to broaden the search for liberating African masculinities, I engage with key and recent works on masculinity within the African context. I explore some of the reasons why scholarship on masculinity in Africa – especially scholarship within the context of religion and beyond interventionist and advocacy work – remains sparse and inadequate. In this article I advocate for scholarship on masculinities which is situated at the intersection of culture, religion and politics and argue that while it is important to begin this search through examining conventional sacred texts, it is necessary to interrogate modern ‘sacred texts’ in order to broaden this quest. To illustrate our main argument and to highlight key aspects of hegemonic masculinities in Africa, I draw on Thando Mgqolozana’s novel, A man who is not a man.