Reimagining Queer Existence: Religion and Resistance in African Contexts

This panel delves into the intricate interplay between queer existence and religion, examining intersections of identity, influence, and resistance within diverse cultural contexts. The panel discussion will be preceded by the screening of short clips from three queer-affirming African movies or a full movie from one of the options: "Inxeba" (John Trengove, South Africa, 2017), "Walking with Shadows" (Aoife O’Kelly, Nigeria, 2019), and "The Blue Caftan" (Maryam Touzani, Morocco, 2022). These clips will prepare the audience for a paper by Stefanie Knauss on the recent development of positive representations of queerness in African cinema, with particular attention to resistance both to anti-queer Christian and Islamic discourses as well as some of the assumptions implicit in Western models of queerness and sexuality. Questions and discussion to follow.