A luta continua – black queer visibilities and philosophies of hospitality in a South African rural town. (June 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Deumert, Ana; Mabandla, Nkululeko
• Other Names: Milani Tommaso M. guestEditor.; Lazar Michelle M. guestEditor.
• Is Part Of: Journal of sociolinguistics. Volume 21:Number 3(2017)
• Page Start: 397
• Page End: 419
• Publication Date: 2017-06
• Subjects: LGBT+ -- South Africa -- queer visibilities -- hospitality -- Derrida -- southern theory -- border thinking -- discourse analysis -- affect; Sociolinguistics -- Periodicals; 306.4405
• DOI: 10.1111/josl.12238
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1360-6441

Abstract

Abstract : In 1996, the inclusion of sexual orientation in the anti‐discrimination clause of South Africa's post‐apartheid constitution aligned LGBT+ rights with the larger struggle against oppression and inequality. In this paper we focus on a small, rural town in the Eastern Cape, a town we call Forestville. How are LGBT+ identities made visible in this town? How do residents respond to the diverse sexualities they encounter? How do they talk about diversity (sexual and otherwise)? The data was collected in the context of a long‐term ethnographic project, which looks at responses to diversity in non‐metropolitan settings. Reconstructing local philosophies of hospitality and looking at affective‐discursive practice, we argue that social life in Forestville shows traces of what Derrida (2000 ) calls 'absolute hospitality'. There is a sense of welcome and inclusivity, but, unlike in Derrida's conception, this hospitality is deeply embedded in the speech act of asking, indeed in curiosity. At the same time, hospitality remains fragile; it is always on the border of exclusion and judgment. The article explores Mignolo's (2000 ) idea of 'critical border thinking' as a core episteme for Southern theory and puts academic philosophy and everyday knowledges into dialogue with one another.