Naming and Identity Construction in Selected African Queer Films

Résumé

Several studies have examined queerism from different perspectives using queer theory, film theory, feminism theory and new media theory, amongst others. However, there is a dearth of literature on African queer movies which focus on naming patterns and ideological underpinnings in the way queerism has been linguistically codified. Hence, this paper from a critical pragmatic perspective interrogates the way language is used as a signifying practice and the ideologies projected in their discourses in elected African queer films. Dialogues were purposively selected thematically from two queer movies: Rafiki (Kenya,2018) and We Don't Live Here Anymore (Nigeria,2018). These movies were classified and analysed using principles of critical pragmatics. Findings revealed the use of rhetorical questions to satirise the reactions of homosexuals and people who support them. The choice of words such as abominable, misbehaving and deterrent in We don’t live here anymore gives an indication of the speakers’ perspective on the subject of discourse. The implicature derived is that the speakers’ orientation does not align with that of the queers and thus they are deviants. Also, queers are labelled as perpetrators of reprehensive acts in the two films. In Rafiki, the parents of Kena talked about her being cleaned because she has been possessed by demons while in We Don’t Live Here Anymore, Chidi’s mother asked God to deliver his boy from evil spirits. In fact, a deliverance prayer was organized for Kena. The choice of the derogatory nouns -fag and faggot in the two films as a naming strategy point to the perception of queers by the speakers. Other reference choices that show homosexuals as demystifying creatures include labelling them as ‘lost souls’ and ‘evil spirits’. Queers are also seen as juvenile delinquents. For instance, in We Don’t Live Here Anymore, queerism is labelled ‘teenage rebellion’, while in Rafiki, it is attributed to naivety and in turn a temporary feeling that would be outgrown. This implies that queers are perceived as juvenile delinquents who are still negotiating their identities. Although queer related discourse as seen in these two movies is still guided by the African societies’ non-conformist stance on the subject, the main characters in these two movies are not straight jacketed into maintaining this heteronormative stance.