Structuring dissident desire
Representations of same-sex prison contact in contemporary South African culture
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12786293 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Bernard Nolen Fortuin (0000-0002-2589-6689, Stellenbosch University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 212-226 |
| Publication date | 2018-03-27 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Safundi (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1543-1304 • E-ISSN: 1753-3171 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/17533171.2017.1391427 |
| OpenAlex | W2794766636 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 6 |
The figure of the prisoner, particularly as associated with the Numbers gangs in South African prison gangs, is both a hyper-masculine and (homo-)eroticized character. Prison allows for a state of being queer that, through its subject having already been criminalised, and escapes the stigma of feminization associated with it in the hierarchically gendered society outside of prison. Through the structure of the gang and in the confines of the prison, same-sex desire is at the centre of criminality and masculinity. At the same time, prison allows a space in which same-sex desire is countenanced; it thus becomes a literary setting fraught with same-sex eroticism. This essay considers the extent to which the masculinities of prison have become conflated with notions of an eroticized homosexual threat and the politics and fates of such threat inside and outside the jail walls. It reads a film (Proteus, 2003), non-fiction text (The Number, 2010, by Jonny Steinberg), short fiction (by Jan van Tonder), and play (Tertius Kapp’s Rooiland, 2013)
Art · Criminology · Eroticism · Human sexuality · Literature · Masculinity · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Prison · Queer · Sociology · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues · Gender Studies · Law · Legal Issues in South Africa · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |