He uses my body
Female traditional healers, male ancestors and transgender in South Africa
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6030883 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Cheryl Stobie (0000-0002-7138-7340, University of KwaZulu-Natal, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 149-162 |
| Publication date | 2011-05-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | African Identities (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1472-5843 • E-ISSN: 1472-5851 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/14725843.2011.556792 |
| OpenAlex | W2069655616 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 8 |
| References cited | 18 |
This work focuses on the autobiography Black Bull, ancestors and me: my life as a lesbian sangoma by Nkunzi Zandile Nkabinde. I delineate the empowerment obtained and tensions experienced in the case of Nkabinde, a sangoma, or traditional healer in South Africa. The name ‘Nkunzi’, meaning ‘Black Bull’, previously belonged to her late male ancestor, who is her main possessing spirit in her healing work. This possession, I argue, serves a validating transgender function in the case of Nkabinde, who identifies as a lesbian; however, it is also problematic, as it entails a conflict between Nkabinde's reverence for tradition and her feminist, modernist beliefs. I examine Black Bull, ancestors and me through the lens of autobiographical writing, including transgender life-writing. I use the phrase ‘He uses my body’ to show the tensions and boundary-crossing which ensue as a result of Nkabinde's composite identity, highlighting problematic aspects of the representation of gender, sexuality and spirituality. Finally, following Gayle Rubin, Homi Bhabha and Ernest Renan, I situate Nkabinde's transgender boundary-crossings as a significant test of a nation in flux. Keywords: transgendertraditional healerssangomasautobiographySouth African writing
Aesthetics · Art · Biography · Human sexuality · Lesbian · Literature · Political science · Reverence · Sociology · Spirituality · Transgender · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies · History · Law · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Philosophy
Dreaming of Snakes and Other Unauthorized Religiosities
Exploring how Parents can Promote Gender Diversity in South African High Schools
Queer spirituality of black lesbians in Bloemfontein, South Africa
Examining the tensions between queer desire, non-normative gendered identities, and pseudo-traditional cultural practices in Masande Ntshanga’s The Reactive (2016) and Mohale Mashigo’s The Yearning (2017)
The Marikana Massacre
South African contributions to LGBTI education issues
Politics of being and vocation
African Studies Keywords
A poetics of women's autobiography
Conditions and Limits of Autobiography
Autobiography
Defiant Desire
Female Masculinity
Trans
I've got two men and one woman’
Masculine femininities/feminine masculinities
Autobiographics
From Zami
Everything Must Come to Light
Engendering debate
The Political Unconscious
I Can't Even Think Straight' 'Queer' Theory and the Missing Sexual Revolution in Sociology
| Unique citing works | 8 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,73 |
| Citation span | 2015 - 2026 (12) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |