Michel Foucault and the un-queer politics of apartheidhomophobia and masculinity in South African gay narratives in English

Abstract

This Ph.D. Thesis uses the concepts of discipline and power developed by Michel Foucault in his analysis of human sexuality in order to study the representation of queer identities in four novels written in English by South African authors. Moreover, it provides an approach to Foucauldian thought by considering some of his main concepts, such as the idea of the Panopticon and surveillance, bio-politics or heterotopic spaces, and it also delves into the history of apartheid, the Afrikaner nation and the racial conflict and segregation in South Africa. The theoretical work of Michel Foucault offers valuable analytical tools for my study. First, he wrote about dynamics of power and about the disciplinary measures that perpetuate such power relations. Second, Foucault analysed how human sexuality is constructed as a discurse and how certain institutions (such as the church, medicine or the liberal state) influence the way in which sex and sexual behaviour are conceived. Hence, I use multiple Foucault's writings, such as Histoire de la Folie (1961), Histoire de la Sexualité (1976) or Surveiller et Punir (1975), as well as his later lectures at Collège de France, articles and interviews. Since this research project can be included within the field of Queer Studies, I have relied on the work of various queer scholars and thinkers such as, for example, Paul B. Preciado, Pat Califia or David M. Halperin. Moreover, taking into account the past of colonization to which South Africa was subjected and contemporary neocolonialism in globalization, I have found that Postcolonial Theory represents a vital theoretical frame of reference for my dissertation. Accordingly, authors such as Achille Mbembe or Njabulo Ndebele amongst others are key references in this Ph.D. Thesis. The four novels that form the corpus analysed in this PH.D. Thesis are Shadow Game (1972) by Michael Power, Embrace (2000) by Mark Behr, Moffie (2006) by André Carl van der Merwe and The Quiet Violence of Dreams (2001) by K. Sello Duiker. These novels portray the Afrikaner nationalist ideology (based on toxic masculinity and heteronormativity) and the functioning of apartheid, the political system introduced in South Africa in 1948. This regime was based on racial segregation and promoted a series of legislative measures and disciplinary institutions in order to exert control over population and thus perpetuate the Afrikaner nationalist ideology. This Ph.D. Thesis analyses how different institutions of power (the police forces, the educational system or the army), as described in these novels, try to shape and control the sexuality and desires of the characters. It also analyses how the post-apartheid period influences a new approach on sexuality and community. Moreover, it reflects on the individual and colective resistances. Taking all of these elements into account, it can be concluded that this Ph.D. Thesis focuses on the analysis of this corpus of four novels with the help of multiple theoretical resources from different areas of knowledge, from Queer and Postcolonial Studies to the field of Discourse Analysis amongst others.