Browsing by Author "Scott, Lwando"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Inxeba (The Wound), Queerness and Xhosa Culture
    (Taylor & Francis, 2020) Scott, Lwando
    This article focuses on the controversy caused by the release of the film Inxeba (The Wound). Inxeba depicts a complex intersection of rites of passage, masculinities, queerness and the relationships between men in a homosocial environment within a Xhosa cultural setting. I argue that the subject matter of same-sex intimacy in the film challenges dominant constructions of Xhosa masculinities by going to the foundation of dominant Xhosa masculinities, namely the male initiation process. The film poses a challenge to Xhosa culture by boldly asking: what is the position of Xhosa culture on same-sex intimacies? The film depicts same-sex intimacy that takes place in one of the most sacred of Xhosa cultural spaces. In the article, the film is analysed as a conversation initiator, through which ideas about same-sex desire, Xhosa culture and ultimately African sexuality can be scrutinised and debated.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Worrier state: Risk, anxiety and moral panic in South Africa
    (SAGE Publications, 2023) Scott, Lwando
    While reading Nicky Falkof’s Worrier State: Risk, anxiety, and moral panic in South Africa, I couldn’t help but think of the video of Nina Simone being interviewed that often floats around social media where she is asked about her idea of freedom. She answers, unequivocally: No fear! Simones association of freedom with no fear speaks to the African American experience of everyday terrorism of racism in the United States, where black people, up to the contemporary moment, fear for their lives from white peoples anti-black violence. Ironically, in South Africa, post-apartheid democracy was supposed to bring freedom, not fear, but post-apartheid South Africa, as demonstrated in Worrier State, is gripped by risk, anxiety and moral panic. Worrier State is a timely contribution to a better understanding of cultures of fear that have come to shape post-apartheid reality.