Skewing the nation: mobilizing queer citizenship in South Africa

Abstract

This article is interested in the national imaging and imagining of non-heteronormative genders and sexual orientationsthat is, the way in which citizenship, as a form of belonging, is visually negotiated from an LGBTI (that is lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex) perspective. Technologies for framing gender and sexuality (such as photography and film) are central for the visual negotiation of LGBTI citizenship within the South African context. Images that speak of/to the nation on the topic of LGBTI citizenship are complex framings, as they encapsulate a marked sense of difference, while they also reveal a sense for solidarity and reconciliation. Based on the contemporary South African context, this article posits that, while LGBTI subjects are encompassed in a national rhetoric of belonging, LGBTI manifestations of subjectivity are in practice often met with severe scorn and violence. As such, the very idea of national citizenship runs counter to queer subjectivities and strategies, which are not primarily invested in the concept of "belonging," or ascribing to the normative ideals and delineations of a given political space or cultural territory. The complexity arising from the tensions between belonging and dis-identifying, stasis and movement, is the point of departure for this article, in which a series of visual examples are drawn upon to demonstrate how the idea of sexual and gendered citizenship is negotiated by contemporary South African artists and activists. In addition, this article demonstrates how visualizing technologies impact the lives of LGBTI subjects within contemporary South Africa.Desvirtuar a nação: mobilização da cidadania queer na África do Sul RESUMO Este artigo está interessado na imagem e na imaginação nacionais de gêneros não-heteronormativos e orientações sexuaisou seja, a maneira pela qual a cidadania, como forma de pertencimento, é negociada visualmente por uma perspectiva LGBTI (lésbica, bissexual, gay, trans e intersexo). As tecnologias para enquadrar