CAS Lecture Series: Ukuphazama iNatali: Bringing Queer and Indigenous Studies Approaches to South African History and Beyond

How can critical indigenous and queer theoretical approaches transform the way we think about colonial history in South Africa (and beyond)? If settler colonialism itself is presented as a form of orientation, of making a recognizable and inhabitable home space for European arrivals on indigenous land, then native peoples and their continued resistance can serve to ‘queer’ these attempted forms of order. In such circumstances, the customs, practices, and potentially the very bodies of indigenous peoples can become queer despite remaining ostensibly heterosexual in orientation and practice, as their existence constantly undermines the desired order of an emergent settler state.