Despite our progressive and inclusive constitution, only a rare few gay-centric novels have been published in our history. This is finally changing. Within the past few years, the local literary scene has exploded with novels featuring gay characters, written by queer authors. It’s a hugely positive development - but why now, and why is this worth celebrating?
Before the end of Apartheid, queer lives were almost entirely unrepresented in South African literature. The fear of racial mingling was inherently tied to the preservation of the white, heterosexual, reproductive family. Interracial coupling and homosexuality were strictly prohibited and dissenting voices were often violently silenced. “Literature was one of the great victims of this silencing. The reliance on a particular formexcluded queer voices and sought to oppress representations of queer lives,” writes Grant Andrews, a postdoctoral research fellow in the English Department at Stellenbosch University, in a research article published in 2009.
