The Queer African Studies Caucus was conceived in response to a pressing need to address the unique challenges and opportunities within Queer African Studies at the African Literature Association. These challenges include responding to the persistent framing of homosexuality and gender/sexual dissidence within some forms of African cultural nationalism as “Western aberrations” that are supposedly foreign to indigenous African identities and cultures. QASALA thus aims to center those who may identify, in varying ways, as LGBTQI+ in Africa and in the diaspora by attending to scholarly and artistic work that articulates queer lived experiences and their rich histories within African contexts. At the same time, we recognize that we must be careful not to impose Western understandings of queerness on to African identities, histories, and cultures and thus repeat the imperialist gesture. The Caucus also recognizes that there has been a significant lack of institutional frameworks to support research, dialogue, and visibility for queer African narratives across literature, the arts, traditional and new media, and other genres, forums, and contexts. However, there has been noticeably broadened interest and support at the ALA through a growing number of papers, panels, and publication prizes specifically in the field of Queer African Studies at its annual conferences over the past several years. The work of QASALA attempts to consolidate scholarship in Queer African Studies at this particular juncture through bringing together academics, educators, artists, students, and activists working or interested in the discipline into an inclusive and interdisciplinary platform within ALA’s governing structure. The Caucus will fill this lacuna by becoming an identifiable, active space at the ALA for more meaningful and sustained opportunities for collaboration, exchange, and support for the developing discipline of Queer African Studies and for its scholars and practitioners, while making a significant contribution to ALA’s stated goal in its Mission Statement of supporting “the African people’s struggle for liberation,” which must include an intellectual and political commitment to dissident gender and sexual expressions, enactments, and struggles that will broaden the remits of decolonization and social justice. QASALA also hopes to work in coalition with other ALA Caucuses in order to widen its interdisciplinary reach and explore the rich potential of collaborating on joint projects.
The goals of QASALA are to:
- Promote critical engagement and interdisciplinary dialogue around issues of queerness,
sexuality, gender identity, and intersectionality within African and African diasporic contexts; - Provide a visible, supportive, and inclusive space within the ALA for scholars and
practitioners working on queer and related topics; - Increase the visibility of queer African literature, art, and media by facilitating academic
and creative exchanges at the ALA, within academia, and in the public sphere; - Build networks and foster collaborations among ALA members and other ALA Caucuses in
order to advance queer scholarship in African literary, film, media, gender, and cultural
studies and in transdisciplinary contexts; - Contribute to ALA’s overall mission of promoting justice, equity, and inclusion through
calling attention to and addressing critical issues around sexuality, gender, and identity in
African studies through our panels, roundtables, publications, and events at ALA annual
meetings and in other forums within and beyond the ALA.
QASALA Leadership
Co-Chairs: Joachim F Adams, Florida State University
William J Spurlin, Brunel University/University of London
Vice-Chair: Cristovão Nwachukwu, Colgate University
Secretary: Megan E Fourqurean, University of Liverpool
Treasurer: [position currently vacant, expressions of interest welcome]
Historian: Sarah Snyder, University of Minnesota
QASALA Constitution