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Death without mourning: homosexuality, homo sacer, and bearable loss in Central Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2020

Basile Ndjio
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Abstract

Contemporary societies in Central Africa are known for their mourning ethos: communities often engage in endless lamentation upon the death of their loved ones. Yet people experience the death of a family member differently, depending on the deceased's sexual identification. While the death of a person identifying as heterosexual is generally felt as unbearable, that of a person identifying as homosexual is experienced as bearable. Based on field research conducted in Cameroon, this article analyses the way in which contemporary Central African societies experience the death of persons identifying as homosexual. Drawing on Giorgio Agamben's notion of homo sacer, the article argues that, as a result of the pervasiveness of anti-homosexual ideologies and procreationist doctrines promoting vitalis moralis or the ethics of life, childless persons identifying as homosexuals have become ‘homines sacri’ whose deaths arouse little grief from the community because their existence was perceived as ‘bare’ or useless even before their death.

Résumé

Résumé

Les sociétés contemporaines d'Afrique Centrale sont réputées pour leur éthique de deuil; les communautés se livrent souvent à des lamentations sans fin à la mort de leurs proches. Pourtant, les gens vivent la mort d'un membre de la famille différemment, selon l'identité sexuelle du défunt. Alors que la mort d'une personne s'identifiant comme hétérosexuelle est généralement ressentie comme insupportable, celle d'une personne s'identifiant comme homosexuelle est plutôt vécue comme supportable. Basé sur des recherches de terrain menées au Cameroun, cet article analyse la manière dont les sociétés d'Afrique Centrale font face à la mort de personnes considérées comme homosexuelles. S'appuyant sur la notion d’homo sacer de Giorgio Agamben, l'article fait valoir qu'en raison de l'omniprésence des idéologies anti-homosexuelles et des doctrines procréatrices promouvant un vitalis moralis ou une éthique de la vie, les personnes sans enfant s'identifiant comme homosexuelles sont devenues des homines sacris dont la mort suscite peu de chagrin de la part de la communauté car leur existence était déjà perçue comme «nue» ou inutile avant même leur mort.

Type
Queer matters
Information
Africa , Volume 90 , Issue 5 , November 2020 , pp. 852 - 869
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Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2020

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