Ukuphazama iNatali: Thinking Through Queer and Indigenous Studies Approaches to South African History

Professor T.J. Tallie, Washington and Lee University

In my research I propose a reading of colonial South African history that relies upon critical indigenous and queer theoretical approaches.  Settler colonialism itself often functions as a form of orientation, of making a recognizable and inhabitable home space for European arrivals on indigenous land. As a result, 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.