Postcolonial Hauntologies: African Women's Discourses of the Female Body

Postcolonial Hauntologies is an interdisciplinary and comparative analysis of critical, literary, visual, and performance texts by women from different parts of Africa. It explores the pervasive silence about the African female body in postcolonial African scholarship and challenges hostile responses to critical and artistic voices that suggest the African female body represents sacred ideological-discursive ground. By emphasizing African womens power and autonomy, it counters the ghosts of the colonial past.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 262 pages
Publication date: 01 June 2024
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press

Postcolonial Hauntologies is a groundbreaking interdisciplinary and comparative analysis that delves into critical, literary, visual, and performance texts by women from diverse regions across Africa. While contemporary critical thought and feminist theory have made significant strides in incorporating the sexual female body into their respective disciplines, colonial representations of African women's sexuality continue to haunt contemporary postcolonial African scholarship. This haunting presence arises from a culture of avoidance surrounding women's sexuality, which ultimately leads to a discursive conscription that confines the female body. To address these silences, Ayo A. Coly employs the concepts of "hauntology" and "ghostly matters" to develop an explicative framework that examines postcolonial silences surrounding the African female body. Additionally, she offers a theoretical framework for discerning the elusive and cautious presences of female sexuality in the texts of African women.

In unveiling the pervasive silence surrounding the sexual female body in postcolonial African scholarship, Postcolonial Hauntologies poses a challenge to hostile responses that suggest the African female body represents sacred ideological-discursive ground on which one treads carefully, if at all. Coly adeptly demonstrates how "ghosts" from the colonial past are countered by discursive engagements with explicit representations of women's sexuality and bodies that emphasize African women's power and autonomy.

Through this comprehensive analysis, Postcolonial Hauntologies sheds light on the complex ways in which colonial legacies continue to shape contemporary African scholarship, highlighting the need for a more nuanced and inclusive understanding of women's experiences and identities. It serves as a valuable resource for scholars, artists, and activists working to challenge the persistent silences and marginalization of African women in the academic and artistic realms.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781496238887