Mariama Barry, Ken Bugul, Calixthe Beyala, and the Politics of Female Homoeroticisim in Sub-Saharan Francophone African Literature

Abstract

The emergence of African feminism and womanism has elucidated pivotal issues that African women face in a patriarchal society that undermines their existence. However, such movements reinforce the dominant presence of heterosexual standards in denying the reality of its most marginalized subset, same-sex love interactions. This article explores the relationship between culture, society, law, gender, free will, and sexuality. I unravel the strategies of writing female homoerotic desire, displaying the ingenious literary devices, adroit techniques, and skills that allow three African women writers—Mariama Barry, Ken Bugul, and Calixthe Beyala—to cre- ate a narrative space in which female sexuality is viewed through complex lenses that alternate, combine, or contradict heterosexuality, bisexuality, and homosexuality.