Queer temporalities in two short stories by Makhosazana Xaba

Abstract

Can Themba’s iconic story, “The Suit” (1963), tells of a devastating punishment visited upon an adulterous wife, Matilda, by her husband, Philemon. This chapter begins by examining some implications of Themba’s story and touching on subsequent adaptations that have re-imagined this haunting tale from various perspectives. I then move on to consider two stories by Makhosazana Xaba, published in 2013, which add significant elements to the original fable. “Behind ‘The Suit’” is written in epistolary form by Philemon’s dying male lover to his daughter, thus queering the narrative. “‘The Suit’ Continued: The Other Side” is recounted in first-person narration by Matilda, after her suicide. It delineates the affair between Matilda and another woman, and their plan to have a baby, adding further queer temporalities. Citing theorists of queer and bisexual temporalities, I provide a close reading of the effects Xaba creates in her re-fashionings of Themba’s Ur-text. I argue that both stories critique heteropatriarchy; they queer marriage, procreation, Sophiatown, black communities and the South African nation; and they contribute meaningfully to postcolonial queer writing and reading.