The New African Queer Aesthetics

Abstract

THE PORTRAYAL OF HOMOSEXUALITY IN INTERNATIONAL CINEMA      The purpose of this article is to discuss images and visual portrayals of openly gay characters in African cinema in countries sometimes characterised by homophobia. My intention is to discuss these images and portrayals within the contexts of the societies and film structures in which they were created. I attempt to provide a balance between a background on the history of gay and lesbian lives in specific African countries and a brief overview of the history of gay films. I defined homosexuality as a broad spectrum of psychological, emotional and sexual variables in a state of interplay between people of the same sex .(1) Homosexuality, for me, is not only sexual attraction between people of the same sex, but it also includes an emotional as well as a physical bond, a fantasy system, and elements of symbolism, eroticism...