Biblical discourses and the construction of genders and sexualities in contemporary South Africa: A decolonial analysis

HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Biblical discourses and the construction of genders and sexualities in contemporary South Africa: A decolonial analysis
 
Creator Shingange, Themba
 
Subject Missiology; Gender and Sexuality Studies; Sociology Biblical discourses; Christianity; African; genders; sexualities; decoloniality; delink; transformation
Description The constructions of genders and sexualities in different global spaces continue to be influenced by Christian and imperial ideologies. In Africa, genders and sexualities were (mis)construed by colonial and missionary enterprises, and they continue to be defined according to Eurocentric terms and perceptions. This has produced ‘modern sexual repression’. The use of Biblical discourses to construct African genders and sexualities is one way that this repression is mirrored in South Africa. Because of this, African genders and sexualities are marginalised, treated as taboo and depicted as backward and uncivilised, thus, promoting hegemonic heteronormative and monogamous marriages. This article examined how Biblical discourses contributed to this narrative. It further advanced a call for transforming this dominant narrative by engaging theology, gender and sexuality studies and socio-political sciences from the premise of a multidisciplinary epoch. The decolonial motif, with a focus on delinking African genders and sexualities from the Western agenda of sexual repression, serves as the theoretical framework for this research. On the other hand, race, gender and sexuality serve as lenses used to better understand the phenomenon and to explore the use of biblical discourses in this context. Thus, the article makes use of a secondary research approach to carry out this task.Contribution: This article seeks to add to the body of knowledge that endeavours to change the way that biblical discourses are used in South Africa today to construct a narrative that represses non-normative genders and sexualities.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor
Date 2024-03-29
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Secondary research
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/hts.v80i2.8898
 
Source HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies; Vol 80, No 2 (2024); 7 pages 2072-8050 0259-9422
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/8898/26740 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/8898/26741 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/8898/26742 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/8898/26743
 
Coverage South Africa Contemporary South Africa Gender
Rights Copyright (c) 2024 Themba Shingange https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
ADVERTISEMENT