The Return of the Repressed: Sexuality Discourse in Hausa Digital Prose Fiction

Start date: 1 May 2025
End date: 31 October 2025
Funder: The British Academy
Primary investigator: Professor Adriaan van Klinken
Co-investigators: Zaynab Ango (University of Abuja, Visiting Fellow University of Leeds)

Value

£33,575

Hausa magazines arrayed on a table

Description

There is a general stereotype of African cultures as being conservative on matters of sexuality. This stereotype is particularly associated with Hausa culture in Northern Nigeria which for centuries has been shaped by Islamic traditions. Yet, this representation is problematic and needs nuancing. This project examines the creative, and at times explicit, depiction of sex acts and diverse sexual orientations in contemporary digital Hausa literature. It contends that digital publishing challenges the conservative thrust of mainstream Hausa literature which has been subjected to religious censorship. It argues that online media allow for new forms of self-assertion and self-affirmation that challenge traditional religio-cultural norms and values. Through a detailed analysis of form and content of online Hausa prose fiction, the project shows that Hausa literature and culture is much more diverse than often is acknowledged, and it reveals online publishing platforms as liberating spaces and archives for non-normative literature.