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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:'This thing is sweet': 'ntetee' and the reconfiguration of sexual subjectivity in post-colonial Ghana
Author:Banks, William
Year:2011
Periodical:Ghana Studies (ISSN 1536-5514)
Volume:14
Pages:265-290
Language:English
Geographic term:Ghana
Subjects:homosexuality
identity
Abstract:The article focuses on the Ghanain 'Saso' community - a community of men in Ghana who engage in same-sex erotic practices - and how same-sex desire is attributed to two sources: nature and learning: 'ntetee' (lit. training). In this article, the author argues that 'ntetee' both challenges and reinforces public constructions of sexual subjectivity in Ghana. In marking same-sex sexuality as incompatible with and exogenous to Ghanaian culture and identity, public discourses make following a cultural tradition of heteronormativity central to Ghanaian sexual subjectivity. The author begins with providing a brief background of his fieldwork among 'Saso' people in southern Ghana. Then he briefly turns to public discussions about same-sex sexuality in Ghana, which reveal how socially acceptable Ghanaian sexual subjectivity must be shaped by 'cultural' obligation and the fulfillment of a heteronormative tradition. By drawing on personal narratives of 'Saso' people, the author explores how 'ntetee' led them to understanding their sexual subjectivity which did not include following the heteronormative norm. Yet, he emphasizes that the heteronormative norm is important in 'Saso' discourse and the sexual subjectivity of 'Saso' people when the issue of pursuing relationships emerges. Bibliogr., notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract]
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