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Article In:
Journal of Language and Sexuality
Vol. 14:1 (2025) ► pp.117–138

Centering the margins

Queer sexuality, identity construction and rights advocacy in Jude Dibia’s Walking with Shadows

 | University of TexasSan Antonio, USA
Until recently, queer sexuality has been on the periphery of African literary imaginations. Studies on queer sexuality have paid attention to its representations on social media, Nollywood movies, and the Nigerian print media, with scarce attention to how contemporary literary texts construct queer people’s identity. Therefore, this article presents findings from Jude Dibia’s Walking with Shadows, drawing attention to how language is co-opted to construct gay identity and advance rights advocacy. Using Bucholtz and Hall’s Tactics of Intersubjectivity, the article examines Jude Dibia’s Walking with Shadows, the first coming out novel in Nigeria. The findings reveal that gay people are denied access to the same rights as heterosexuals in Nigeria and mainly encounter obstacles in the construction of their identity. The study offers insights relevant to the study of queer sexuality in African literature and contributes to identity politics in sexuality discourse.
Keywords: Nigerian contemporary fiction, queer sexuality, tactics of intersubjectivity, sexual rights advocacy, Walking with Shadows
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Queer rights advocacy in Nigerian literature
  • 3.Tactics of intersubjectivity
  • 4.Data analysis and discussion
    • 4.1Seeking common ground and adequating queer identities
    • 4.2Unequally distributed rights, negating heterosexuality, and identities of distinction
    • 4.3By their looks and behaviors? Authenticating queer identities
    • 4.4Rupturing and distancing: Denaturalising queer identities
    • 4.5Constructing legitimacy: The authorization of queer identity
    • 4.6Encountering obstacles: The illegitimation of queer identity
  • 4.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Author queries
  • References
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