ABSTRACT

The calls for knowledge decolonisation pervade most academic disciplines in South Africa today. In this paper I argue for epistemological decolonisation within men and masculinities studies through “delinking” from western gender paradigms. The paper draws on the Xhosa concept of manhood called indoda to illustrate African-centred ways of decolonising and theorising masculinities research which cater to the needs of indigenous African communities. The evidence suggests that masculinities in Xhosa culture centre on the rites of passage to manhood called ulwaluko, which involve physical alteration of the penis through circumcision. As ulwaluko inserts a fixed bodily mark of Xhosa manhood identity it challenges theories which perceive masculinities as mere “scripted performances” with no permanent bodily impact, and those which argue that masculinities are multiple and unstable. Although multiple masculinities coexist, they are rooted in ulwaluko as primary evidence of manhood. The paper concludes by showing the benefits of decolonised, African-centred scholarship for intervention programmes aimed at fighting gender oppression in South Africa.

摘要

当今南非的大多数学科都在呼吁知识非殖民化。在本文中，我主张通过与西方性别范式“脱钩”来支持男性和男性气质研究中的认识论去殖民化。该论文借鉴了被称为indoda的科萨人男性概念，以说明以非洲为中心的非殖民化方法，并将男性气质研究理论化，以满足非洲土著社区的需求。证据表明，科萨文化中的男子气概集中在称为ulwaluko 的成年仪式上，其中涉及通过割礼对阴茎进行物理改变。作为乌尔瓦卢科插入了科萨男性身份的固定身体标记，它挑战了将男子气概视为没有永久性身体影响的“脚本表演”的理论，以及那些认为男子气概是多重且不稳定的理论。尽管多种男子气概共存，但它们根植于ulwaluko，作为男子气概的主要证据。该论文最后展示了非殖民化、以非洲为中心的奖学金对旨在打击南非性别压迫的干预计划的好处。