“Dominating the Man’s Cock”? (Re)Imagining Femininities and Masculinities in Selected Francophone and Lusophone Literary Texts

Abstract

This article focuses on selected literary texts from francophone and lusophone Africa, parts of the continent that are often dwarfed and marginalised by anglophone literary production. The article analyses the following texts: Infidels by Abdellah Taïa (Morocco), Femme nue femme noire by Calixthe Beyala (Cameroon), Niketche by Paulina Chiziane (Mozambique) and O Último Voo do Flamingo by Mia Couto (Mozambique). The article examines how female protagonists find agency in and through sex and sexuality. Female protagonists in the selected novels use their voices as well as the physical and the erotic potentialities of their bodies to destabilise, resist and challenge patriarchal notions of women’s sexuality as subservient to, and serving the pleasure of, men. These texts show that hegemonic masculinity is not as untouchable and sacrosanct as is commonly considered. Theoretically, this article draws on Kopano Ratele’s ideas on contested masculinities and Pumla Dineo Gqola’s thoughts on dismantling patriarchy. Through comparative analyses, this article imagines how women can liberate themselves from the oppressive yoke of patriarchy by undermining the perceived dominance of masculinity.