Amphibious subjects : sasso and the contested politics of queer self-making in neoliberal Ghana

A free open access ebook is available upon publication. Learn more at [www.luminosoa.org](https://doi.org/10.1525/luminos.131). __Amphibious Subjects__ is an ethnographic study of a community of self-identified effeminate men—known in local parlance as __sasso__—residing in coastal Jamestown, a suburb of Accra, Ghana's capital. Drawing on the Ghanaian philosopher Kwame Gyekye's notion of "amphibious personhood," Kwame Edwin Otu argues that sasso embody and articulate amphibious subjectivity in their self-making, creating an identity that moves beyond the homogenizing impulses of western categories of gender and sexuality. Such subjectivity simultaneously unsettles claims purported by the Christian heteronationalist state and LGBT+ human rights organizations that Ghana is predominantly heterosexual or homophobic. Weaving together personal interactions with sasso, participant observation, autoethnography, archival sources, essays from African and African-diasporic literature, and critical analyses of documentaries such as the BBC's __The World’s Worst Place to Be Gay__, __Amphibious Subjects__ is an ethnographic meditation on how Africa is configured as the "heart of homophobic darkness" in transnational LGBT+ human rights imaginaries. A free open access ebook is available upon publication. Learn more at (https://doi.org/10.1525/luminos.131) www.luminosoa.org . Amphibious Subjects is an ethnographic study of a community of self-identified effeminate men—known in local parlance as sasso —residing in coastal Jamestown, a suburb of Accra, Ghana's capital. Drawing on the Ghanaian philosopher Kwame Gyekye's notion of "amphibious personhood," Kwame Edwin Otu argues that sasso embody and articulate amphibious subjectivity in their self-making, creating an identity that moves beyond the homogenizing impulses of western categories of gender and sexuality. Such subjectivity simultaneously unsettles claims purported by the Christian heteronationalist state and LGBT+ human rights organizations that Ghana is predominantly heterosexual or homophobic. Weaving together personal interactions with sasso, participant observation, autoethnography, archival sources, essays from African and African-diasporic literature, and critical analyses of documentaries such as the BBC's The World’s Worst Place to Be Gay , Amphibious Subjects is an ethnographic meditation on how Africa is configured as the "heart of homophobic darkness" in transnational LGBT+ human rights imaginaries. A free open access ebook is available upon publication. Learn moreat www.luminosoa.org. Amphibious Subjects is anethnographic study of a community of self-identified effeminatemen-known in local parlance as sasso-residing in coastalJamestown, a suburb of Accra, Ghana's capital. Drawing on theGhanaian philosopher Kwame Gyekye's notion of "amphibiouspersonhood," Kwame Edwin Otu argues that sasso embody andarticulate amphibious subjectivity in their self-making, creatingan identity that moves beyond the homogenizing impulses of westerncategories of gender and sexuality. Such subjectivitysimultaneously unsettles claims purported by the Christianheteronationalist state and LGBT+ human rights organizations thatGhana is predominantly heterosexual or homophobic. Weaving togetherpersonal interactions with sasso, participant observation,autoethnography, archival sources, essays from African andAfrican-diasporic literature, and critical analyses ofdocumentaries such as the BBC's The World's Worst Place to BeGay, Amphibious Subjects is an ethnographicmeditation on how Africa is configured as the "heart of homophobicdarkness" in transnational LGBT+ human rights imaginaries "Amphibious Subjects is an ethnographic study of a community of self-identified effeminate men-known in local parlance as sasso-residing in coastal Jamestown, a suburb of Accra, Ghana's capital. Drawing on the Ghanaian philosopher Kwame Gyekye's notion of "amphibious personhood," Kwame Edwin Otu argues that sasso embody and articulate amphibious subjectivity in their self-making, creating an identity that moves beyond the homogenizing impulses of western categories of gender and sexuality. Such subjectivity simultaneously unsettles claims purported by the Christian heteronationalist state and LGBT+ human rights organizations that Ghana is predominantly heterosexual or homophobic. Weaving together personal interactions with sasso, participant observation, autoethnography, archival sources, essays from African and African-diasporic literature, and critical analyses of documentaries such as the BBC's The World's Worst Place to Be Gay, Amphibious Subjects is an ethnographic meditation on how Africa is configured as the "heart of homophobic darkness" in transnational LGBT+ human rights imaginaries"-- Provided by publisher Contents Acknowledgments Introducing Amphibious Subjects Part One Setting the Scenes 1. Situating Sasso: Mapping Effeminate Subjectivities and Homoerotic Desire in Postcolonial Ghana 2. Contesting Homogeneity: Sasso Complexity in the Face of Neoliberal LGBT+ Politics Part Two Amphibious Subjects in Rival Geographies 3. Amphibious Subjectivity: Queer Self-Making at the Intersection of Colliding Modernities in Neoliberal Ghana 4. The Paradox of Rituals: Queer Possibilities in Heteronormative Scenes Part Three. Becoming and Unbecoming Amphibious Subjects in Hetero/Homo Colonial Vortices 5. Palimpsestic Projects: Heterocolonial Missions in Post-Independent Ghana (1965–1975) 6. Queer Liberal Expeditions: The BBC’s The World’s Worst Place to Be Gay? and the Paradoxes of Homocolonialism Conclusion: Queering Queer Africa? Notes Bibliography Index