A textual analysis of male gayness in Nakanjani Sibiya’s novel, <i>Bengithi lizokuna</i>

Abstract

This article analyses male gayness in the Zulu novel, Bengithi lizokuna. The objective of the article is to establish whether or not the novel represents gay images that are in agreement with the 1996 Constitution of South Africa, which protects the rights of gay people. The analysis of male gayness is situated within the theoretical framework of intercultural communication. Intercultural communication theory regards gay identities as microcultures or subcultures in the sense that they show behaviour patterns that differentiate them from the macroculture into which they fit.