Kenyan, Christian, Queer

Abstract

First, there is an age old saying that you should not judge a book by its cover, but the exceptional vibrancy of the beautiful image on the cover of this book attests to how that saying is absolute nonsense. Do judge this book by its cover. For me, the richness of the cover image certainly matches its contents. The book explores what van Klinken terms “arts of resistance”, “artivism” and grassroots lgbt activism in Kenya specifically and Africa more broadly, and the book is both transdisciplinary and intimate in tone. The simple wish of the book is to serve as a counter narrative to the idea of African homophobia, an aim which is amply achieved. This book undoubtedly enriches the small, but emerging area of sexual storytelling in global queer and religious studies, with its particular focus on questions of justice and the debates around human sexuality. Van Klinken’s premise is that “queer story telling is a form of queer world making” (101). The book presents four case studies that are Kenyan as well as more broadly African in scope, as they take on “continental relevance and significance” (17). The case studies are focused around three main themes: narrations of sexuality, narrations of place and belonging and narrations of religion and faith. In the first case study, van Klinken explores the writings and activist work of the openly gay social critic Binyavanga Wainaina, focusing specifically on Wainaina’s critique of Pentecostal Christianity and homophobia. The second case study focuses on the “Same Love” music video released by the Kenyan hip-hop group Art Attack in 2016. Van Klinken reads the representations of same-sex love, queer identities and the issues of religion and homophobia in the music video. The anthology, Stories of our Lives, compiled by the Kenyan art collective, The Nest, is the subject of the third case study. The use of storytelling allows van Klinken to explore the connections between sexual, cultural and religious identities and these connections allow people to assert their non-normative gender or sexual identities in their faith traditions. The final case study, then, is an ethnographic exploration of a lgbt affirming church in Kenya, Cosmopolitan Affirming Church, undertaken in 2013. Through observations and interviews with participants, van Klinken explores religious practices within the church, noting how the church provides a space for queer empowerment. This allows for a grassroots Kenyan queer theology. In his use of different case studies, van Klinken does not aim to provide a systematic approach, instead he expresses preference for an “eclectic array of ‘data’ or source material” (19). Van Klinken resists established, traditional, systematic approaches and favours a “methodological queerness” (19). This approach is commendable, as research labelled “queer” in theology and religious studies allows researchers to move beyond normative models of academic research. In addition to embracing queerness methodologically, van Klinken also embraces queerness stylistically. While, as outlined above, the book is structured by case studies that serve as the chapters of the text, the chapters are interspersed with autobiographical writings of his own. These interludes connect the author to the work, and Interlude 2 “Bodywork” and Interlude 3 “Positive” are where the narratives are at their most personal. Van Klinken says, “this is a book that has become deeply intertwined with the story of my life, and not just my life, but