Vol. 41 No. 1 (2026) Articles
By Raffaella Taylor-Seymour
This article examines how young queer people in Zimbabwe rework understandings of the relationship between ancestors, spirit mediumship, and queer expressions of gender and sexuality. In Zimbabwe, many traditional practitioners argue that gender transgression and same-sex desires are caused by the presence of ancestral spirits known as amadlozi. Anthropologists have often identified spirit-mediumship practices such as these as local expressions of queerness. Young queer people in Zimbabwe view such explanations with skepticism and doubt, yet many experience amadlozi communicating with them and in some cases cultivate deep and meaningful relationships with them. This article argues that engagements with ancestral spirits work to reimagine queerness within ancestral epistemologies and respond to colonial projects that have sought to demonize both ancestors and queerness. At the same time, it shows how young queer Zimbabweans’ relationships with spirits articulate novel forms of intimate attachment that expand anthropological understandings of “queer kinship.”
Leyincwadi ihlaziya ukuthi intsha yabantu abathandana lobulili obufanayo eZimbabwe baguqula kanjani indlela okucatshangwa ngayo ngamadlozi, ukufikelwa kanye lobulili. EZimbabwe, abanengi abalandelana lamasiko baphikisa ngokuthi izinkanuko zobubili obufanayo lokungalandeli imikhuba yobulili evamileyo kubangelwa ngamadlozi. Abaphenyi bezamasiko bathi nxa abantu bekhuluma lamadlozi ngalendlela, kuyindlela yamasiko endawo yokutshengisa ukuthi umuntu ongowesilisa uthandana lowesilisa kumbe owesifazane uthandana lowesifazane. Intsha yabantu abathandana lobulili obufanayo eZimbabwe kayikholwa kakhulu ezichasisweni lezi, kodwa inengi liyake likhulumisane lamadlozi njalo abanye bakha ubudlelwano obujulileyo lawo. Leyincwadi iphikisa isithi imikhuba le iyaguqula indlela abantu abaqonda ngayo ukuthandana kwabantu bobulili obufanayo ezinkolweni zabokhokho, njalo iphikisana lembono yamakoloni eyayenza amadlozi labantu abathandana lobulili obufanayo babonakale njengababi. Leyi ncwadi iyaphinda ikhombise ukuthi ubudlelwano lamadlozi buvulela indlela entsha yokuzwisisa “iqueer kinship” ezifundweni ngezimpilo zabantu (anthropology).
ancestors; spirits; mediumship; queer; kinship; intimacy; Zimbabwe; amadlozi; imimoya; ukufikelwa; umuntu ongahambelani lemikhuba yobulili evamileyo; ubuhlobo; ukusondelelana; iZimbabwe
Copyright (c) 2026 Raffaella Taylor-Seymour
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
