Protest, Erotism, and Subversive Innuendo: ‘Radical Rudeness’ Poetics in Stella Nyanzi’s No Roses from My Mouth

Abstract

This article identifies the trope of impoliteness, otherwise called ‘radical rudeness’, in Stella Nyanzi’s collection of poetry, No Roses from My Mouth. When does impoliteness or sarcasm become radical rudeness? I argue that Nyanzi harnesses the aesthetics of radical rudeness to caricature the tyranny of Yoweri Museveni’s dictatorship in Uganda. The article argues, further, that Nyanzi took the risk of juxtaposing the individual and collective, the personal and the public, towards her commitment to the dismantling of the complexities of tyranny in her home country.

Keywords:

• Stella Nyanzi
• Ugandan poet
• ‘radical rudeness poetics'
• protest
• impoliteness
• dissident sexualities
• Cyberactivism

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

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Niyi Akingbe

Niyi Akingbe is a Professor of Comparative Literature and Poetics. He is at present a Distinguished Research Fellow in the Department of English Studies, University of South Africa, Pretoria. His work has been published internationally in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, and the United States.