I am very grateful to Aminata Mbaye, Rachel Spronk, and Thomas Hendriks for their insightful and rich responses—and indeed extensions—to my book Knowing Women: Same-Sex Intimacy, Gender, and Identity in Postcolonial Ghana. For a book that took so long to blossom, there is nothing more rewarding than having such nuanced and inspiring interlocutors. I will be able to respond to only a fraction of the issues they raise.
In a narrative that sought to document the experiences and knowledges that unfolded in the research encounters and in my interlocutors' life histories, my book was indeed an attempt to decolonize queer and feminist theories. Thus, I highly appreciate Mbaye's gesture toward African feminist fiction writers whose stories speak of taboo subjects including erotic friendship and sexual intimacy between women. The richness and the poetry of these stories speak a language of their own, capturing the complexities of practices that may...
