As the basis of my doctoral thesis (entitled An Elusive Archive: Three Trans Men and Photographic Recollection), I investigated the personal photographic archives of transgender subjects. This research project was interested in the way they use image and text to negotiate a sense of self. This is aligned with broader research interests, in which I addresses the radical erasure of queer histories within South Africa, and seek ways to conceptualise such histories in relation to a larger global context.
My research and teaching at the Humboldt University of Berlin as an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow was concerned with the framing of sexual and gender variance. Given the extreme precariousness of (South) African individuals and communities who do not conform to cisgender/heterosexual norms, I examined forms of representation that are currently prevalent within the German and South African contexts that specifically deal with forms of gender and sexual variance. For this project, I specifically engaged with the impact of images and texts on public understandings of gender and sexuality.
Current research interests and projects include:
- the visual and textual representation of masculinity in times of war
- the impact of geopolitical borders on lbgtqi movement and citizenship
- the negotiation of national citizenship by lbgtqi subjects
Ernst van der Wal 