Loving in the global South

The Stellenbosch University English Department conducted a cross-border seminar with Shreemati Nathibai Damodar Thackersey (SNDT) Women’s University in Mumbai, titled it Love in the Global South. This course foregrounded love in the analysis of various media pieces originating in – or critiquing – the global South. Love is rarely explored in academia and is, at times, the missing link in scholarship. Introducing love into classroom conversations can disrupt colonial, capitalist and patriarchal epistemologies. Drawing on the theoretical perspectives of Wainaina, Davids, Ureña and Ratele, this article explores and argues for love as a decolonial method capable of rehumanising subjects from the global South. As this challenges educational hegemony, it is crucial to utilise alternative forms of academia, including feminist pedagogy, such as zine-making and other creative forms of self-expression. Through personal reflection and collected testimony, this article explores all forms of love, placing particular importance on platonic love, and how this focus is crucial in combating individualism and isolation furthered by capitalist constructions. The Love in the Global South seminar is a prime example of how to bring difficult conversations regarding love into the classroom, and how such continued pedagogy can disrupt and decolonise, resulting in decolonial transformation.