CHAPTER 7

Sex Addiction in Contemporary African

Fiction: An Analysis of Selected Works
of Short Fiction

Beaton Galafa

7.1   Introduction
Short fiction in every society draws its inspiration from people’s routine
way of life in that given society. As such, theme, plot, characterization,
setting, and other aspects are largely influenced by the social and political
conduct that become characteristic of people in particular contexts and
epochs. Changes in time result in varieties in the crafting of literary works
from time to time and region to region. Although short fiction in Africa is
as diverse as its people, there have been recurring themes in various writ-
ing periods due to a shared social, cultural, and economic plight. The rise
of short fiction on the continent has witnessed its themes evolving from
spirit stories of the Ogbanje and Abiku in Life is sweet at Kumansenu by
Abioseh Nicol (though they never completely fade away—as the spirit
children themselves, who keep being reborn) through political and eco-
nomic upheavals in Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Minutes of Glory to male chau-
vinism in Jennifer Makumbi’s Let’s tell this story properly.

B. Galafa (*)
Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China

© The Author(s) 2019 105

Y. Ndasauka, G. M. Kayange (eds.), Addiction in South and East
Africa, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13593-5_7
106 B. GALAFA

However, in addition to these traditional themes in African short fic-

tion, more recent works have confronted the subtlety of sex—exploring
the theme from narratives focusing on flirting to those that paint vivid
images of the very act of sex. The rise in erotic short fiction in contempo-
rary African literature today can be attributed to continued cultural
exchanges between Africa and other societies—in particular, the West—in
the process gradually diluting the conservatism that has characterized
African writing for a long time. Again, such conservatism has been a direct
influence of the values and beliefs of African societies, which shape the
kind of literature the continent’s writers produce. The appearance and rise
of erotic short fiction has introduced to the world an in-depth exploration
of a theme that has been repressed for a long time due to its sensitivity in
most African societies: sexual addiction.
An explicit exploration of sexual addiction would not be expected to
appear in African literary outlets that easily when sex remains a taboo in
general discourse in most societies. In a post-conference collection of
essays and articles on sex and culture in postcolonial Africa, Nwabueze
(2017) argues that most societies on the continent battle with a contradic-
tion in attitude towards sex and sexuality. Generally, a lot of Africans evade
explicit discourse on sex, and ‘in the cities and villages, overt public display
of affection is not too common’ (Nwabueze 2017). While there are
changes in the society pertaining to how matters of sex and sexuality are
addressed, African literature has, for a long time, fallen short of reflecting
the changes.
Although literature in many African societies—especially through oral-
ity—has, for a long time, served as a platform for addressing the taboos of
explicit discussions on sex, it is only now that sex is escaping subtlety as a
theme in works of short fiction. Its emergence offers insights into dark
corners of African society that were almost unexplorable through imagina-
tion before. By and by, the reflections of the literary works point to the
existence of not only sex as a social phenomenon, but the long suppressed
discourse on sexual addiction.
The existence of erotic short fiction in contemporary African literature
and its open coverage of sex have led to an even further realization of the
prevalence of sexual addiction in the society. In relation to this, the chap-
ter generates responses to questions on critical areas relating to the con-
ception of addiction by Africans, the gender parity, the age gap as well as
the moral dimensions of addiction—all within the context of sexual
addiction.
 SEX ADDICTION IN CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN FICTION: AN ANALYSIS… 107

The chapter analyses six diverse anthologies—one of which is an exclu-

sive collection of erotic short stories and poems. The works are: Sext me:
Poems & Stories (Jalada 2014), My Maths Teacher Hates Me and Other
Stories (Writivism 2015), Your Heart Will Skip a Bit and Other Stories
(Writivism 2016), Suubi (African Writers’ Trust 2013), and Valentine’s
Day Anthology 2015 (Shercliff and Bakare-Yusuf 2015). These anthologies
were published under different initiatives between 2014 and 2017.
Containing works of short fiction by both emerging and established
African writers from across the continent, they are a good representative
sample from which an understanding of the extent of sex addiction in
African societies can be comprehensively developed.

7.2   Understanding Sexual Addiction

The concept of sexual addiction has, with time, generated multiple aca-
demic perspectives that have all contributed to an in-depth understanding
of the phenomenon. Riemersma and Sytsma (2013) note that sexually
addictive behaviour has been recorded even in the most ancient texts, such
as the Bible, and that it has taken on many different names. These have
included satyriasis in men and nymphomania in women. Griffiths (2004)
makes a similar observation, noting that some of the names include ‘the
Casanova type, compulsive promiscuity, compulsive sexuality, Don
Juan(ita)ism, Don Juan Syndrome, Don Juan Complex, erotomania,
hyperaesthesia, hypererotocism, hyperlibido, hypersensuality, idiopathic
sexual precocity, libertinism, the Messalina Complex, oversexuality, pan-
sexual promiscuity, pathologic multi partnerism, pathologic promiscuity,
sexual hyperversion and urethromania’.
Carnes (1999) defines sex addiction as any sexually-related, compulsive
behaviour which interferes with normal living and eventually becomes
unmanageable, although he has also described it as a pathological relation-
ship with a mood altering experience (Carnes 1999). This is in line with
Riemersma and Sytsma (2013) who define the phenomenon as a disorder
characterized by compulsive sexual behaviour that results in tolerance,
escalation, withdrawal, and a loss of volitional control despite negative
consequences (p. 308). Similarly, Weiss (2016) defines sexual addiction as
‘a dysfunctional preoccupation with sexual fantasy, often in combination
with the obsessive pursuit of casual or non-intimate sex; pornography;
compulsive masturbation; romantic intensity and objectified partner sex’.
108 B. GALAFA

Several diagnostic criteria have been developed for sexual addiction in

various studies. Riemersma and Sytsma (2013) have gone even further to
distinguish between what they call classical and contemporary addiction,
adding three specific diagnostic criteria. In the study, Riemersma and
Sytsma (2013) argue that contemporary sexual addiction is a rapid-onset
addiction distinguished by chronicity, content, and culture. ‘Aetiology
stems from chronic exposure to sexually graphic online content, the
uniqueness and intensity of which are theorized to facilitate rapid-onset
addiction and to disrupt normal neurochemical, sexual, emotional, and
social development particularly when occurring early in the developmental
process’ (p. 307). Their study argues that contemporary sex addiction is
the product of a toxic trilogy: chronicity, content, and culture. ‘Repeated
and chronic exposure to sexually graphic content that is reinforced by a
highly sexualized culture creates a “perfect storm” in which addictive sex-
ual behaviour may arise’. They then describe classical sexual addiction as
having its aetiology in a history of abuse, insecure attachment patterns,
and disordered impulse control (Riemersma and Sytsma 2013: 307).
Similarly, Karila et al. (2014) developed a list of signs of sexual addition.
In their study on sexual addiction and hypersexuality, they came up with
eleven sexual aspects characterizing victims of compulsive sexual behav-
iour. Some of the aspects include out-of-control sexual behaviour, inability
to stop the sexual behaviour, persistent pursuit of high-risk behaviour,
presence of the tolerance phenomenon etcetera (Karila et al. 2014). In
addition to the signs, they also came up with diagnostic criteria that were
modelled on the criteria for diagnosing other addictive behaviours. This
includes the recurrent failure to resist impulses to engage in a specified
sexual behaviour; increasing sense of tension immediately prior to initiat-
ing the sexual behaviour; pleasure or relief at the time of engaging in the
sexual behaviour; and the development of tolerance levels to pleasure
among others (Karila et al. 2014).
An extension of the diagnostic criteria leads to the adverse consequences
of sexual addiction that characterize the addicts. The understanding of
these various perspectives of sexual addiction provides a strong standing
point from which the contemporary literary works of fiction can be anal-
ysed. It offers clear insights into possible explanations behind certain
behaviours—and contributes to the general discourse of how sexual addic-
tion is perceived in Africa through the literary lens.
 SEX ADDICTION IN CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN FICTION: AN ANALYSIS… 109

7.3   The Concept of Sexual Addiction

in Selected Works

The notion of addiction to sex in the works of fiction under review mani-
fests itself in various forms. Though not exclusively explicit as it varies
from story to story, its representation offers insights into authorial inter-
pretation of sex and sexuality, and therefore provides a basis for under-
standing how most societies in Africa perceive sexual addiction. In the
short fiction from the selected anthologies, experience and themes mostly
focus on celebration for sex and sexuality. In this celebration, sex is pre-
sented as a normal social activity probably marking the various stages of
human life, from childhood (through the hypersexual stages) to its chro-
nicity in adult life. The transcendence of hypersexuality into sexual addic-
tion is clear in works such as Sex Ed for village boys by Alexander Ikawah
(2014). The story details the sex life of young boys and girls through the
lens of the narrator, his friend Mangwana and several other non-key char-
acters. First, their obsession with sex is depicted in their primary school
endeavours where they indulge in sex even behind their desks in class—at
times, with the teacher right in front. This sense of addiction—although
still at a mere sexual curiosity level in the children’s tenderness—appears
right from the onset as evidenced in the following text:

The most I had seen of sex by the time I joined secondary school was during
an evening prep session back in primary eight when I dropped my eraser
accidentally. I bent under my desk to find it and there, underneath the last
desk on our row, Nancy Wendo was playing with my friend Mangwana’s
penis, Caroline had her skirt pulled all the way back on one side, laying bare
her big fat thigh, and Mangwana had his hand inside her white knick-
ers… (p. 2)

However, a careful observation of details in the description of the scene

by the narrator demonstrates cognizance of adult sexual acts by his class-
mates. The explicit sexual acts his classmates indulge in appear to be a
recreation of scenes in graphic adult content in cinema and other forms of
entertainment. This might allude to an early exposure to pornography.
The depiction of sexual addiction in the story continues. A porno-
graphic magazine is found at the school premises—a primary school as it
is—for which none of the pupils admits ownership. By coincidence, the
magazine finds its way into the narrator’s hands as the head teacher orders
110 B. GALAFA

him to throw it into a burning fire nearby. Although he eventually does

throw it into the fire, he first rips a page out of it, which he then uses for
masturbation under cover in a restroom. These two incidents might have
resulted from mere curiosity on sex and sexuality. Nonetheless, they are
also revealing of an early exposure to graphic sexual content, which char-
acterizes contemporary sexual addiction (Riemersma and Sytsma 2013).
This hypersexuality as it is—often evolving into sexual addiction
through the thematic and experience interconnectedness in the various
works—renders it a trope at such a young age. It also appears explicitly in
Kudinyana by Linda Musita (2014). The uncontrolled desire for sex is
depicted right from the title Kudinyana, explained in a footnote by the
author as what kids in the 1990s called sex in Kiswahili. Set in Tanzania, it
portrays the addiction to sex as something that starts at a very young age
in the society. Still out of curiosity and a probable exposure to sexual con-
tent, primary school-going children organize orgies. Comprehension of
the element of early exposure to graphic content emanates from, among
other aspects, lines in which the children refer to sexual acts between
adults. For instance, as Pete and Wallace argue over a girl, they insult each
other’s parents through a graphic description of sexual intercourse. Wallace
mocks Pete’s mother by joking that she engages in sexual intercourse with
her dog. It is the description of the sex scene that points to exposure to
graphic sexual content. Of Pete’s mother, he says:

What do you know about my mother when yours kamatanas with Popsy.
That dog always barks loud and long when she goes out to give it food. Do
you want me to show you how she puts Popsy on its back, parts its back legs,
sits on its penis, holds its front legs and starts bouncing up and down?
(Musita 2014: 9–10)

Such a vivid description only resonates well with someone who has
once stumbled on cinematic or photographic representation of adult con-
tent, again pointing to the diagnostic criteria of sexual addiction put for-
ward by Riemersma and Sytsma (2013). Contrary to the moral conservatism
that African societies are associated with, the experience in this story is, on
the whole, a true reflection of life, of sexual curiosity to most children,
save for the graphic description of sex, which brings in the concept of pos-
sible addiction in its contemporary form. The assumed exposure to graphic
sexual content also appears in Pete’s provocative statement, which alludes
to re-imagination of a violent sexual scene when he says, ridiculing Pete,
 SEX ADDICTION IN CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN FICTION: AN ANALYSIS… 111

‘Like how your mother screams when your father gives her kei in her
mkundu mnuko. Kuma ya mamako na makende zimestunya’ (Musita
2014: 9). A complete sense of this violent sex scene becomes clearer upon
literal translation of the Kiswahili texts into English—explicit reference to
a sexual scene that can only be viewed in an adult movie.
From the ambiguities of sexual curiosity and hypersexuality versus
addiction in very young characters in the literary works, the ambivalence
transcends into clearer diagnostic cases of sexual addiction as children
migrate into adulthood. In Richard Oduor’s Sex on a Train Wagon (2014),
the male character, Tommy, starts his sexual exploits with his family’s
housemaid just in his early teens when he is in Class 8, the last in primary
school in Kenya, where the story is set (Oduor 2014). ‘He had seen a
good number of legs and breasts since then but had largely avoided
romantic attachment’. Tommy’s avoiding a romantic relationship in his
continued sexual exploits with various partners indicates his addiction to
sex. He has developed what Griffiths (2004) refers to as the level of toler-
ance in sexual addiction:

Sex addicts gradually increase the amount of sexual activity because the cur-
rent level of activity is no longer sufficiently satisfying (i.e., they build up
tolerance). As tolerance develops, individuals may find themselves seeking
out more unusual sexual experiences, more frequent sexual experiences, and
more graphic pornography. (Griffiths 2004: 198)

Here, the character’s engagement in sexual affairs is devoid of any emo-

tional attachment. It is strictly for pleasure, of course, until he realizes that
he finally is addicted to his current girl (who is even already committed to
someone else).
Sexual addiction in the transitioning of an African from childhood to
adulthood reappears in Ed for village boys (Ikawah 2014), where the main
character details how naughty they (him, his age mates/classmates) were
to a female teacher from university, lusting for her, and how they used to
sex around with girls in their village when they were in secondary school.
In one instance, the narrator explains how upon escorting a friend,
Mangwana, he is offered sex with his friend’s girl as a token of apprecia-
tion for his scout role in his friend’s moments of ecstasy—which is his first
time indulging in sex, and the last with Mangwana’s girlfriend as after
that, Mangwana returns to an old friend he had opted to leave out this day
(Ikawah 2014). In this work of fiction, they call it combi—combination
112 B. GALAFA

sex. The narrator, in his description of the sex scene which he indulges in
with Mangwana’s girlfriend, alludes to the graphic content he had seen
while in primary school in that magazine—and what he would probably
repeatedly see in his consequent exposures to porn material. This allusion
is subtle, contained in the description he provides when he says, ‘I moved
her legs so she was splayed out like the woman on the magazine page, and
I stared’ (p. 5).
The obsession over sex—and therefore, the addiction to it—is recur-
rent even throughout adulthood, not just in the transitioning period. For
instance, in Sex on a Train Wagon, the narrator makes reference to the idea
of an orgy inside a wagon of an old train that does not function (Oduor
2014). Although the narrative centres on Tommy and Natasha—the two
main characters—the reference to the orgy signals that such an activity is
part of the society, that it is nothing new. This is a story about two young
lovers—aged twenty-seven and twenty-two, respectively—who are
addicted to sex, with the female character not satisfied because her lover
does not explore more during their sexual endeavours. What avails itself in
this story is an explicit reference to sexual addiction, and its negative
effects (right within the frames of sex and sexuality—not legal or moral
repercussions). We are driven straight into the theme of sexual addiction
first when the narrator lays bare the expectations and frustrations of
Natasha in the following excerpt:

She knew what he was going to do: yank off her panties, lift and pin her to
the wall, undo his belt and shake his waist till his jeans were scrambled on
the floor, then bulldoze into her. Rough and wild. She liked it sometimes.
She did not like it sometimes. Addiction is a bad thing. When one is addicted,
one uses the same formula to solve the same equation. She was a girl of
many formulas. She did not want it that way today. (p. 24)

This text is a reassertion of the observation by Griffiths (2004) that ‘sex

addicts gradually increase the amount of sexual activity because the cur-
rent level of activity is no longer sufficiently satisfying’. The female charac-
ter appears to be equally addicted as she always wants to experiment with
other ways of having intercourse. Her dissatisfaction levels also appear in
the fact that she is already in a relationship with someone else, but still
engages in sexual activities with this male character for nothing but more
sexual self-gratification. ‘Natasha knew Tommy was better than the midget
asymmetrical boy with the cricket-voice that was her boyfriend’ (Oduor
2014: 25).
 SEX ADDICTION IN CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN FICTION: AN ANALYSIS… 113

In addition, Tommy’s determination to proceed with their encoun-

ter—for just one last time—in the wagon even when he knows that the
wagons are not very safe pinpoints his resolve to indulge in sex at whatever
cost. A month before the scene which is the focus of the entire story, a
dead body was discovered in the wagons. Tommy knows this, but he hides
it from Natasha because she would object to this recent meeting at such a
place. Ironically, Natasha also knows that the wagons are not a safe place.
‘Natasha was impressed that the double-doors had not been cut off and
sold as scrap metal. They gave the wagon a safe freedom. She could lock
herself inside if she sensed danger’ (Oduor 2014). The pair’s cognizance
of insecurity to their lives in the setting and their continued sexual exploits
in the wagons attest to a diagnostic aspect of sexual addiction put forward
by Griffiths. According to him, ‘the sex addict experiences severe conse-
quences due to sexual behaviour and an inability to stop despite the
adverse consequences’ (Griffiths 2004). Although there is no threat of
imminent death on his subsequent list of the consequences, the situation
with Tommy and Natasha provides an excellent rear view into how dan-
gerous sexual addiction can become—and contributes generally to the dis-
course on the prevalence of sexual addiction in African societies.
In Lagos Doesn’t Care by Socrates Mbamalu (2016), Seun, a poor Lagos
resident battered by the country’s economic depression despite being a
law graduate for over five years now, regularly has sex with one of the girls
in his neighbourhood, Rashidat. Rashidat is a recent secondary school
graduate waiting on fate to decide her destiny. Although it starts with him
coaxing her, the girl soon becomes addicted, as told by the narrator: ‘As
for Rashidat, she had become more emboldened after the first encounter.
She was about eighteen. He never had to invite her to his room again. She
came on her own’ (Mbamalu 2016). Although this would eventually lead
him into trouble—Rashidat being ‘about’ eighteen and therefore still
working through her future under parental guidance—Seun is too addicted
that he ignores any possibility of plunging into adverse consequences. This
is another representation of addiction—this time, traversing different lev-
els of an African’s social and human development presented in the literary
works. Sexual addictive disorder (addiction) includes recurrent failure to
resist impulse to engage in a specified sexual behaviour—sex with a minor,
in the case of Seun (Goodman 1993). This is also in line with the diagnos-
tic criteria posited by Griffiths (2004) where the addicted individual
ignores the threat of any possible adverse consequences and proceeds to
engage in the specific sexual behaviour.
114 B. GALAFA

It should be pointed out that the sexual addiction at this level is more
than the perplexity of childhood sexual exploration. It, rather, results from
the need for satisfaction of lust, not out of mere curiosity since its occur-
rence is recorded amongst mostly mature characters. Whereas the conver-
sation between Tommy and Natasha in Sex on a Train Wagon creates the
impression that they might be university students or graduates—and any-
thing in between—there is no explicit reference to their level of education
as is the case in Lagos Doesn’t Care and Sex Ed for village, where the main
characters through which sexual addiction is portrayed are university stu-
dents and graduates—depicting the various levels at which sexual addic-
tion continues to exist.
Compulsive masturbation, a recognizable behaviour of sexual addiction
(Griffiths 2004), also comes in to play a central role in works detailing
adult sexual life, such as Bound by Anne Moraa (2014) and Binyavanga
Wainaina’s The idea is to be sealed in (2015). In the latter story, masturba-
tion is chronic and compulsive. The character masturbates several times
every day:

It was here that he first masturbated, and soon enough, several times daily.
The idea of being sexually vulnerable left him uncomfortable. That some-
body would see his availability from sweat on his nose. He liked to leave his
toilet into the world refreshed, neutered, and with enough enchant and
novels in his bag to carry him through the day. (Wainaina 2015: 17)

In Bound, Alex and Ochiri are the main characters, with the earlier
described as owning every woman because of his sexual feats. However,
Ochiri’s satisfaction only comes through masturbation such that she always
complements their sexual intercourse with a shower where she gets the
desired satisfaction. But Alex is depicted as a man who has satisfied all the
women he indulges in sex with, which brings into a reader’s mind the
question of what could have possibly gone wrong this time around. Alex
himself too is always contemplating the same. The fact that her satisfaction
comes through masturbation might point to, among many interpreta-
tions, the possibility that she is so much addicted to the act that it would
be hard to satisfy her by any other means. Discourses on dissatisfaction
during sex as chronic masturbation’s side effects are popular among youths
in many African societies, and this might be the authorial presentation of
such popular discourses. Ochiri’s self-gratification masturbation connects
her sexual life to the notion of addiction as explained by Griffiths (2004).
 SEX ADDICTION IN CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN FICTION: AN ANALYSIS… 115

She has attained the tolerance level. ‘As tolerance develops, individuals
may find themselves seeking out more unusual sexual experiences, more
frequent sexual experiences, and more graphic pornography’ (Griffiths
2004). This leads to psychological torture for the male character—but
Ochiri cannot do otherwise.

7.4   Gender Representation

In the literary works under review, the gender question comes into exis-
tence in the representation of the various perspectives towards sexual
addiction. There is a parity pertaining to how male and female characters
are depicted in relation to perceptions towards addiction. Some of the
stories reflect chauvinistic dominance that relegates female characters to
sex objects for various reasons. This is discoverable in works such as Nkatha
Obungu’s Bobbitt wars (2014), in which the female character finds herself
in a situation in which she has to indulge in sex with her boss—albeit
against her conscience—for survival at her workplace. In the story, the
male character’s sexual addiction feeds on objectifying the female charac-
ter—his secretary. Her helplessness draws sympathy from readers, espe-
cially in the following lines: ‘His hand is still on my leg. It makes a rapid
ascent up my thigh. I remain quiet. I think of warm food and a roof that
doesn’t leak’ (Obungu 2014: 18). The sympathy gained leads to interpre-
tations of sexual addiction inflicting more damage on the psyches of vul-
nerable women in workplaces. Just like in the other contexts pertaining to
adverse consequences of sexual addiction, as discussed by Griffiths (2004),
the boss cannot stop this sexual behaviour due to addiction—however
consequential it might be to his very professionalism.
The helplessness of the woman also enjoys a vivid depiction in It’s a
Night Job by Joanita Male (2013) in which the protagonist—a university
student—works as a hooker to earn a living. Although she is portrayed as
the pinnacle for sexuality, the implication of her story is the sexual addic-
tion of men who leave their families for sex with hookers in hide-outs. This
is not an unfamiliar discourse in an African society. There is a tone of
regret throughout It’s a Night Job (Male 2013) although she appears to
suppress this tone between the pomp in her sexual exploits and the art of
reading into her clients’ psyche. This resonates with the diagnostic aspects
of sexual addiction in women, as proposed by researchers such as Carnes
(2006) and Rinka (2013). Pushing the regret to her mother, herself a
retired sex worker (kicked out of the profession due to old age and loss of
116 B. GALAFA

taste), she is clear in her contemplations that she might have to quit the
job sometime. ‘There’s a shadow of regret behind every smile she wears,
maybe this is the effect of the night job’ (Male 2013). The reference here
is to the protagonist’s mother, who had once been in the same business as
the daughter.
The sexual behaviour of Tommy in Sex on a Train Wagon (Oduor
2014) is also characteristic of the objectification of women. Although his
relationship with the ladies might reflect consented sexual exploits on
both parties, the lack of compassion characterizing the existence of such
relationships is indicative of sexual addiction traits in men. The desire sur-
rounding the male character’s sexual life is centred on objectification. His
lack of emotional engagement with the women is indulging in intercourse,
which denotes the objectification that characterizes sexual addiction in
men (Rinka 2013).
In some instances, the portrayal of women as mere subjects of sex rel-
egates their essence in the discourse of sexual addiction to a level of insig-
nificance in the stories, except where they serve as prostitutes. This
chauvinistic influence on the stories comes out clear in Bound, where the
male character is described as ‘owning every woman’ (Moraa 2014). The
idea of ‘owning’ does not seem to include the woman as a sexual partner
who delves into the act out of her own will, as an affair of sex addicts, but
rather, as always forced into it—and by implication, rendering the man the
focus of the addiction story. It is within the same lens that although the
vivid description of the sex scene and the related circumstances in Sex on a
Train Wagon point to the contrary, it is only the male character who the
narrator explicitly acknowledges as being addicted to the lady despite
boasting of past sexual experiences without any romantic attachments. But
a careful read shows that if at all there was any explicit reference to sexual
addiction, it had to relate to the female character, appearing to be at the
centre of the lovers’ sexual endeavours.
While some stories tow the lines of traditional discourses in society with
masculine power being at centre stage, there are some stories in which
addiction comes out through the celebration of sex through the feminine
figure. The experience of such works aims at turning around the tables,
telling the woman’s side of the story, where she does not have to be
regarded as a mere object of sex without any control over sex and sexual-
ity. Some studies indicate that while they may want a showering of
­attention or praise, women who struggle with sexual addiction mostly
look to sex for power or control, with a postulation that female sex addicts
 SEX ADDICTION IN CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN FICTION: AN ANALYSIS… 117

are more likely than men to use sexual fantasies, either alone or with part-
ners (Rinka 2013; The Ranch 2016). The entry into Transaction by
Wanjeri Gakuru (2014) is a clear attestation to this notion. The story
starts with the main character, a young lady who has just turned nineteen
but has never had sex in her whole life, deciding how she wants to control
her sex life. ‘You’ve just turned nineteen and are sitting in a tiny hotel
room fiercely reciting to yourself that from this day forth the things that
get trapped between your teeth and your thighs will be nobody else’s busi-
ness but your own’ (Gakuru 2014). Later, although the protagonist has
never had intercourse, she is worried that the sexual partner she has might
be an amateur, and therefore, unable to satisfy her when she says:

Your earlier worries about his amateur skills are confirmed. Chickening out
already? You begin to assess the situation. You could stop…or you could get
on top; crush his body under your weight, trap him within your spindly web
of stretchmarks and take what you carefully saved up in order to pay for.
(Gakuru 2014: 33)

This contemplation creates an atmosphere of sexual addiction from

which she possibly learnt about sexual satisfaction (since before the act,
she is a virgin, yet she raises concern for satisfaction already—even sug-
gesting to herself means of ridding herself of such a worry in case it turns
out real). Of particular interest is the fact the protagonist pays a man to
have sex with her, which depicts the power of the woman too to explore
sexuality while assuming total control over the whole sex scene. The pro-
tagonist’s worries of satisfaction also fit into the narrative of sexually
addicted females tending to fantasize a lot about sex (The Ranch 2016).
Sexual addiction also comes into play in a very different way in Madam
by Tiffany Kagure Mugo (2015). Unlike most works where male figures
are at the centre stage of sex and sexuality, Madam offers a new dimension
to the narrative. The main character is a lady who frequents bars and other
similar places in her pursuit for self-sexual gratification, which she attains
through paying men for sex. Just like Natasha in Sex on a Train Wagon,
the protagonist in Madam is in a committed relationship, yet her craze for
diversity drives her into sexual addiction. Her social conduct is misinter-
preted by society as resulting from insecurity (a psychological state), bore-
dom, or latent childhood, yet she knows it is none of these (Mugo 2015).
The narrator puts it straight in the following excerpt, discarding the male
chauvinism that informs the norms and virtues in the Madam’s society:
118 B. GALAFA

Neither was it based on a need to prove something or mask some hidden

pain. It was a desire for the act itself. Some people liked chocolate. Others
liked wine. She liked sex. People seemed to find it incomprehensible that a
woman would simply want it so she did not waste her breathe explain-
ing. (p. 10)

This is a form of the protagonist’s rebellion against the objectification

of females in sex and sexuality. This representation counters the reality of
life in most African societies, including within the story, which is highly
characterized by masculinity and chauvinism. Madam’s tendency of keep-
ing her heels on in the course of her sexual endeavours also emanates from
both the desire to demonstrate an exertion of power as well as fantasizing
as posited by The Ranch (2016) in relation to sexual addiction in women.
The representation of both genders in the selected works of short fic-
tion balances the notion of sexual addiction as a phenomena that exists in
both men and women, although there have not been many studies explor-
ing the feminine aspect of sexual addiction (The Ranch 2016). The repre-
sentation tows the lines of arguments posited by scholars before (Carnes
1999, 2006; Fattore et al. 2014; The Ranch 2016). It is apparent that
men—as represented by the male characters in the fiction—tend towards
‘behaviours that objectify their partners and require little emotional
involvement’. Specific examples of these behaviours would be anonymous
sex, prostitution, pornography, exhibitionism, and fratteurism (Carnes
2006). Women, on the other hand, tend towards ‘behaviours that distort
power’—either in gaining control over others or being a victim—as evi-
denced throughout their roles in the selected stories—from submissive-
ness in some to a total control of their sexual lives in others. Carnes (2006)
equally includes sexual conquest, working as prostitutes, and sadomasoch-
ism as perfect diagnostic examples of women who are addicted to sex.

7.5   Age and Addiction to Sex

The concept of sexual addiction contains varying perspectives across dif-
ferent ages. In relation to teenagers, Sussman (2007) notes that the appro-
priateness of sexual behaviour among teens is subject to divergent views.
However, there are still noticeable differences between adolescent and
adult sexual addiction. The first significant difference is that ‘occasional
sexual behaviour often may not be considered abnormal in adults, whereas
it may or may not be considered abnormal in youth because of the p ­ otential
 SEX ADDICTION IN CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN FICTION: AN ANALYSIS… 119

of such behaviour to interfere with emotional development and adjust-

ment’ (Sussman 2005). In addition to that, Sussman (2007) argues that
high-risk situations may differ between adolescents and adults. He notes
that adolescents may be relatively likely to sexually act out while not being
responsible for the care-taking of others. ‘Thus, they may bring worry to
their parents or friends but not someone dependent on them (not includ-
ing teen parentage)’ (Sussman 2007).
While there is extensively available scholarly treatment of addiction
from adolescence upwards, literature on sexual addiction before adoles-
cence is rare. Most of the studies that appear to touch on the connection
between children and sexual addiction do so in an attempt to connect
childhood conditions that might have influenced compulsive sexual behav-
iour in adulthood. This has also led to divided opinion based on varying
results from studies. For example, Riemersma and Sytsma (2013) argue
that ‘classic sexual addiction emerges from a history of abuse, insecure
attachment patterns, and disordered impulse control, often presenting
with cross addictions and comorbid mood disorders’. Hatch (2014) also
supports this argument by confirming that there is indeed a link between
abusive conditions children go through and sexual addiction in their latter
stages of life. However, a study by McPherson, Clayton, Wood, Hiskey,
and Andrews (2013) found that ‘there is a lack of evidence regarding the
nature of the relationship between childhood trauma and sexual compul-
sivity in adulthood’.
In the contemporary short fiction under review, sexual addiction is
recurrent across a range of age groups. From the various anthologies, it
appears right from childhood and keeps manifesting itself until adulthood.
However, at some point, it stops. There is no further exploration of the
theme among very old people—this is noticed through the absence of aged
characters in the stories. Characteristic of most societies, sexual exploits
start at a very young age that we might be tempted to be oblivious to any
suggestions leading to it as signalling sexual addiction. In Kudinyana
(Musita 2014) and Sex Ed for village boys (Ikawah 2014), for example, the
depiction of sexual addiction is blurred by the fact that it is children who
display chronic sexuality features. However, a psychological perspective sug-
gests otherwise. A read on Gallacher’s (2017) description of normal sexual
behaviour reveals that what is depicted in the two works of short fiction is
not normal sexual behaviour in children. In an article on sexual behaviour
in children, she describes children’s sexual behaviour as concerning (thus
pointing to worries of sexual addiction) when one of the following traits
120 B. GALAFA

manifests in it: happens between children several years apart in age; behav-
iour continues despite parenting strategies (such as discipline); causes harm
or potential harm (physical or emotional); and simulates adult sexual acts
(Gallacher 2017). In Kudinyana, Banju, a twelve-year-old boy, has inter-
course with his baby sister, Pinky, who is only six. The children hold orgies
regularly, and are conscious of how their parents would react if they caught
them red-handed. The endeavours between Banju and Pinky, and the con-
versations about sex that engulf the discourse prior to one of the orgies as
well as the sexual habits are all a manifestation of sexual addiction, and as
explained elsewhere, allude to early exposure to graphic content—a diag-
nostic feature of sexual addiction.
The age ranges are different in story after story. In some stories, sexual
addiction exists amongst university students who are in their teens and
early twenties, while in other works, it is encountered through exploits of
the working class. The impression which works such as Sex Ed for village
boys (Ikawah 2014) create is that traits of sexual addiction remain preva-
lent in children’s sexual character as they grow into adulthood. This
explains why the theme and experience of sexual addiction remains consis-
tent and relevant throughout the story as its experience takes us through
different age levels of the characters—from primary school through sec-
ondary to university.
In Lagos Doesn’t Care (Mbamalu 2016), the main character dates both
a teen and his land lady who is in her forties, with whom he regularly has
intercourse. In Bobbit Wars (Obungu 2014) too, there are two workmates,
a boss and his secretary, in a sexual relationship. Throughout most of the
works in the anthologies, cases of sexual addiction are mostly manifested
through adults. However, all the characters, drawing from the setting,
plot and experience of the stories, belong to age ranges that are sexu-
ally active.

7.6   Morality and Addiction to Sex

From the short fiction under review, there are multiple perspectives towards
sexual addiction with regards to morality. In instances of sexual addiction
in children as depicted in Kudinyana (Musita 2014) and Sex Ed for village
boys (Ikawah 2014), it is in everyone’s conscience that sexual addiction is
morally wrong. This is why when Mr. Oyoo, the head teacher, finds a por-
nographic magazine stuffed between the branches of the tree from which
the school bell hangs in the latter, the atmosphere becomes tense. As the
 SEX ADDICTION IN CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN FICTION: AN ANALYSIS… 121

narrator in the story puts it, ‘the school was a Seventh-day Adventist
school, and some things were bigger than mere punishment, so he can-
celled all classes and called an impromptu assembly for all of us in primary
six through eight’. This gives insights as to where the strict moral respon-
sibility and its consequent repercussions in cases of deviancy stem from.
Kudinyana (Musita 2014) represents a similar situation where the chil-
dren indulging in sexual activities are aware of their moral reprehensibility.
This is why even Pinky, the youngest of them all, threatens her elder
brother that if he does not let her touch his ‘kanyamo’, she will reveal to
their parents that her brother did ‘bad manners’ with Schola. Upon issu-
ing such a threat, her wish is granted, immediately.
However, in most of the stories, where the sexual addiction concerns
adults, it is mostly in celebration of sex and sexuality, with a missing touch
on morality. The repercussions of the addiction might, however, be an
unconscious attempt to demonstrate how dire the consequences are to the
reprehensible characters in society. For example, in it’s a Night Job (Male
2013), the regret that the protagonist’s mother’s face wears speaks of the
immorality that is suppressed within the plot of the story. In the stories
that celebrate femininity and depict a shift of power over sexuality from
the man to the woman, the discourse simply does not give room to per-
spectives of morality—although there is often implicit reference to the
cognizance of its reprehensibility. This lack of moral dimension to such
stories portrays a divide in terms of sexual addiction and morality—sexual
addiction is a morally reprehensible sexual conduct among the youth,
while for adults, it appears normal.

7.7   Conclusion
To sum up, there are a number of issues that we learn through our digging
into contemporary African short fiction. In all the works in the five anthol-
ogies, there is erotic fiction, pointing to the changing patterns in discourse
towards sex and sexuality. These two are the origin of the notion of sexual
addiction, which has been noticed to be prevalent in most of the works,
thereby leading us to an informed opinion on the existence of sexual
addiction in African society and its multiple perspectives. Also, the analysis
depicts a conscious shift in the representation of women in sex and sexual-
ity as trapped in the theme of sexual addiction, which is the focus in most
of the stories. Contemporary short fiction in Africa shows that sexual
addiction is not considered much of a moral problem.
122 B. GALAFA

However, the recurring theme of sexual addiction in contemporary

short fiction has not been exploited fully in Africa. Both scholarly and
non-scholarly literature on the phenomenon in literary works are almost
non-existent. This might result from the fact that it is only recently that
the subtlety of sex is being embraced in the works—though discourses
around sex still remain a taboo at many levels. For future research, there-
fore, it would be vital if the rise of erotic fiction—often creating space for
the emergence of sexual addiction in fiction—was to be brought into gen-
eral literary discourses. This would open debates on whether the celebra-
tion of sex and sexuality contained therein must be upheld as such—mere
celebration, or whether it should be treated as representative of a crisis in
sex and sexuality hidden in the African society.

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