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Hypervisibility:
The black African albino
Charlotte Baker University of Nottingham, UK There is no disability more visible that that of albinism in black Africa. The lack of pigmentation that marks the albino apart problematises integration, constantly threatens his or her very existence — for albino skin offers no protection against the African sun, leaving them vulnerable to skin cancers — and also hides the other disabling aspects of albinism in its very visibility. It is not surprising then that the small amount of critical attention to the albino body that exists has focused simply on its whiteness, indicative of a general inability to see beyond it to the person beneath. As a result, there has been a distinct failure to address the other differences or supposed deficiencies that mark the albino apart. Guinean writer Williams Sassine, and French writers Patrick Grainville and Didier Destremau portray the reality of living with albinism and the suffering from overt discrimination that results from a fundamental and recurrent misunderstanding of the condition. Their fictional works demonstrate that the manifestation of albinism in the whiteness of albino skin make albinism a condition that is loaded with symbolism and meaning in terms of racial difference. The situation is further aggravated as the lack of pigment that marks the albino apart in Black Africa is also portrayed as symbolic of his or her links to the spirit world, or functions purely as a marker of difference and deviance. Underlying all such representations of albinism is a failure to see albinism for what it is; a medical condition. The most disabling aspect of albinism is the low vision caused by abnormal development of the retina due to a lack of pigment. However, apart from the real disability caused by albinism, the albino body is often attributed other inadequacies that are imagined or assumed, such as deafness and muteness. Furthermore, albino skin is frequently perceived as a sign of physical weakness that is often interpreted as indicative of mental inadequacy. In this paper I will explore the ways in which albinism and those with the condition are consistently misrepresented, questioning the need to constantly reinforce the difference of the albino and exploring the ways in which responses of people with albinism to their enforced difference are represented in the fiction of Sassine, Grainville and Destremau. Corpus: Destremau, Didier, Nègre Blanc
(Paris: Hatier International, 2002) Grainville, Patrick, Le Tyran
Eternel (Paris: Editions de Seuil, 1998) Sassine, Williams, Wirriyamu
(Paris: Présence Africaine, 1976) Sassine, Williams, Mémoire d’une
peau (Paris: Présence Africaine, 1998)
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