AFRICA SEMINAR: Spirituality and African Ecofeminism

Oulia Makkonen has been invited to take a deep dive into Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese’s film “This is not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection” (2019) addressing themes of spirituality and ecofeminism in the African context.

‘This is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection’, written and directed by Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese (2019, Lesotho), explores the relations between land and communities in the face of environmental destruction and forced displacement. The question of land is key to Lesotho’s history, and in this film, the cataclysmic experiences brought by global capitalism and its extractivist logic are interwoven with the personal suffering and sacrifice of the main character – Mantoa – an 80-year-old Mosotho widow. In this seminar, I propose explore the film through Mantoa’s resistance and spiritual journey as it brings to the fore the irrevocable link between ancestors, the dead and the living that land holds for Lesotho society. I suggest that the environmental destruction and the fight of Mantoa to protect the land echoes an African ecofeminist outlook on exploitative practices in the name of progress, and forces us to rethink the spiritual, physical and epistemological relations between land and its peoples.

Oulia Makkonen holds a PhD in World Christianity from Uppsala University (2022). She has a background in Cultural History, with a focus on film (State University of Saint Petersburg, 2009) and in Practical Theology (University of Helsinki, 2014). Her research and interests revolve around film studies and theology in African contexts. Dr. Makkonen presently works as research coordinator at the Forum for Africa Studies, Uppsala University.