‘She who creates havoc is here’

The film Karmen Geï sets the familiar Carmen story in contemporary Senegal and depicts Karmen as having same- and different-gender attractions and relationships. The queer bisexual reading employed in this chapter highlights the possibility, and the fatal hazards, of free female sexual expression outside socially mandated limits and reveals lacunae in queer readings that ignore bisexuality. The representation of Karmen’s bisexual behaviour implicitly criticises narrow conceptions of sexuality, including homophobia, monosexism, and possessive monogamy. Examining the film through the lens of critical bisexual theorisation reveals that this is a queer African Carmen with brio, sexual assurance, and political purpose.