| abstract |
The Lions and Tigers in my Backyard is an account of experiences and interactions that reflect the complexity of theories and ethics weaved into moral philosophy. It is an exposition of Judith Butler's text, Giving an Account of Oneself and explores cultural, political, family, gender, racial history and identity, across borders between Uganda and the United States. This account sheds light on some poignant ethical questions related to health, care, privilege, misconceptions and perspectives that emerge from within specific contexts. It is not a story or narrative but rather a deliberation of an account that exhibits opacity with self, various others, cultures and communities. The Lions and Tigers in my Backyard is meant to be presented as a form of parrhesia, a Greek term referenced by Socrates and later Foucault, which aims to inspire a reconfiguring of self that enables better care for self and others. Concepts of recognition, misrecognition, vulnerability, relationality and dependency unveil the complications within various dialectics that bind and at times sever the bonds among humanity.
The experiences presented within each chapter demonstrate the significant shifts in a multifaceted identity emerging from a reflection that engages responsibility as it relates and detaches simultaneously from constructed social and moral norms, across two continents. This account considers what it takes to be well, to feel at home while navigating life in-between two presumably different spaces. It considers the powerful need for diversifying language within the field of Health Humanities to give voice by engaging music, art and storytelling as powerful mediums that enable a relational and particularistic view of morality in an effort to inspire more connections among diverse groups of individuals across the world.
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