Cultural Nationalism: The ‘Nollywoodization’ of Nigerian Cinema (original) (raw)
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Nollywood, Popular Culture and Nigerian National Identity
2017
Film culture in Nigeria has become very popular among Nigerian and transnational audiences especially in Africa to the extent that there is hardly a day people do not look for new films produced by Nollywood. In the same light, there is hardly a street in the country where one cannot find at least a video shop that distributes these films. Young and old people especially those in the rural areas are often found hanging around these shops to catch a glimpse of any of the films advertised by retail outlets. This has therefore proven the popularity of Nollywood productions among the people, who see in these films issues of culture that engage their attention and also try to give them awareness about socio-cultural practices that are common in the society. A major problem of concern is that although these films expose and treat cultural issues that affect the society, their promotion of a true national identity is questionable. In this regard, this paper is an attempt to examine how the...
The Representation of Nigerian Indigenous Culture in Nollywood
The general objective of this study is to appraise the representation of the Nigerian (African) culture in the global market by the Nigerian Nollywood. Specifically, the study tries to find out how The Nigerian Nollywood projects Nigerian rich local cultural values to the outside world; and appraise how the influx of foreign cultural values into the Nigerian local film production affects the nation's cultural heritage. Nigeria or Nollywood is chosen for this study because of her position in the continent and her leading role in the film industry in Africa. This study becomes also necessary because, despite the fact that Nollywood ranks and competes with Hollywood and Bollywood, in terms of quantity, locally outsell foreign ones, and are also appreciated all over the world; Nigeria continues to suffer negative image in the comity of nations and critics kept crying foul over the erosion of indigenous cultures. To this end, this study employs case reference analysis method and analyzed some films purposively selected for the performance of this task. The study observes among others that Nollywood dwells too much on the negative aspect of the nation's cultural practices to the detriment of the nation's image. It was also discovered that the act of borrowing themes, plots etc, from foreign films has done much harm than good to the preservation of the Original Research Article
The cover photo of Nollywood: The Creation of Nigerian Film Genres, taken by the author of the book, Jonathan Haynes, shows a small video shop stacked with hundreds and hundreds of unique Video Compact Discs (VCDs) with their typical full-colour jackets. Almost no single inch is left unused to pile up the incredible amount of stories and images. It would take several life times to watch them, let alone to order them according to genre, author, period or region. Indeed, in this entropy of plots, dramas and sounds, the shop does not provide a single direction or category to make the buyer's choice easier. The only 'order' we might assume is that those VCDs stacked on the highest shelves must be older than those heaped up on the floor, the latter blocking passage to the former and obstructing the possibility for an archaeology of Nollywood.
Nollywood: The Influence of the Nigerian Movie Industry on African Culture
The Journal of Human Communications: A Journal of …, 2007
Since its emergence at the turn of the twenty-first century, the Nigerian movie industry "Nollywood" has had a profound influence on African culture. The Nigerian accents, style of dress, and behavioral idiosyncrasies, all of which are distinctly Nigeria, are now being transmitted as images around the globe. The medium of film has come to be directly associated with the culture industry. In Nigeria such a role for the film industry is still evolving. However, certain factors are altering the profile of what could be regarded as the country's culture, while the film industry itself is undergoing a crucial transition. The corpus of songs and oral literature, festivals, rituals, the traditional religion, performing arts, music, dance, and indeed, the entire range of artifacts constituting traditional oral performance of Nigerian culture are represented in Nigerian movies.
Yorùbá Theatre Practice and Nollywood
Media and Intercultural communication: A Multidisciplinary Journal , 2024
The development of theatre in Yorùbáland evolving from travelling actors to the contemporaneous practice of the culture in the film medium is an intriguing phase of maturity of the Yorùbá people’s theatrical tradition. Nollywood has made the whole world a stage for Yorùbá theatre. By extending the performance space beyond the physical confines of the auditorium, Nollywood represents both the current state and future direction of Yorùbá theatre. The demand for relevance and the focus on contemporary audience interests all play a significant part in the shift of Yorùbá theatre from stage to film medium. Nollywood has helped Yorùbá theatre practice by preserving Yorùbá stories, enhancing widespread acceptance and attracting global attention. Yorùbá theatre serves as an exposition of Yorùbá tradition and culture; thus, understanding the worldviews of its creators is essential for appreciating its current practice and the factors influencing its representation in Nollywood. This paper aims to highlight the importance of understanding the theatre developed in Yorùbáland and how its culture is depicted in the film adaptation of Akínwùmí Ìṣọlá's Ṣaworoidẹ (Brass Bells)
The Nigerian Entertainment Industry (Nollywood) Culture and Society Being
The fight for independence was carried out with a lot of zeal, which the populace embraced with high hopes that these ideologies and promises of our great nationalists would come to fruition within the shortest time possible. Yet, times, opportunities and years have come and gone, still we have nothing or little to show, especially, in the 21 st century scenario, where Africa dreams and hopes have been shattered. These ideologies seem unrealistic and the promises are not forth coming. It has little to show except bad governance, crisis, violence, poverty, oppression, marginalization and the moral decay of our rich cultural values and societal structures. One is left with the vexing questions: Where have our great nationalists gone wrong? If indeed their ideologies and promises were realistic, why have the people not grasped their vision and mission, especially the case of the Nigerian entertainment Industry (Nollywood)? Why is it that their creativity promoting very little of these ideologies? Why do they still portray the mentality that they are still puppets in the hands of the colonial master since most of their creativity promotes little of our rich positive cultures and values? Are they not aware that they have tools in their hands that can go a long way to promote those ideologies and fulfill these promises and fan the flame of nation building and promotes its cultural heritage and values until we are there? Why must this great and powerful tool be used as agent of destruction of the Nigerian society and its rich cultural values? Can't they think of lasting legacies that posterity can tell? The paper looks at the brief historical and geographical background of Nigerian society , its ethnic groups and its cultures, then went on to discuss Nollywood and her role in consolidating the development of the Nigerian society and its Cultures. It then went on to look at factors that militated against the effectiveness of Nollywood in promoting national development and cultures. The paper then profers ways forward and round up with a conclusion.
Nollywood at the Borders of History: Yoruba Travelling Theatre and Video Film Development in Nigeria
Abiodun Olayiwola holds a doctoral degree in Film Studies from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He teaches drama and theatre in the Department of English, Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo, Oyo State, Nigeria. He has published articles in refereed international and local journals on Nigerian video film, fiction and globalization, educational drama and theatre, film and literature and performance studies. His directing credits include the video films: Eleven Forty Five (2005), Agbalagba Akan (2007), Ikekun (2009), Ojiji Iwa (2010) and, Emi Mi, Emi Re (2010) which was nominated for Best African Indigenous Director at ZAFAA 2010 AWARDS held in London. Dr Olayiwola is highly interested in researches on film theory and praxis. Abstract The origin of video film genre in Nigeria is shrouded in conflicting views and contentions. Indigenous film historians and critics are yet to agree on who could be credited as the initiator of the video revolution in Nigeria. While some available documents trace this genre to Kenneth Nnebue's Living in Bondage produced in 1992, arguments at other quarters present the Yoruba filmmakers as the pioneers of the bourgeoning video film industry in Nigeria, and thus accuse others of subverting history in favor of their region. This paper, therefore, investigates the contributions of the Yoruba travelling theatre practitioners to the emergence of what is now known as the Nigerian video film industry, and concludes that while Living in Bondage may have popularized the genre, the Yoruba popular theatre practitioners initiated video film production in Nigeria.
Between Nollywood And Cultural Values: A Search For Authentic Global Medium In Democratic Nigeria
2018
Abstract<br> In any democratic system, the media are known to bear the voice of the masses by being at the centre of sustaining the hope of the people, who desire the promotion of their accepted cultural values vis a vis other socio-political and economic developments. In this light, there is high dependence on the media to visibly play this role of cultural promotion. Thus the Nigerian film industry, referred to as the Nollywood, sprang up to champion the course of cultural promotion and by so doing, also support the sustenance of democratic culture in the country. In the era of globalization, when world economies and cultures are being challenged in terms of peculiar developments, Nollywood is counted among the top three film industries that are accessible globally. However, while other film industries of the world are churning out narratives that positively promote their cultural and political ideologies, the Nigerian film industry seems not to be passionate about giving ou...
Film festival as part of the cultural tourism industry is key to the development of every country that knows how to harness its potentials. It is very important that keen attention is paid to this tourism product, and its potentials exploited by the city it is domiciled in. This is why governments all over the world have keyed into and developed their tourism strategy around them. The standard of the film festivals goes a long way to determine the calibre and population of people that will attend it. This is why more efforts must be employed, especially in Nigeria, to develop the film festivals that we have to international brands that can lure more visitors into the country through the deployment of more funds and concerted marketing drive. More effort should be expended by government, especially at state levels, to support the various ethnic film industries that we have to establish their own film festivals to help boost the event tourism subsection, while providing the necessary infrastructures to aid tourism development. With these and more, film festivals will be the new brand of cultural tourism products that will position the tourism industry of Nigeria in good stead.