Scholarly Publication
Permanent URI for this collection
Browse
Recent Submissions
- ItemPornification of Women in Media: Analysing Selected Instagram Videos of Sugar Beast(Theatre and Film Studies Department, Faculty of Humanities, Rivers State University, Nkpolu-Oroworokwu, Port Harcourt, 2025-04) Adenuga Tayo JoanThe pervasive visual culture of social media platforms, particularly Instagram, presents a significant yet underexplored landscape for the study of female representation. While previous scholarship has examined various aspects of online sexualisation and objectification, the specific mechanisms, and manifestations of pornification, which is, the increasing integration and normalisation of pornographic aesthetics and practices within mainstream culture, remain under-analysed, especially concerning individual influencer content. The study addresses this knowledge gap by examining the phenomenon of pornification as it manifests in selected Instagram videos posted by the online personality Sugar Beast. Drawing upon the theoretical framework of Pornification as conceptualised by Paasonen et al. (2007), which posits the blurring of boundaries between mainstream and pornographic representations, this research employs content analysis as its primary methodological approach. Selected Instagram videos featuring Sugar Beast are systematically analysed for visual cues, performative elements, and textual accompaniments that align with the characteristics of pornographic aesthetics, including hypersexualisation, emphasis on explicit or suggestive body display, performative sexual availability, and the potential for commodification of the self as sexualised content. Findings suggest the presence of discernible elements of pornification within the selected Instagram videos of Sugar Beast. The analysis reveals, female body objectification through scanty clothing, commodification of sexuality, and narratives positioning women as obstacles to male productivity, thereby contributing to the normalisation of pornification within the social media sphere. This study is a contribution to understanding the evolving landscape of online female representation and the insidious ways in which pornographic norms are increasingly integrated into digital content.
- ItemGirlhood and Popular Music in Nigeria: An Exploration of Yemi Alade's Afrocentric Narratives and Self-Construction(Theatre and Film Studies Department, Faculty of Humanities, Rivers State University, Nkpolu-Oroworokwu, Port Harcourt, 2025-04) Adenuga Tayo JoanThis study explores the interplay of girlhood culture, Afrocentric narratives, and selfconstruction as expressed in Yemi Alade's music. While earlier scholarship has frequently addressed girlhood and female identity across various fields, there remains a notable gap in examining how Afrocentric perspectives and self-construction are consciously woven into the works of female artists within Nigerian popular music. Accordingly, the study analyses Yemi Alade's artistry through the frameworks of girlhood studies, Afrocentrism, and selfconstruction theories, to identify and interpret these elements within her musical output. The study draws on the girlhood frameworks proposed by Pomerantz (2020) and Coulter (2019), Asante's (2001) concept of Afrocentricity, and Cherry's (2024) notion of self-construction. Employing content analysis of selected music of Yemi Alade, the study finds that her works vividly portray the vibrancy, challenges, and aspirations inherent in girlhood. Her music interweaves narratives of love, friendship, emotional depth, self-expression, and cultural pride, consistently highlighting the evolving identity of the African girl and underscoring self construction through African perspectives. The study recommends further expansion of girlhood studies in scholarship, particularly through an Afrocentric lens, positioning this work as a valuable contribution to feminist studies.
- ItemDynamism of style in African Theatre: Femi Osofisan’s Plays Revisited(Department of Theatre and Media Arts, University of Oye, Oye Ekiti, Nigeria, 2025-04) Michael Olanrewaju AgboolaThe style of an artist is considered to be his peculiar recurrent approach to creativity, a kind of “signature” that makes his work unique. Femi Osofisan’s theatre has enjoyed robust patronage from theatre practitioners and audiences alike. Consequently, this study investigated the secret behind the popularity of Osofisan’s plays, which we refer to as his artistic style. With the use of descriptive methodology and Francis Hodge’s recommendation for identifying an artist’s style as our framework, the study examined four plays written by Osofisan over three decades viz: The Chattering and the Song (1977); Morountodun (1987); The Engagement (1995); and Many Colours Make the Thunder King (2003). The study discovered that Osofisan has succeeded in evolving a theatre aesthetics that meshes the African traditional dramatic mode with the inherited western dramatic convention that has produced a new type of contemporary Nigerian drama. In his drama, the blend of the Brechtian epic performance style and the traditional folkloric performance mode, consisting of story-telling device, episodic dramaturgy, riddles, music, song and dance feature prominently. Others include humour, inducement of audience participation in performance, contrivance of demystification, subversion strategies, adoption of an optimistic stance, and alignment with victims in play-making. The fusion of all of these make Osofisan’s plays rich in content, giving it a total theatre aesthetic. Though the study suggested that Osofisan should be careful with the subversion of myths, nonetheless, we encouraged him to sustain his style and other dramatists could also emulate same.
- ItemComparative Perceptions of Female Characters in Ahmed Yerima's Akaubata and Pegunrun(Feminist Perspectives in the Dramaturgy of Ahmed Yerima, Department of Performing and Film Arts University of Ilorin, 2025) Adebisi, Basiru Adeyemi
- ItemErosions of Morality and Nigerian Development in Iyorwuese Hagher’s Aishatu(Alarinjo: Journal of Theatre and Media Arts, Department of Theatre and Media Arts, deral University of Oye-Ekiti, 2025) Lateef Rasheed & Basiru A. AdebisiAny society without committed effort of its habitants in upholding decent codes of social practices, may experience backwardness and reign in pandemonium of moral erosions. Immorality is anti-development as it breeds socio-insecurity that remain difficult to solve especially when the idea bad overrides that of good in a society. Therefore, this paper examines the erosions of morality and Nigerian development in Iyorwuese Hagher’s play-text, Aishatu. Through descriptive and content analysis methods of research, this paper discovered that immorality exists and operate from the top to bottom ladder of the society. As evident in Aishatu, the characters like Alhaji Wadi, Inuwa and Captain Dem, breed ‘good boys’ as moral deviants, and sexually objectify young ladies like Aishatu and Rekiya in exchange of resources meant for the development of educational system that could better the lives of members of the society. It is concluded that corruption, oppression, bribery, embezzlement, financial indiscipline, drug abuse as reflected in play-text, constitute clogs in the wheel of Nigerian progress and development. The paper, therefore recommends holistic approach in character building and reformation through self-discipline as exhibited by the characters of Tola, as well as Rekiya at later stage of her life in the play-text.