Papers by Rantimi Julius-Adeoye
HUMANUS DISCOURSE Vol. 4. NO 5 , 2024
The history of the formation of Nigeria is replete with conflicts, insurrections and insurgency. ... more The history of the formation of Nigeria is replete with conflicts, insurrections and insurgency. Before the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates of Nigeria into a nation state, it witnessed various indigenous ethnic groups' oppositions and conflicts with the imperial British colonial power. Post independence Nigeria has been characterized with incessant intra and interethnic strife and religious unrest. Since the return of democratic governance in the country in 1999-after 16 years of unbroken military dictatorship-agitations, militancy and insurgency have been a recurrent decimal in the nation's sociocultural and political space. To respond to these issues, Nigerian dramatists have preoccupied themselves with the dramatization of the menace to the nation's existence. This paper looks at the representation of ethno-religious clashes and the issue of insurgency in Ahmed Yerima's Little Drops, Heart of Stone and Pari. It analyses the texts on the backdrop of socio-political realism.
HUMANUS DISCOURSE Vol. 4. NO 5. , 2024
In Africa, power is believed to be concentrated in the hands of men who control the instrument of... more In Africa, power is believed to be concentrated in the hands of men who control the instrument of state, and to achieve gender equality and women's emancipation as required by the sustainable developmental goals of the United Nations in 2030, women have to work together and refrain from using power to oppress one another. In our analysis of Buchi Emecheta's Second Class Citizen, we focus on oppressive language and actions that women used to discriminate and oppress fellow women by applying "Womenpressionism" as a theoretical framework at the same time balancing our analysis with psychodynamic theory. We argue that the violence and abuse that Adah endured in the hands of her mother is as a result of internalized oppression on the part of the latter. The irony in Second Class Citizen is that Adah's mother who should know better is the same person who favours the boy child and relegates the female child to the background. It is also discovered that rather than working collectively to be a pillar of support for one another, certain women in the novel work against the aspirations of their own kind for daring to strive for emancipation from patriarchy.
This paper explores the complex characters and characterisation techniques employed in the genre ... more This paper explores the complex characters and characterisation techniques employed in the genre of docufiction. As a hybrid form that merges documentary and fictional elements, docufiction presents unique narrative opportunities and challenges, particularly in character development. This paper examines the construction of characters in "The 37th State," an academic docufiction feature screenplay written as part of ongoing Practice-Based research in screenwriting. Content analysis was used in analyzing the content of "The 37 th State". Secondary data were collected through books, journals, archival documents, and online sources. The postmodern character theory was deployed to examine characters typically found in docufiction, including historical figures, composite characters, and entirely fictional personas, and how these characters are weaved to reflect the socio-political realities of Nigeria within the 2023 election year. The study found that historical figures are depicted with a focus on accuracy and respect for their real-life counterparts. At the same time, composite characters blend traits from multiple real individuals to represent broader social dynamics. Fully fictional characters are crafted to enhance narrative engagement and provide relatable entry points for the audience. Finally, the paper demonstrates how docufiction characters serve as conduits for narrative progression and thematic exploration, effectively bridging the gap between reality and fiction. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of the complexities of character construction in docufiction and its impact on storytelling and audience engagement.
Journal of African films and Diaspora Studies (JAFDIS) (Research on African Films, Diaspora Studies, Performance Arts and Communication Studies), 2024
Filmmaking in Nigeria has gone through different stages from the days of the Colonial Film Unit t... more Filmmaking in Nigeria has gone through different stages from the days of the Colonial Film Unit through the present, which different nomenclatures have been used to classify it. For example, some scholars used the terms period, movement, and wave in their classification. In this article, we argue that feature-length filmmaking in Nigeria has passed through different stages since the first screening was done in Lagos in 1903, but feature films made by Nigerians and registered in the country are currently in the third wave. The first wave was an attempt to create a culture of national cinema by experimenting with indigenous stories that vibrated with the people's religious and social reality in the 1970s, while the second wave was a video film culture that was born as a child of necessity in reaction to the economic downturn in the nation by the late 1980s as filmmakers had to improvise with cheaper modes of sustaining their art through home video production. The third wave, on the other hand, ushered in a return to the cinematic culture, an improvement in the quality of film production, an organised film industry, box office monitoring, and the involvement of female filmmakers. This article utilises the descriptive method to chronicle the development of feature filmmaking in Nigeria by Nigerians while at the same time detailing the contributions made by women in the process. It argues that over the years, there have been three different waves in the historical process that have been brought about by the economic situations within the country over the period. The advent of information and communication technology, digital satellite television, and payper-view online video streaming platforms has further increased the viewership and economic viability of the Nigerian film industry, making it one of the main contributors to the nation's gross domestic products.
The Drama of Ahmed Yerima. Studies in Nigerian Theatre gives a detailed development of Nigerian t... more The Drama of Ahmed Yerima. Studies in Nigerian Theatre gives a detailed development of Nigerian theatre from its ritualistic nature in the 16th Century up to the literary form of the 21st century. It looks at the trajectory movement of the theatre through television to cinema and video film/Nollywood. It explores the aesthetics, thematic preoccupation, recurrent ideologies, language, style and the relevance of the plays of Ahmed Parker Yerima to African socio-cultural milieu from socio-political contextualization point of view. It also reveals how Ahmed Yerima has allowed ideology and style to merge with dramatic technique, and at the same time speaking against various Nigerian governments’ anti-people policies. For emphasis, the work interrogates Yerima’s plays written in the tail end of military regime in Nigeria as well as in the nascent democratic rule (1997-2011). Ahmed Yerima firmly establishes his prese nce on the Nigerian stage during these periods with a succession of theat...
Review Article As the hunger for Nigerian video film grew among the diaspora audience, especially... more Review Article As the hunger for Nigerian video film grew among the diaspora audience, especially in Europe and the United States of America, so, the desire of Nigerians in these areas to make film. Especially the films that reflect their living experiences in the new found land, and when necessary, merge it with narratives that project Nigeria‟s different social culture. In recent years, there has been an upsurge in the numbers of video film produced by Nigerians living in the United Kingdom. These films employ Nigerian narrative, feature some Nigerian based actors and in most cases are screened in cinemas in London and major cities of Nigeria. This paper looks how Nigerian films produce in the United Kingdom follow filmic tradition associated with the home country. It will also look at the distribution methods adopted by the producers of the films both in the UK and in Nigeria, while at the same time exploring the place of social media and Internet television sites in this area. T...
This paper looks at the issues of homosexuality, molestation and murder in the film October 1 pro... more This paper looks at the issues of homosexuality, molestation and murder in the film October 1 produced and directed by Kunle Afolayan in 2014. It will argue that, though, homosexuality does not have an overbearing presence as a theme in the film, it is significant to the whole narrative. Also, it will attempt to provide answers to the following questions and more. 1. How are homosexuality, molestation and murder constructed in the film? 2. Who are the practitioners of homosexuality, molestation and murder in the film? 3. What is the significance of homosexuality, molestation and murder narrative in the film? 4. What is the relationship between homosexuality, molestation and murder in the film? In this paper we adopt queer narrative and socio-political realism as theoretical frameworks in the analysis of October 1. We argue that though, homosexuality is regarded by Nigerian government as a criminal act and those involved risk a jail term of at least 14 years, the practice is no longe...
The Drama of Ahmed Yerima
EJOTMAS: Ekpoma Journal of Theatre and Media Arts, 2020
Decree No. 38 of 1992 enacted under the administration of General Ibrahim B. Babangida put a stop... more Decree No. 38 of 1992 enacted under the administration of General Ibrahim B. Babangida put a stop to fifty seven years of government’s exclusive ownership and operation of broadcasting in Nigeria. However, with the cost of setting-up, management and obtaining license for media station being prohibitively expensive, the system can only be accessed by the rich and powerful in the society, thereby depriving rural communities’ involvement in the development of the country. As part of the panoply of strategies to ensure rural communities’ participation in democratic governance, there is need for the establishment of rural community radio stations, which is very much different from educational institutions’ type currently being paraded as community radios but rather a training room for communication and theatre arts students. Using historical-analytic method, this article looks at the role community radio could play in making good governance in Nigeria accessible to every segment of socie...
Asian Research Journal of Arts & Social Sciences, 2019
This study looks at the representation of polygamous marriage in selected dramatic texts from Nig... more This study looks at the representation of polygamous marriage in selected dramatic texts from Nigeria and juxtaposes it against global discussion on the acceptance of the "otherness" in society. It concludes that monogamy and polygamy (polygyny and polyandry) are systems of marriage practised in different cultures, most especially in sub-Saharan Africa. In the continent, marriage enjoys cultural, religious and constitutional backing. However, the focus of this paper is on polygamy in dramatic texts in relation to the social reality of the environment from which the texts emerged. The paper further narrows its interest down to three levels of contractual marriage in sub-Saharan Africa. It reveals that the traditional and religious marriage systems in sub- Saharan Africa embrace polygamy while state institutions or legal marriage system frowns at it. It is against this backdrop that this work adopts postmodernism as a theoretical framework to examine the place of polygamy in...
_ Nigerian Theatre Arts Curriculum and Events Management
Nigerian Theatre Journal, 2010
... Adedina, F., Anigala, E., Adeniyi, B., & Ezekiel, B. Lagos: Adeni... more ... Adedina, F., Anigala, E., Adeniyi, B., & Ezekiel, B. Lagos: Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education, 2007. Bamidele, L.―Nigerian Drama and Theatre and the Developing Film Industry: A Cultural Critique‖ Operative Principles of the Film Industry: Towards a Film Policy for ...
Asian Research Journal of Arts & Social Sciences, 2019
This study looks at the representation of polygamous marriage in selected dramatic texts from Nig... more This study looks at the representation of polygamous marriage in selected dramatic texts from Nigeria and juxtaposes it against global discussion on the acceptance of the "otherness" in society. It concludes that monogamy and polygamy (polygyny and polyandry) are systems of marriage practised in different cultures, most especially in sub-Saharan Africa. In the continent, marriage enjoys cultural, religious and constitutional backing. However, the focus of this paper is on polygamy in dramatic texts in relation to the social reality of the environment from which the texts emerged. The paper further narrows its interest down to three levels of contractual marriage in sub-Saharan Africa. It reveals that the traditional and religious marriage systems in sub-Saharan Africa embrace polygamy while state institutions or legal marriage system frowns at it. It is against this backdrop that this work adopts postmodernism as a theoretical framework to examine the place of polygamy in four African dramatic texts. The paper argues that postmodernist worldview has reinvigorated the practice of polygamy beyond the boundaries of Africa, Asia and of the adherents of the Islamic religion.
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Papers by Rantimi Julius-Adeoye