Universität zu Köln

Ibrahim, Muhsin ORCID: 0000-0002-6104-2445 (2021). Kannywood and the Cultural and Linguistic Contestations on Hausa Films. PhD thesis, Universität zu Köln.

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Abstract

Kannywood, an emerging Hausa film industry in northern Nigeria, struggles with several issues, some bordering on religion, culture and language. This study explores how Kannywood filmmakers conform to some exacting religio-cultural demands and language ideologies that favour particular interpretations of the Islamicate state and a section of the audience. Unlike similar works, which are still few, the research engages the filmmakers, the hegemonic religious and cultural stakeholders, and, significantly, the audience for reactions and answers. Thus, it deploys Audience Reception Theory, the Encoding/Decoding Model, and the Language and Economic Model as theoretical tools and uses empirical field research methods. Using primarily three films as examples with reference to other related films and events, we discovered that internally, Kannywood filmmakers are grappling with some cultural and religious views and projecting and promoting certain linguistic identities. Researchers in the film industry often overlook language; Hausa is one of the largest African languages, with speakers of the different dialects across various countries numbering millions. However, we found that Kannywood prefers a single variety, the Kano one. This preference leads to the peripheralisation of the Sokoto sub-regional dialect and commodification of the non-ethnic Hausa ‘broken’ variety of the language. We also discovered that Muslims, the dominant religious group in Kano, are not monolithic, courtesy of several, often conflicting, doctrinal differences and multiple interpretations of Islamic religious texts. Thus, it is challenging to satisfy all its faithful-cum-audiences. Lastly, we found that Hausa culture is also plural, hybrid and heterogeneous due, primarily, to social mobility and the rising impact and effect of globalisation. Therefore, there is no end to the incongruities in Kannywood films, nor to the contestations about them.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD thesis)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Ibrahim, Muhsin mibrahi3@uni-koeln.de orcid.org/0000-0002-6104-2445 UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-539107
Date:	15 November 2021
Publisher:	KUPS
Place of Publication:	Cologne
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Fächergruppe 4: Außereuropäische Sprachen, Kulturen und Gesellschaften > Institut für Afrikanistik und Ägyptologie
Subjects:	Other and comparative religions Social sciences Language, Linguistics Other languages
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language Kannywood, Nollywood, Hausa language, Hausa culture, Nigeria, Africa, Islam English
Date of oral exam:	15 October 2021
Referee:	Name Academic Title Storch, Anne Professor Adamu, Abdulla Uba Professor Musa, Umma Aliyu Doctor
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/53910