The Visual Rhetoric of Yoruba Video Films

Abstract

Although Nigerian video films have been studied mostly from the perspective of their formal, technical qualities (Ogunleye, 2003; Haynes, 2000; Okome and Haynes, 1997), the present investigation endeavours to shift the focus from this perspective to that of the cultural mediations that occur in the process of their production and reception. As pointed out by Faye Ginsburg (2002:212), this cultural approach opens a new discursive space for indigenous media that respects and understands them on their own terms. It also leads to the appreciation of their producers as people who are creatively engaged in the process of constructing identities in ways that address the relationship between their histories and cultures and the encompassing societies in which they live. This article therefore studies in three parts the visual rhetoric with which the images in the Yoruba video films interpellate their viewers. The first part reviews the genre of Yoruba video films, as defined by scholars. This leads to the second part of the paper where an alternative approach to its understanding is proposed. The final part of the paper examines a sample of Yoruba video films in the light of the new approach.

Humanities Review Journal Vol. 7 2007: pp. 58-72