Tunde Kelani’s Women: A Look at Patriarchy in Selected Nollywood Films through a Womanist’s Len

Abstract

Although filmmakers in the Nigerian film industry, Nollywood, have consistently depict the family setting as a reference point for x-raying the struggles and trials of individuals or a group of people within the larger society, researchers in the field have rarely concerned themselves with highlighting this connection. While conflicts in marital relationships continues to receive attention as a significant thematic preoccupation in Nollywood, analyses of these films are usually focused at identifying issues vis-à-vis the negative representations and objectification of women. This is often to the exclusion of how the films serve as commentaries and reflections on social relations in the large society. Against the foregoing background, this study examines the role of patriarchy in the ordeal of two protagonists in the oeuvre of Nigerian filmmaker, Tunde Kelani, namely, Ngozi in Thunderbolt (2001), and Awero in The Narrow Path (2007). It adopts the conceptual frameworks of auteur theory and Womanism in the analyses of the film texts. Analyses reveal that the films are commentaries on gender relationships in African societies where women are victims of cultural inequities dictated by patriarchy. In addition, in line with womanist ideology, they emphasize the significance of cooperation between both sexes for the peaceful coexistence and development of any community.

Keywords

• patriarchy
• womanism
• nollywood