A SOCIOLINGUISTIC EXPLORATION OF LANGUAGE USE AND IDENTITY IN NOLLYWOOD: A STUDY OF FUNMILAYO RANSOME KUTI

Abstract

This study explores language use and identity in Nollwood’s Funmilayo Ransome Kuti. The study hinges on the theories of Language Vitality and Domain of Language Behaviour. The research obtained data for the study through qualitative (content analysis of the film) method. Findings reveal that the exclusive deployment of English, and/or its code-switched admixture with Yoruba, within the domestic sphere—as evidenced in interactions between the protagonist and her husband, as well as with their children—and its further deployment within the palace setting, is suggestive of an underlying trajectory of language shift and incipient language endangerment. However, the researcher also noticed that the use of Yoruba proverbs, Yoruba in majority of the scenes depicts that the producer identified with his native tongue. This study recommends that other scholars may analyse language choices in Nollywood films about Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti by focusing on some sociolinguistic variables such as age, gender, and education, and how they reflect social stratification.