magical realism

Metaphors of Igbo Worldviews on Ghosts as Mystical Realities: Interpretations of Filmic Portrayals as Archetypal and Imaginative Visual Aesthetics in Two Nollywood Films

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Emeka Aniago1, Chukwuemeka V. Okpara2 & Uche-Chinemere Nwaozuzu3

1 Senior Lecturer in Department of Theatre & Film Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria. ORCID id 0000-0003-3194-1463. Email Id:  emekaaniago@gmail.com   

2 Senior Lecturer in Department of Fine & Applied Arts, University of Nigeria, Nsukkka, Nigeria

3Associate Professor in Department of Theatre & Film Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria  

 Volume 12, Number 1, January-March, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n1.43

Abstract
This study examines the aesthetics and shades of portrayals of ghosts as supernatural and metaphysical realities in two Nollywood films Heart of a Ghost and A Ghost Story as representations of Igbo worldviews on ghosts’ realities. Our aim is to present an analytical explanation of the filmic attributions in relation to historical as well as the subsisting socio-cultural worldviews of the Igbo people regarding ghosts. Therefore to extrapolate on the subsumed Igbo worldviews and philosophies about ghosts in the selected films, this study adopts theoretical purviews on magical realism and Charles Peirce’s inclination on interpretive community theory as the preferred conceptual praxis. Furthermore, this study applies critical interpretive analysis as the adopted analytical approach. Thus, the relevance of these portrayals to the subsisting socio-cultural worldviews about ghosts among the Igbo forms part of our thematic purview. Essentially this study sufficiently provides plausible answers to questions bothering on whether ghosts exist in the manner portrayed in the two films, as well as plausible analysis of the significations of ghosts’ appearances in clothing and whether ghosts do change their clothing like humans from time to time.

Keywords: actual, archetypal, ghost, Igbo, imaginative visual aesthetics, magical realism, worldview

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Problematising ‘Indigeneity’ through Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar’s The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey

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Amitayu Chakraborty

Assistant Professor, Department of English, Durgapur Women’s College, West Bengal, India. ORCID: 0000-0003-3999-448X. amitayuc@yahoo.com;

Volume 11, Number 3, October-December, 2019 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v11n3.19

Abstract

The article problematises dominant discourses on ‘indigeneity’ (within the context of India) through an analysis of the novel The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey (2014) written by Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar (1983—). Those discourses are predicated on colonial and neocolonial ethnic stereotypes: at times ‘the indigenous’ denotes a reluctant subject of the nation-state, a primitive mindlessly opposing the ‘modernising’ corporate projects; at times, it constitutes a pristine innocence, an antithesis of the ‘corrupting’ urban life. Santhals, among various other indigenous communities in India, have been a victim of such reductivism. The article argues that Hansda’s novel offers a nuanced depiction of a Santhal community in India which is fraught with internal conflicts as well as external threats undercutting the grand narrative in which the adivasi is a cultural imaginary, either an embodiment of atavism and wildness to be curbed or vulnerable artefacts to be preserved. The tale of Rupi appears to be a critical departure from the monolithic images of adivasis as it blends the magical with the real.

Keywords: indigeneity, Santhal, adivasi, tribe, magical realism, subaltern, Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar.

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