SpringerLink
Log in

The Linguistic Style of Nigerian Mediated Comedies in English

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Humour Theory and Stylistic Enquiry

  • 63 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter examines the linguistic code selection in Nigerian online comedy skits. In particular, it focuses on the stylistic significance of nonstandard varieties of English in foregrounding the comedy voice in the mediated texts. Extant studies had described the use of ungrammatical and unidiomatic English in Nigerian comedies as a setback. However, taking insights from the sociolinguistic frameworks like stylization and audience design, this chapter argues that nonstandard varieties of English are selected as the comic voice so as to foreground the marginal identities of the comics. Thus, the use of Broken English in Nigerian comedies is a discursive strategy which is used for contextualizing the comedic image and for articulating shared identity with the audience.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
EUR 29.95
Price includes VAT (Germany)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
EUR 117.69
Price includes VAT (Germany)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
EUR 160.49
Price includes VAT (Germany)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free ship** worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. 1.

    The reference to English here as a foreign language is in the sense of its sociolinguistic significance in the country. English in Nigeria in the colonial era was classified as a Foreign language in the country, while in the postcolonial era, it has become a second language. The difference lies in how the language is perceived in terms of its features and the basis of its grammatical correctness (see Banjo 1996; Adegbite 2010).

  2. 2.

    Kiekie’s comicasts are based on manipulated English translation of Yoruba proverbs and idioms. The humour comes from untranslatability of the idioms and proverbs to English. To aid understanding of readers who are not familiar with Yoruba, a description of the idioms or proverbs are given in square brackets. The examples used from the three comedians are derived from different series of their skits which they upload on their YouTube channel.

References

  • Adegbite, Adewale B. 2010. English Language: Usage, Use and Misuses(s) in a Non-host Second Language Context. Ile-Ife: OAU Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Adesoye, Eunice Ronke. 2018. Phonological Distortion as a Humorous Strategy in Folarin Falana’s Comedy Skits. European Journal of Humour Research 6 (4): 60–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adetunji, Akin. 2013. The Interactional Context of Humour in Nigerian Stand-up Comedy. Pragmatics 23 (1): 1–22.

    Google Scholar 

  • Attardo, Salvatore. 2020. The Linguistics of Humour: An Introduction. Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Awonusi, Segun. 2007. Linguistic Hegemony and the Plight of Minority Languages in Nigeria. Paper delivered at the International Conference on Minority Languages, 5th–6th July, Pecs, Hungary.

    Google Scholar 

  • Babajide, Adeyemi O. 2001. Language Attitude Patterns of Nigerians. In Language Attitude and Language Conflict in West Africa, ed. Herbert Igboanusi, 1–13. Ibadan: Enicrownfit.

    Google Scholar 

  • Banjo, Ayo. 1995. On Codifying Nigerian English: Research so Far. In New Englishes: A West African Perspective, ed. Ayo Bamgbose, Ayo Banjo, and Andrew Thomas, 203–231. Ibadan: Monsuro.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1996. An Overview of the English Language in Nigeria. Ibadan: Ibadan University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bauman, Richard. 2008. The Philology of the Vernacular. Journal of Folklore Research 45 (1): 29–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2012. Performance. In A Companion to Folklore, ed. Regina F. Bendix and Galit Hasan-Rokem, 94–118. West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Bell, Allan. 2014. The Guidebook to Sociolinguistics. Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chukwumah, Ignatius. 2018. Nigeria’s 2015 Presidential Elections and the Rise of ‘Comicast.’. In Joke Performance in Africa: Mode, Media and Meaning, ed. Ignatius Chukwumah, 38–60. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook, Guy. 2000. Language Play, Language Learning. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coupland, Nikolas. 2001. Stylization in Radio Talk. Language in Society 30 (3): 345–375.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crystal, David. 1998. Language Play. Chicago: University of Chicago Press

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaudio, Rudolf. 2011. The Blackness of Broken English. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 21 (2): 230–246.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gumperz, John J. 1982. Discourse Strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Jowitt, David. 2019. Nigerian English. Boston/Berlin: de Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mintz, Lawrence E. 1985. Stand-up Comedy as Social and Cultural Mediation. American Quarterly 37 (1): 71–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Obeng, Samuel Gyasi, and Efurosibina E. Adegbija. 1999. Sub-Saharan Africa. In Handbook of Language and Ethnic Identity, ed. Joshua A. Fishman, 353–368. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Odebunmi, Akin. 2010. Code Selection at First Meetings: A Pragmatic Analysis of Doctor-Client Conversations in Nigeria. Interaction and Linguistic Structures 48: 1–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogunsiji, Ayotunde. 2001. Utilitarian Dimensions of Language in Nigeria. In Language Attitude and Language Conflict in West Africa, ed. Herbert Igboanusi, 152–164. Ibadan: Enicrownfit.

    Google Scholar 

  • Quirk, Randolph, and Sidney Greenbaum. 1973. A University Grammar of English. London: Longman.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rampton, Ben. 2009. Interaction Ritual and not Just Artful Performance in Crossing and Stylization. Language in Society 38 (2): 149–176.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teilanyo, D. 2003. The Use of Bombast in Nigeria: The Examples of Icheoku and Masquerade. Africa Today 50 (1): 77–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2009. Literary Usage of English as a Second Language in Nigeria: A Study of Icheoku and Masquerade. Africa Today 55 (4): 72–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vandergriff, Ilona. 2010. Humour and Play in CMC. In Handbook of Research on Discourse Behaviour and Digital Communication: Language Structures and Social Interaction, ed. Rotimi Taiwo, 235–251. Hershey: IGI Global.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Watkins, A. 2010. Language Variety in Literature. In Encyclopaedia of Identity: Volume I, ed. Ronald L. Jackson, 425–429. California: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yeku, James. 2016. Akpos don Come Again: Nigerian Cyberpop Hero as Trickster. Journal of African Cultural Studies 28 (3): 245–261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Video Sources

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of English Language and Linguistics, Chemnitz University of Technology, Chemnitz, Germany

    Ibukun Filani

Authors
  1. Ibukun Filani
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ibukun Filani .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of English Studies, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria

    Taiwo Oloruntoba-Oju

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Filani, I. (2023). The Linguistic Style of Nigerian Mediated Comedies in English. In: Oloruntoba-Oju, T. (eds) Humour Theory and Stylistic Enquiry. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40387-3_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40387-3_8

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-40386-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-40387-3

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation