Nollywood Stars: Media and Migration in West Africa and the Diaspora

380 Pages·2015·3.983 MB·English

by  Noah A. Tsika

NOLLYWOOD STARS
New Directions in National Cinemas
Jacqueline Reich, editor
Nollywood
Stars
MEDIA AND MIGRATION IN WEST AFRICA
AND THE DIASPORA
Noah A. Tsika
Indiana University Press
Bloomington & Indianapolis
This book is a publication of Manufactured in the
United States of America
Indiana University Press
Office of Scholarly Publishing Library of Congress
Herman B Wells Library 350 Cataloging-in- Publication Data
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA Tsika, Noah, 1983-
Nollywood stars : media and migration
iupress.indiana.edu in West Africa and the diaspora / Noah A.
Tsika.
© 2015 by Noah A. Tsika pages cm — (New directions in national
All rights reserved cinemas)
Includes bibliographical references and
No part of this book may be reproduced or index.
utilized in any form or by any means, elec- ISBN 978-0-253-01571-6 (cl : alk. paper) —
tronic or mechanical, including photocopy- ISBN 978-0-253-01575-4 (pb : alk. paper)
ing and recording, or by any information — ISBN 978-0-253-01580-8 (eb) 1. Motion
storage and retrieval system, without per- pictures—Nigeria—History and criticism.
mission in writing from the publisher. The 2. Motion picture actors and actresses—
Association of American University Presses’ Nigeria. I. Title.
Resolution on Permissions constitutes the PN1993.5.N55T85 2015
only exception to this prohibition. 791.4309669—dc23
∞ The paper used in this publication meets 2014049507
the minimum requirements of the American
National Standard for Information Sci-
ences—Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48–1992. 1 2 3 4 5 20 19 18 17 16 15
For the women of Nollywood.
And for the late Christy Essien-Igbokwe.
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A fantasy reel spooled through my mind, my meter-long face
emoting on a cinema screen. Hollywood meant nothing. Why be a
plankton in the ocean when I could be a big fish in an emerging pond?
Nollywood now seemed a more dignified enterprise,
something I could take seriously.
—Noo Saro-Wiwa,
Looking for Transwonderland: Travels in Nigeria.
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CONTENTS
· Preface and Acknowledgments xi
· A Note on Orthography and Taxonomy xxv
· I ntroduction: Global Stars in Nigeria’s
Postindependence Firmament—From
Ossie Davis to Doctor Bello 1
1 F rom Yorùbá to YouTube: Studying
Nollywood’s Star System 29
2 G littering Video: Format, Fashion, and the
Materiality of Nollywood Stardom 68
3 A Mobile Glow: Nollywood Stardom
and Corporate Globalism 116
4 W hen Stars Collide: Lady Gaga and the
Pirating of a Globalized Persona 164
5 N ollywood’s Progeny: Stardom and the
Politics of Youth Empowerment 212