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Article published In: Pragmatics
Vol. 33:2 (2023) ► pp.209–236

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Nigerian stand-up comediennes performing femininity

A pragmatic analysis

ORCiD logo with link | Augustine University, Ilara-EpeLagos | Chemnitz University of TechnologyChemnitz
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.
Published online: 31 October 2022
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https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.20014.fil
Abstract
Nigerian stand-up comedy has attracted several investigations from different disciplinary perspectives; however, there has been little research interest into the performance of femininity in the genre. Coming from pragmatics, this paper analyses how Nigerian comediennes use the language of humour to (de)construct sociocultural perspectives on the female identity. Data comprise purposively selected routines of three female comics while Kecskes, Istvan. 2014. Intercultural Pragmatics. Oxford: OUPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar approach to intention serves as the theoretical framework. Comediennes employ different pragmatic strategies that reference their intention to reinforce or challenge the traditional image of femininity. Analysis reveals comediennes perform the popular perspectives on femininity, which are enshrined in the wider sociocultural context of the country.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background to the study
  • 3.Gender and humour
  • 4.Methodology
  • 5.Theoretical background
  • 6.Analysis and findings
    • 6.1Performing the heteronormative status of women: Females as appendages of men
    • 6.2Playing with taboos: Illustrating social inhibitions
    • 6.3Humour subverting the domestic image of women
    • 6.4Humour subjectifying the female body
  • 7.Discussion and conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (53)
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Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Filani, Ibukun
2025. The discursive construction of femininity in metacommentaries on a rape-joke in Nigeria. Pragmatics and Society DOI logo
Taiwo, Rotimi
2024. Otherness and cultural conceptualisations of Gender and Social Class in Nigerian English. World Englishes 43:3 ► pp. 456 ff. DOI logo

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