The iconoclastic theatre: transgression in Christopher Marlowe’s Tamburlaine

This article examines Christopher Marlowe’s iconoclasm as a dramatist by probing transgressive features in his Tamburlaine the Great, parts I and II. By depicting instances of excessive violence, from the perspective of this study, Marlowe flouts everything his society cherishes. His Tamburlaine demystifies religious doctrines and cultural relations; it challenges the official view of the universe and customary theatrical conventions of Renaissance drama. It destabilizes the norms and values of the Elizabethans and brings about a crisis between the Elizabethan audience and their own culture. Furthermore, Marlowe’s experimentalism in Tamburlaine expands the imaginative representations to include areas never formerly visited, consequently creating an alternative reality for his audience and transforming the popular English theatre in an unprecedented manner. Keywords: Drama, Christopher Marlowe, Elizabethan theatre, Literature, Iconoclasm

A syncretic analysis of the duality of dance as art and science

This paper examines the duality of dance as both art and science. It argues on the premise that only the manifestations of dance as an art form has been explored whilst its scientific manifestations have been arguably ignored. It avers that duality is seen in the processes involved in dance choreography. In doing this, it maintains that dance as an art often manifests in the intuition and creativity involved during the creation of dances while dance as science manifests itself during the execution of movements. It argues that the traditional practitioners of dance in Nigeria and Africa are generally aware of the scientific nature of dance, which they adhere to unconsciously while creating dances without knowing it has a scientific posturing. The article insists that intelligence displayed in dance choreographies attests to the above claims. The study uses syncretism and Humphrey-Weidman theory of dance composition as theoretical moorings to contend that the Agbaka dance of the Igala people of Kogi State in North Central Nigeria expresses and displays the scientific nature of dance. Consequently, the dance form is examined from the physiological, psychological and biomechanical perspectives, informing the conclusion that dance practitioners in Nigeria should engage in a conscious exploration and admittance of dance as both art and science. Keywords: Syncretism, Art, Science, Duality of dance, Biomechanics, Agbaka dance

Community radio: an instrument for good governance in Nigeria

Decree No. 38 of 1992 enacted under the administration of General Ibrahim B. Babangida put a stop to fifty seven years of government’s exclusive ownership and operation of broadcasting in Nigeria. However, with the cost of setting-up, management and obtaining license for media station being prohibitively expensive, the system can only be accessed by the rich and powerful in the society, thereby depriving rural communities’ involvement in the development of the country. As part of the panoply of strategies to ensure rural communities’ participation in democratic governance, there is need for the establishment of rural community radio stations, which is very much different from educational institutions’ type currently being paraded as community radios but rather a training room for communication and theatre arts students. Using historical-analytic method, this article looks at the role community radio could play in making good governance in Nigeria accessible to every segment of society, especially the rural populace. Therefore, it is recommended that Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) policy should consider the inclusion of community radio as the third in the sector of radio broadcasting in Nigeria after public and commercial ownership. Furthermore, since community radio is essentially non-for-profit, government should make the operation licence free or at a minimal cost to the host community. Keywords: Community radio, NBC, Good governance, People’s participation, Nigeria

An examination of the placement of adverbials in the academic writing of fresh undergraduate students in the University of Cape Coast, Ghana

Rules have been formulated on how adverbials are used. Such rules as stated by Quirk and Greenbaum (1973), Hornby (1975) and Swan (1995) are silent on how a few adverbials that have no restrictions regarding their position and order in sentences should be used. This paper, relying on language variation in the second language setting as a theoretical framework, explored how undergraduate students used these kinds of mobile adverbials. The quantitative research design and a simple random sampling were applied to select a total of 100 essays and exercises from fresh undergraduates of the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. Analysing these essays and exercises, we concluded that although the adverbial is an optional clausal element, the undergraduate students used it in providing further information on the other clausal elements. In addition, the undergraduate students often placed the adverbials in the mid position of their sentences. Keywords: Adverbials, GE, Undergraduate students, Clausal elements, Effective communication

Inventing animate floats: transformation and interpretation in Nigeria’s Abuja Carnival

This study focuses on the technical process through which available materials and space are transformed into motif-based animate floats and desired landscapes for carnival performances. Carnival performances are often guided by underlying conceptual scripts which basically depend on the technical processes of theatre design as a major requirement in connecting the carnival performance with its audience and which has not received adequate attention from existing theatre scholarship. The study adopts Roland Barthes’ semiotic theory, Intertextuality as the framework for analysing the interplay of carnival performances, material objects, technical process of theatre design and the carnival audience. The research design combined case study and survey. Data were collected using in-depth interviews, key informant interviews and participant observation. Ahmed Yerima, whose works in carnival productions informed this study, was selected as a case study. The study concludes that the technical process of theatre design is central to carnival performances because it catalyses the underlying imaginative dramatic scripts into visual pictures and animate carnival floats, thereby eliciting meaning from the conceptual dramatic scripts to the carnival audience. Adequate attention should therefore be paid to theatre design as the process of transforming imaginative scripts into visible pictorial carnival floats. Keywords: Materials, Animate objects, Theatre design, Carnival performance, Transformation

The use of specific linguistic features within the context of a casual conversation in a speech community

There seems to be nothing remarkable about the interaction between two interlocutors who have never been in contact with each other. These persons are able to understand themselves in contact situations because most times, a common language of communication is known that can sustain the exchange for the time necessary. However, when such exchange is between individuals with some level of contact or familiarity, the concept of speech community comes into play. The concept is useful but may be problematic at times and one cannot avoid applying this idea when trying to make sense of the process that takes place in the conversation, specifically a causal conversation. The aim of this sociolinguistic study is to explain how individuals are able to build social history, construct interactional talk, maintain relations with each other and reinforce solidarity from a two hour audio recorded conversation (ARC) between an ethnic Indian and a Nigerian in Marylebone, London using interactional socio-linguistic and conversation analytic. By doing so, the concept of a speech community as well as how a group can be identified as being members of a community is understood. A particular focus is paid to such linguistic features as the register of conversation, turn taking, discourse variation, phonological variation and grammatical variation characteristic of London, Nigerian and Indian English observed in the speech of the participants and how these features function to build and maintain relations. Keywords: Speech community, Casual conversation, Linguistic features, Sociolinguistics, ARC

Editorial: EJOTMAS: Raising the research and publication bar at Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Nigeria

No Abstract

Geospatial data and artificial intelligence technologies as innovative communication tools for quality education and lifelong learning

The uniqueness of open and distance learning (ODL) lies in its wide reach to a large audience simultaneously in different locations. No better system than geospatial data and artificial intelligence technologies (GDAITs) can achieve this. Globally, the current trend is to use GDAITs to improve the quality of life and productivity. Education is important for any country’s economy as it enhances the overall life expectancy. Application of GDAITs in educational sector, through broadcast digitization, publishing technologies will record greater achievements in the standard of learning and the literacy of populations. At certain ages in life, people develop apathy towards learning, thus, they are cut off from additional education that could provide them with lifelong learning. With GDAITs, they can be reached with quality education anywhere. Students have constraints of time, space, and finance, for acquisition of study materials. GDAITs are able to create and deploy seamless applications which can collapse these constraints and improve the learning curves of learners. This study investigates the exposure of youths to GDAITs and the influence on their learning patterns. Gerbner’s cultivation theory serves as the theoretical framework. A survey of 200 undergraduate Nigerian students was conducted, using random sampling technique. Findings show that Nigerian youths are highly exposed to GDAITs. THw paper concludes that GDAITs contribute positively and negatively to development in diverse human activities. However, it is highly effective in fostering communication education and research in Nigeria. It recommended that information and communication technology should be taught at all levels of education, so that Nigerians can develop critical minds to distinguish what GDAITs can and cannot do. Media houses should continue to establish platforms to check fake news emanating from social media. Also, attention needs to be focused on media content to ensure that there are enough programmes that would enhance communication education in Nigeria, without fake news parasitism. Keywords: GDAITs, Communication education, Learning processes, Social media, Digitization

Choreographic metaphors of political terrorism and counter-terrorism in Arodan Dance Theatre

In Nigeria, the deliberate intimidation and exploitation of the common man by the ruling class, for political aims, has reached endemic proportions. These strategic intimidations come in diverse forms, and clearly qualify as acts of terrorism. In the Yoruba worldview, ‘Arodan’ is a cautionary concept which is employed by the elders to curb the excesses of troublesome children. However, it has evolved to be a two-edged sword which could either be used for both corrective andcurative aims, or manipulated for punitive and evil purposes. Arodan, a dance workshop performance by the students of the Department of Theatre and Media Arts, FUOYE, is built on the Yoruba conceptual frame of ‘Arodan’. The dance theatre is a metaphor which explores the ‘Arodan’ concept to identify Nigerian politicians as the ‘elders’, and the common man as the ‘troublesome child.’ Deploying the social identity theory (SIT), this article, examines the use of choreographic metaphors to enact the forms, features, and effects of political terrorism within the Nigerian space in the Arodan performance. It finds that thedesperate yearnings which stem from selfish political interests are cloaked under terrorist acts in Nigeria. In conclusion, the paper affirms that the resolutions simulated in Arodan – national reorientation, political awareness, vigilance, and collective will should be deployed as proactive measures to counter political terrorism in the country at developmental crossroads. Keywords: Political terrorism, SIT, Arodan dance theatre, Choreographic images, Nigeria

Costumes as depiction of cultural identity in Pedro Agbonifo-Obaseki’s Idia

In Nigeria, costumes present interesting vistas for exploring cultural identity. They have social implications and at times are politically implicated. This may be attributed to Nigeria’s multi-cultural atmosphere that makes costumes a reflection of the cultural identity of the people. Nigerian performances in festivals and play productions provide a platform to study and appreciate this phenomenon. Using the participant observation and literary methods, this article interrogates how costumes can depict the cultural identity of a people. It appropriates the dynamics of costumes as depiction of indigenous identity, using a play production of Pedro Agbonifo-Obaseki’s Idia as directed by Israel Wekpe under the aegis of the Edo State Chapter of National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (NANTAP) at the University of Benin in 2013. The study reveals that costume promotes the cultural worldview of the people it represents. The conclusion reached is that costumes in Nigeria must depart from such outside influences that undermine their ability to communicate indigenous identity. Keywords: Costume, Cultural identity, Idia, Play production, Nonverbal communication