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The Reimagined Paradise: African Immigrants in the United States, Nollywood Film, and the Digital Remediation of 'Home'

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The Reimagined Paradise: African Immigrants in the United States, Nollywood Film, and the Digital Remediation of 'Home' THE REIMAGINED PARADISE: AFRICAN IMMIGRANTS IN THE UNITED STATES, NOLLYWOOD FILM, AND THE DIGITAL REMEDIATION OF 'HOME' Tori O. Arthur A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY August 2016 Committee: Radhika Gajjala, Advisor Patricia Sharp Graduate Faculty Representative Vibha Bhalla Lara Lengel © 2016 Tori O. Arthur All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Radhika Gajjala, Advisor This dissertation analyzes how African immigrants from nations south of the Sahara become affective citizens of a universal Africa through the consumption of Nigerian cinema, known as Nollywood, in digital spaces. Employing a phenomenological approach to examine lived experience, this study explores: 1) how American media aids African pre-migrants in constructing the United States as a paradise rooted in the American Dream; 2) immigrants’ responses when the ‘imagined paradise’ does not match their American realities; 3) the ways Nigerian films articulate a distinctly African cultural experience that enables immigrants from various nations to identify with the stories reflected on screen; and, 4) how viewing Nollywood films in social media platforms creates a digital sub-diaspora that enables a reconnection with African culture when life in the United States causes intellectual and emotional dissonance. Using voices of members from the African immigrant communities currently living in the United States and analysis of their online media consumption, this study ultimately argues that the Nigerian film industry, a transnational cinema with consumers across the African diaspora, continuously creates a fantastical affective world that offers immigrants tools to connect with their African cultural values. Nollywood films culturally appose traditional values with both the delights and dilemmas of globalization to reveal a recognizable and relatable fictional realm for many Africans dealing with the vestiges of colonial rule. With hyper-dramatic plots that glorify and critique life on the continent, Nollywood becomes a means to an end for African immigrants residing in the often unfamiliar culture of the United States. Surfing YouTube for Nollywood films or logging into subscription based platforms like IrokoTV and Amazon Prime, which carries Nollywood titles thanks to partnerships with IrokoTV, can foil the incongruity between iv the paradise America is supposed to be, the realities of American life, and the immigrant’s desire to preserve an African cultural identity while striving for the American dream. Nollywood viewing online helps solidify the industry as a transnational movement where immigrants in the United States use technology to watch films, connect with their cultural values, and become a part of a global digital community, or sub-diaspora, consisting of other immigrants around the world and individuals on the African continent. v For Curtis and Winston vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Without the assistance and support of many people, this dissertation would not have been successfully completed. First and foremost, my sincere and heartfelt gratitude goes to my advisor, Dr. Radhika Gajjala who saw something in an exhausted recovering journalist contemplating doctoral study and said, “Tori, you are the type of person who would be great in this program. Get your application in...like yesterday!” Throughout nearly five years, Radhika, you have been a mentor, a collaborator, a lunch buddy, a cheerleader, an aspirational example of a woman of color in academia, a defender and rock when relationships got real and threw me off balance, and a caring friend. I will always be amazed by how you guided me through this dissertation while on Fulbright in Norway without ever missing an email, Skype chat, or an opportunity to remind me that I am a scholar. I appreciate and respect you more than you know. In addition, I am grateful to the support I received from committee members Dr. Vibha Bhalla, Dr. Lara Lengel, and Dr. Patricia Sharp. You were all a dream to work with; your encouragement was constantly with me as I wrote and rewrote and rewrote some more. Your ideas about how to improve and expand my work are invaluable. Because of your generous feedback, I have a research agenda that will carry me for years to come. Thanks to the Bowling Green State University Graduate College, School of Cultural and Critical Studies (CCS), and the American Culture Studies (ACS) program for providing me with multiple opportunities (including funding and a fellowship) to complete research and grow as a scholar. Several faculty members within CCS and ACS have been amazing sources of support and encouragement including Dr. Susana Peña, Dr. Rebecca Kinney, and Dr. Andrew Schocket. My respect for each of you is limitless. Thank you. I attribute much of my success as a doctoral student to the love and care of Dr. Ellen Berry. Ellen, you believed in me when I didn’t believe I was worth believing in. You listened to my wacky theoretical ideas, set me on the right path, vii and have been a true friend of my feeble mind. Each step I have walked with you has made me a better woman; you are and will forever be my sister. I must also thank Rebekah Patterson for going above and beyond in helping me complete the final steps of this doctoral process. Ms. Beka, you are truly appreciated! A special thank you to all the participants who graciously agreed to be interviewed for this study. Also, I am fortunate to have had the help of several friends through the years who have also been great teachers. Thank you Adi Emmanuel Adi for your hospitality. Thank you to Dr. Keisha Hicks for graciously allowing me to read her dissertation and learn from her writing process. I will forever remain grateful to my adopted brother Dr. Bekeh Utietiang for giving me a ‘tough love’ reading of the final drafts of this dissertation and offering me sage feedback that greatly strengthened the version that I took to defense. I am better because of you. My cohort colleague, writing partner, and dear friend Stephanie Salerno kept me sane, never let me give up, believed in me, read every single word of every single draft of this dissertation, and fearlessly kicked my scholarly shins when they needed kicking. Steph, love, I would not have completed this dissertation and program without you. Thank you...forever! Throughout this process, my family’s generosity and encouragement kept me grounded. A huge thank you to my mom, Delma, for your support, and my dad, James, for assuring me that I can “handle anything.” Thanks to my beautiful niece, Maya Arthur. Your incredible intelligence inspired me to begin doctoral study. I am tremendously grateful to my brother and sister-in-law, Myron and Ada Monica Arthur, for supporting me, feeding me, and housing me numerous times. Thank you for always being a soft place to land. Lastly, my cousins Curtis M. Arthur and C. Winston Arthur were with me at the start of my doctoral studies, but became my angels along the way. I felt your presence surrounding me and loving me as I completed this journey. You will always be in my heart. I love you both. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………… .......... 1 Conceptualizing Media, Migration, and Diaspora…………………………………. 8 American Media and the Construction of Paradise…….. ......................................... 12 Immigrants’ Responses to the Imagined Paradise………………………………… . 17 African Cultural Experiences in Nigerian Film…………………………………….. 19 Viewing Nollywood Film in Social Media Platforms ……………………………… 23 Methodology: Finding Voices, Analyzing Narratives……………………………... 26 Interviews and Focus Groups..…………………………………………………….. 28 Interpreting Silences……………………………………………………………….. 31 Virtual Ethnography and Online Discussions……………………………………. 35 Chapter Overview…………………………………………………………………... 38 CHAPTER II. ‘COMING TO AMERICA’: AFRICAN PRE-MIGRANTS’ DREAMS….. 41 Leaving Home………………………………………………………………………. 45 Afropolitanism Considered and Reconsidered……………………………………… 51 Those Who Are Not Afropolitans…………………………………………............... 58 Media Flows………………………………………………………………………… 61 Coming to America, The Cosby Show……………………………………………… 71 Imagined Paradise…………………………………………………………………… 75 Mediated Desire………………………………………………………….................. 78 Decoding Perceptions, Decoding Desire……………………………………………. 81 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………... 88 ix CHAPTER III. DREAMS DEFERRED: AFRICAN MIGRATION, ACCULTURATION, AND THE PARADOX OF PROGRESS………………………… ...........................................…. 92 Crossing the Atlantic: Migration from Africa to America ......................................... 97 The Paradox of Progress: Negotiating the Ups and Downs of Acculturation……….. 108 The Discomfiting United States……………………………………………. ........… 111 Misconceptions…………………………………………………... ........................... 117 Not Black Like Me...................................................................................................... 121 Reconciling the Struggles?.............................................................................. ..…… 128 Conclusion: Redefining Home.................................................................................... 130 CHAPTER IV. RETURNING ‘HOME’: REIMAGINING AFRICA (AND AMERICA) THROUGH NOLLYWOOD CINEMA……………………………. ................................... 135 From National to Transnational, From Local to Glocal............................................ 141 Local Street Films....................................................................................................
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