A SOCIOLINGUISTIC EXAMINATION OF GENDERED LANGUAGES AND URBAN SLANG IN KEMI ADETIBA’S “KING OF BOYS”

Abstract

This study engages with the performance of gendered language and urban slang in Kemi Adetiba’s “King of Boys” specifically the sociolinguistic behaviours of the cast crew, focusing on language as subversive strategy in the Nigeria’s patriarchal cinematic space. Despite Nigeria’s significant media production capacity, there exists notable scholarly dearth of research on gendered language in Nollywood and how female protagonists manage linguistic encounters in contexts of sustained marginalisation. Where it has received widespread attack for its political narratives, sociolinguistic maneuvers in the Nigerian film industry have attracted meager scholarly attention, reflecting the intense attendant cultural rivalries in which female leadership is habitually delegitimised. Drawing on Judith Butler’s theory of performativity, the study therefore examined how gendered language challenge and rearticulate dominant gendered power relations. The strategic uses of sociolinguistic concepts like hyper-masculine slang and proverbs are shown to be mechanisms that constitute and reconstitute hybridized gender identity to break binary categorizations and thereby establish validity and expose the inherent misogyny in the Nigeria’s cinematic space. The study proves how such linguistic resources function both in reproducing as well as challenging gendered biases in a patriarchal setup. The study concludes on a note that linguistic agency reflects authentic challenges of Nigerian women holding leadership positions.