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p-Index From 2021 - 2026
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All Journal Journal of Language and Pragmatics Studies
Esuola, David Oluwatobi
Unknown Affiliation
Humanities Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media Social Sciences

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Symbolic power in caricature of Nigerian academia in selected videos of Sagacious Prof Ajayi, Temitope Michael; Adebayo, Tayo; Esuola, David Oluwatobi
Journal of Language and Pragmatics Studies Vol. 4 No. 3 (2025): December 2025
Publisher : Yayasan Mitra Persada Nusantara

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.58881/jlps.v4i3.142

Abstract

Caricature, often visual, involves exaggerations for satirical, critical, or comic effect. Scholarly probes on caricature have focused on political and legal contexts with less attention to academia. Particularly, there is a dearth of symbolic power studies detailing the power relations between participants in Nigerian academia. The present study, therefore, explores how Facebook content creator, Sagacious Prof, depicts systemic issues in academia, with reference to the Nigerian context, examining how academics deploy linguistic choices to negotiate unethical goals in student-lecturer interactions. Adopting a qualitative approach, the study analysed ten purposively sampled videos of Sagacious Prof, whose content primarily depicts activities within the Nigerian academic context. The data analysis is guided by Norman Fairclough’s (1995) Critical Discourse Analysis. The findings showcased two negative systemic issues in Nigerian academia: transactional grading and transactional sex. By implication, Nigerian academics are largely constructed as being unethical in their engagements with students in the skits of Sagacious Prof.
The pragmatics of celebrity fan wars: A case study of Wizkid and Davido fans on X Esuola, David Oluwatobi; Adebayo, Tayo; Ajayi, Temitope Michael
Journal of Language and Pragmatics Studies Vol. 4 No. 3 (2025): December 2025
Publisher : Yayasan Mitra Persada Nusantara

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.58881/jlps.v4i3.143

Abstract

Celebrity rivalry refers to a situation in which two or more well-known public figures, typically from the entertainment, sports, or fashion industries, are perceived to be in conflict or competition with one another. Even though scholars have explored the celebrity rivalry between Wizkid and Davido, studies on the rivalry among their fans remain underexplored. Thus, from a qualitative research perspective, this study is a pragma-discursive analysis of the online interactions between the fans of Wizkid known as (FC) and fans of Davido known as (30BG). The data were examined using Henry Jenkins (1992) Fandom theory. Findings show that fans of both artists deploy impoliteness to foreground their celebrity’s industry, how their fans project the industry’s success over the other artist and financial supremacy over the other celebrity, and how their favorite celebrity is projected as richer than the other celebrity. Further studies can be done on comparing artists of different countries.
Facework and adversarial journalism in Nigerian political interviews: Facework in journalism Esuola, David Oluwatobi; Okunade, Kehinde John
Journal of Language and Pragmatics Studies Vol. 5 No. 1 (2026): April 2026
Publisher : Yayasan Mitra Persada Nusantara

Show Abstract | Download Original | Original Source | Check in Google Scholar | DOI: 10.58881/jlps.v5i1.152

Abstract

Political interviews are sites where accountability, power, and public identity are negotiated in real time. While studies of Nigerian political discourse have focused on politicians’ rhetorical strategies, journalists’ role as active face managers has received limited attention. Based on Brown & Levinson’s Face Acts Theory (1987), this article analyses how face-threatening, face-saving, and face-repair moves appear in Rufai Oseni's political interviews on Arise TV. Through a qualitative discourse pragmatics approach on eight purposely chosen excerpts, this article demonstrates that face acts not only fulfill a politeness function but also occur within expert identity building and power negotiation. The results show that face-threatening moves in journalistic practices in the Nigerian media context appear to be socially accepted strategies of adversarial accountability. This article adds to political discourse pragmatics literature by arguing in favour of context-sensitive practices in facework, rather than relying on Cook's ideal models developed in Western contexts and adapted to other continents like Africa.
Co-Authors Adebayo, Tayo Ajayi, Temitope Michael Okunade, Kehinde John