Philosophical complexities and economic realities of mothering: A Nigerian mother's travails and tenacity in Funke Akindele's A Tribe Called Judah

Abstract

Motherhood and mothering are universal commons that depend on locale-specific philosophies, economic realities and global worldviews for their manifest similarities and dissimilarities in manifestations and interpretations. Globalization increasingly influences mothering perceptions, thereby making mothering progressively a syncretism of locale-specific norms and multicultural ideas. This paper examines critically the authorial articulation of motherhood and mothering in a Nollywood film A Tribe Called Judah, to highlight the polemics of familial dysfunction vicious cycle, plausible reasons behind instances of negative mothering, and its impact on children. This paper argues that the social construction of reality theory is a pertinent articulation in explaining rationales informing the authorial classification of mothering in A Tribe Called Judah as one of the following: negative, positive, retrogressive, progressive, dysfunctional, functional, good, or bad. This paper utilized an interpretive approach in analyzing selected scenes in A Tribe Called Judah by cross-referencing them with selected portrayals subsuming relevant suppositions in other studies. In the end, this paper reaffirms the importance of girls’ pre-mothering nurturing as a non-negotiable obligation. In addition, this paper observes with dismay the banality and indifference that define realities of troubled-mothers and how their society blames them when familial dysfunction becomes evident. Our view is that Jedidah’s travails and tribulations are avoidable and unfortunate. Her mother’s derisive lampoons typify the injustice child-mothers like Jedidah endure. Her father’s actions represent entrenched opprobrium, selfishness, and sanctimonious proclivity elucidating Jedidah’s Nigeria. Lastly, Funke Akindele’s creative vision in utilizing A Tribe Called Judah as an enduring space for an interrogation of motherhood and mothering validates the utility of film as an efficacious platform that enables conscientious portrayal of pertinent social realities.