Comparative Postcolonial Adaptation: Cinema in UK and Nigerian Literatures

Thesis Abstract

This study investigates how postcolonial adaptation operates across cinematic and literary imaginaries in the United Kingdom and Nigeria, addressing the problem of translating transnational colonial legacies into distinct national discourses and reception regimes. It aims to elucidate the mechanisms by which adaptation processes reframe identities, power relations, and historical memory in both contexts, and to determine whether UK and Nigerian literatures influence cinematic representations in comparable or divergent ways. Specific objectives are (1) to map the trajectories of selected postcolonial narratives from Nigerian literature into Nigerian and UK cinema, (2) to compare thematic emphases such as diaspora, migration, and cultural hybridity in adapted works, (3) to assess audience reception and critical reception across national boundaries, (4) to evaluate the influence of cultural capital and transnational production networks on adaptation choices, and (5) to theorize an integrated framework for cross-media postcolonial adaptation. The methodology combines a comparative, mixed-methods design anchored in postcolonial theory and reception theory. The population consists of seven Nigerian novels that have been adapted into films and their UK and Nigerian cinematic counterparts, along with a corpus of twenty corresponding film reviews and ten scholarly articles from both Nigerian and UK contexts. A purposive sample of the novels includes Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe) and its cinematic derivatives, Noo Saro-Wiwa’s Nigerian narratives, and subsequent diasporic works; the UK corpus includes adaptations of Caribbean- Nigerian- and African-descended authors’ texts. Data collection instruments comprise a structured document analysis protocol for textual-to-film adaptation, semi-structured interviews with five Nigerian and five UK-based film practitioners (screenwriters, directors, and producers), and a thematic analysis guide for film reviews and scholarly critiques. Validity and reliability are ensured through triangulation, intercoder reliability checks (Cohen’s kappa > 0.80), and pilot testing of the interview protocol. Analytical procedures integrate qualitative and quantitative elements. Thematic analysis will be employed to identify recurring motifs across text-film pairs and to trace shifts in representation of postcolonial power, gender, and hybridity. A content analysis of film reviews and scholarly articles will quantify discourse themes such as authenticity, hybridity, and spectator positioning. Additionally, multivariate regression analyses will explore the relationship between adaptation choices (e.g., fidelity to source text, narrative framing, and intertextual references) and audience reception metrics (box-office performance, critical score, and social media sentiment). The theoretical scaffold combines Homi K. Bhabha’s concepts of hybridity and third space with Linda Hutcheon’s theories of adaptation, complemented by Stuart Hall’s encoding/decoding model and Edward Said’s Orientalism to interrogate cross-cultural representation. A conceptual model will map the interaction among source-text features, cinematic mediation, discursive reception, and transnational production networks. Expected findings include (i) a differentiated pattern of adaptation strategies in UK versus Nigerian cinema, with UK adaptations foregrounding diaspora negotiation and interethnic alliances, and Nigerian adaptations foregrounding internal postcolonial negotiations of nationhood and memory; (ii) evidence that transnational funding and co-production influence fidelity and modernization of plotlines; (iii) consistent discursive patterns in reviews that privilege authenticity and hybridity in Nigerian films while emphasizing cosmopolitan appeal in UK films; and (iv) a robust correlation between adaptation strategy variables and audience reception indicators, moderated by cultural proximity and language. The study will contribute to knowledge by advancing an integrated cross-media framework for postcolonial adaptation that accounts for transnational production, reception, and textual mediation. It will illuminate how UK and Nigerian literatures shape cinematic forms and how films reciprocally reframe canonical texts for divergent audiences. Recommendations include developing cross-border film-literature partnerships to enhance culturally sensitive adaptations, establishing criteria for ethical representation of postcolonial subjects, and fostering comparative curricula that foreground adaptation as a research site for transnational literary studies and cinema. The conclusion anticipates that cross-cultural adaptation analyses reveal both convergences in postcolonial critique and distinct national sensibilities, underscoring the importance of context-aware practices in globalized storytelling.