COMMUNICATING AFRICANNESS THROUGH A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF MUSIC, DANCE, VISUAL ARTS AND LITERARY WORKS OF AFRICAN BLACKS IN THE DIASPORA

Ewomazino Daniel Akpor; Ayo Ernest Elebute; Bettina Oboakore  Agbamu; Suleiman Ileanwa Ocheni; Olayinka Foluso  Daramola; Jacob Olawuyi

doi:10.29121/shodhkosh.v7.i1.2026.6606

Authors

Ewomazino Daniel Akpor Associate Professor, Department of Mass Communication, University of Delta, Agbor, Delta State, Nigeria
Ayo Ernest Elebute Professor, Resource Centre for Arts, Culture and Communication Development, Cherry Tree Court, Fairlawn London, SE7 7DX, United Kingdom
Bettina Oboakore Agbamu Lecturer 1, Department of Mass Communication, University of Delta, Agbor, Delta State, Nigeria
Suleiman Ileanwa Ocheni Research Fellow, Resource Centre for Arts, Culture and Communication Development, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
Olayinka Foluso Daramola Lecturer 1, Department of Mass Communication, Hallmark University, Ijebu Itele, Ogun State, Nigeria
Jacob Olawuyi Assistant Lecturer, Department of Mass Communication, Hallmark University, Ijebu Itele, Ogun State, Nigeria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29121/shodhkosh.v7.i1.2026.6606

Keywords:

African Diaspora, Cultural Communication, Identity Formation, Diasporic Literature, Intercultural Dialogue

Abstract [English]

This study investigates how Black people in the diaspora have retained and adapted their traditional art forms such as music, dance, visual arts, and literary works, as communication tools for expressing and negotiating Africanness within transnational contexts. Anchored in communication studies and African diaspora scholarship, the research adopts a content-analysis design to examine a purposive sample of creative productions, including Afro-beats, hip-hop fusions, diasporic visual arts and performance displays, as well as contemporary African diasporic literature. Through systematic coding and thematic analysis, the study identifies recurring communication patterns, symbols, and narrative motifs that convey identity, belonging, resistance, and cultural memory. The findings reveal that diasporic African artists and performers employ performance, imagery, movement, rhythm, and storytelling as multimodal languages that sustain cultural continuity while challenging Eurocentric representations. These artistic forms reimagine Africa as both a geographic reality and a symbolic homeland, enabling dispersed communities to articulate shared histories and collective aspirations. Furthermore, the creative expressions function as communicative acts of identity construction, allowing individuals and groups to negotiate hybrid cultural spaces while maintaining connections to ancestral traditions. The study concludes that the arts operate as powerful sites of intercultural dialogue, resistance, and solidarity, reaffirming the centrality of communication in preserving diasporic cohesion and transmitting African cultural consciousness across generations. Ultimately, this research contributes to interdisciplinary conversations on cultural communication, transnational identity formation, and the role of artistic expression in shaping global narratives of the African diaspora.

References

Amin, T. N. (2016). Beyond Hierarchy. The Black Scholar, 46(1), 15–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/00064246.2015.1119634 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00064246.2015.1119634

Amsel, A. (1962). Frustrative Non-Reward in Partial Reinforcement and Discrimination Learning: Some Recent History and Theoretical Extension. Psychological Review, 69(4), 306–328. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0046200 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/h0046200

Amsel, A. (1992). Frustration Theory: An Analysis of Dispositional Learning (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511665561 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511665561

Anene, J. C., and Brown, G. (1966). Africa in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. Cambridge University Press.

Babbie, E. (1999). The Practice of Social Research (9th ed.). Wadsworth Thomson Learning.

Bakewell, O. (2010). Some Reflections on Structure and Agency in Migration Theory. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 36(10), 1689–1708. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2010.489382 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2010.489382

Bates, M. J. (1999). The Invisible Substrate of Information Science. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 50(12), 1043–1050. https://doi.org/10.1002/%28SICI%291097-4571%281999%2950:12 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-4571(1999)50:12<1043::AID-ASI1>3.0.CO;2-X

Berry, J. W. (1997). Immigration, Acculturation and Adaptation. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 46(1), 5–68. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.1997.tb01087.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1464-0597.1997.tb01087.x

Berry, J. W. (2005). Acculturation: Living Successfully in Two Cultures. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 29(6), 697–712. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2005.07.013 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2005.07.013

Berry, J. W. (2008). Globalization and Acculturation. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 32(4), 328–336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2008.04.001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2008.04.001

Boahen, A. (1964). The British Approach to West Africa across the Sahara: Britain, the Sahara and the Western Sudan, 1788–1861. Clarendon Press.

Borucki, A., Eltis, D., and Wheat, D. (2015). Atlantic History and the Slave Trade to Spanish America. American Historical Review, 120(2), 433–461. https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/120.2.433 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/120.2.433

Boyes, S. (2018). Getting to Know Africa: 50 Interesting Facts… Retrieved September 20, 2018.

Brandner, T. (2013). Hosts and Guests: Hospitality as an Emerging Paradigm in Mission. International Review of Mission, 102(1), 94–102. https://doi.org/10.1111/irom.12009 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/irom.12009

Buah, F. K. (1969). The World since 1750. McMillan.

Bush, B. (2006). African Echoes, Modern Fusions: Caribbean Music, Identity and Resistance in the African Diaspora. Music Reference Services Quarterly, 10(1), 17–35. https://doi.org/10.1300/J116v10n01_02 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1300/J116v10n01_02

Creque, L. (2012). The Nobel Laureates in Literature of the African Diaspora. Journal of the African Literature Association, 6(2), 133–141. https://doi.org/10.1080/21674736.2012.11690184 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/21674736.2012.11690184

Djerrahian, G. (2015). Black Matters: Young Ethiopian Jews and Race in Israel (Doctoral dissertation, McGill University).

Djerrahian, G. (2018). The End of Diaspora Is Just the Beginning: Music at the Crossroads of Jews, African and Ethiopian Diasporas in Israel. African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal, 11(2), 161–173. https://doi.org/10.1080/17528631.2017.1394602 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17528631.2017.1394602

Elebute, A. (2016). Interrogating Adell Patton’s Data on Shipment of Negro Slaves from Africa to the Americas between 1755–1867 (by Period). International Journal of History and Philosophical Research, 4(2), 1–22.

Francis, J. (2013). The Being and Becoming of African Diaspora Art. Journal of American Studies, 47(2), 405–416. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021875813000091 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021875813000091

Gbadamosi, A. (2012). Acculturation: An Exploratory Study of Clothing Consumption among Black African Women in London, UK. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 16(1), 5–20. https://doi.org/10.1108/13612021211203005 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/13612021211203005

Gilroy, P. (1991). Black Music, Ethnicity and the Challenge of a Changing Same. Centre for Black Music Research Bulletin, 11(2), 111–136. https://doi.org/10.2307/779262 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/779262

Gilroy, P. (1993). The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double Consciousness (1st ed.). Verso.

Gordon, M. M. (1964). Assimilation in American Life: The Role of Race, Religion and National Origins (1st ed.). Oxford University Press.

Guttal, S. (2007). Globalization. Development in Practice, 17(4–5), 523–531. https://doi.org/10.1080/09614520701469492 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09614520701469492

Hall, S. (1990). Cultural Identity and Diaspora. [Publisher not provided].

Handler, J. S. (2002). Survivors and the Middle Passage: Life Histories of Enslaved Africans in British America. Slavery and Abolition, 23(1), 25–56. https://doi.org/10.1080/714005224 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/714005224

Haner, C. F., and Brown, P. A. (1955). Clarification of the Instigation to Action Concept in the Frustration–Aggression Hypothesis. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 51(2), 204–206. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0044818 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/h0044818

Harris, M. B. (1974). Mediators between Frustration and Aggression in a Field Experiment. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 10(6), 561–571. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1031%2874%2990079-1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1031(74)90079-1

Kerr-Berry, J. A. (2012). Dance Education in an Era of Racial Backlash: Moving Forward as We Step Backwards. Journal of Dance Education, 12(2), 48–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/15290824.2011.653735 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15290824.2011.653735

Kim, A. J., and Ko, E. (2011). Do Social Media Marketing Activities Enhance Customer Equity? An Empirical Study of Luxury Fashion Brand. Journal of Business Research, 65, 1480–1486. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.10.014 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.10.014

Krippendorff, K. (2004). Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology (2nd ed.). Sage.

Laguerre, M. S. (2006). Diaspora, Politics and Globalization. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403983329 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403983329

Lemert, E. M. (1951). Social Pathology: A Systematic Approach to the Theory of Sociopathic Behaviour (1st ed.). McGraw-Hill.

Liwerant, J. B. (2015). Globalization, Transnationalism, Diasporas: Facing New Realities and Conceptual Challenges. In M. Wieviorka, L. Levi, and G. Lieppe (Eds.), (309–336). https://doi.org/10.4000/books.editionsmsh.4767 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/books.editionsmsh.4767

Lowcountry Digital History Initiative. (2018). African Participation and Resistance to the Trade. Retrieved September 20, 2018.

Lugard, F. (1965). The Dual Mandate in British Tropical Africa. Forgotten Books.

MacLeod, E. C. (2009). Leaving out of Babylon, into Whose Father’s Land?: Perceptions of the Repatriated Rastafari (Doctoral dissertation, McGill University).

Miles, M. B., and Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative Data Analysis (2nd ed.). Sage.

Miller, N. E., et al. (1941). Frustration–Aggression Hypothesis. Psychological Review, 48(4), 337–342. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0055861 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/h0055861

Mintz, S. W., and Price, R. (1992). The Birth of African American Culture (1st ed.). Beacon Press.

Morlan, G. K. (1949). A Note on the Frustration–Aggression Theories of Dollard and His Associates. Psychological Review, 56(1), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0056948 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/h0056948

Ndika, N. (2013). Acculturation: A Pilot Study on Nigerians in America and Their Coping Strategies. SAGE Open, 3(4), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244013515687 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244013515687

Nketia, K. J. H. (1974). The Music of Africa (1st ed.). Norton.

Obikili, N. (2016). The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and Local Political Fragmentation in Africa. Retrieved September 20, 2018, from https://doi.org/10.1111/ehr.12328 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ehr.12328

Ojuade, J. O. (2011). African Dance in Diaspora: The Examples of Nigerian Yoruba Bata and Dundun. Thames in Theatre, 6, 385–406. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789401200820_020 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789401200820_020

Okpewho, I., and Nzegwu, N. (2009). The New African Diaspora (1st ed.). Indiana University Press. https://doi.org/10.2979/5626.0 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2979/5626.0

Omer-Cooper, J. D. (1968). The Making of Modern Africa. Humanities Press.

Palmer, C. A. (2000). Defining and Studying the Modern African Diaspora. The Journal of Negro History, 85(1–2), 27–32. https://doi.org/10.1086/JNHv85n1-2p27 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/JNHv85n1-2p27

Palmer, C. A. (2018). Defining and Studying the Modern African Diaspora. Africology: The Journal of Pan African Studies, 11(2), 214–220.

Peffer, J. (2005). Notes on African Art, History and Diasporas within. African Arts, 38(4), 70–77. https://doi.org/10.1162/afar.2005.38.4.70 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1162/afar.2005.38.4.70

Peñaloza, L. (1994). Atravesando Fronteras/Border Crossings: A Critical Ethnographic Exploration of the Consumer Acculturation of Mexican Immigrants. Journal of Consumer Research, 21(1), 32–54. https://doi.org/10.1086/209381 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/209381

Rastas, A., and Seye, E. (2016). Music as a Site for Africanness and Diaspora Culture: African Musicians in the White Landscape of Finland. African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal, 9(1), 82–95. https://doi.org/10.1080/17528631.2015.1055652 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17528631.2015.1055652

Redfield, R., Linton, R., and Herskovits, M. J. (1936). Memorandum for the Study of Acculturation. American Anthropologist, 38(1), 149–152. https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1936.38.1.02a00330 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/aa.1936.38.1.02a00330

Rotenberg, M. (1974). Self Labelling: A Missing Link in the Societal Reaction Theory of Deviance. The Sociological Review, 22(3), 335–354. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-954X.1974.tb00257.x DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-954X.1974.tb00257.x

Rotimi, C. N., Tekola-Ayele, F., and Shriner, D. (2016). The African Diaspora: History, Adaptation and Health. Current Opinion in Genetics and Development, 41, 77–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gde.2016.08.005 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gde.2016.08.005

Rudmin, F. (2009). Constructs, Measurements and Models of Acculturation and Acculturative Stress. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 33(2), 106–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2008.12.001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijintrel.2008.12.001

Sam, D. L. (2000). Psychological Adaptation of Adolescents with Immigrant Background. The Journal of Social Psychology, 140(1), 5–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224540009600442 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00224540009600442

Schroeder, H., et al. (2009). Trans-Atlantic Slavery: Isotopic Evidence for Forced Migration to Barbados. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 139(4), 547–557. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.21019 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.21019

Senayon, O. (2019). The Monotony of Natural Agency: Human Evolution as Diaspora Discourse. Lecture delivered at the IAS-CODESRIA Staff Seminar Series (4th ed.), Diaspora and Transitional Studies Programme, IAS, University of Ibadan.

Sharpe, J. (2018). Thinking Diaspora with Stuart Hall. Critical Humanities and Social Sciences, 27(1), 21–46. https://doi.org/10.1215/10418385-4382974 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1215/10418385-4382974

Sidgwick, H. (2000). Utilitarianism. Utilitas, 12(3). https://doi.org/10.1017/S0953820800002879 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0953820800002879

Silverman, D. (2006). Interpreting Qualitative Data (3rd ed.). Sage.

Silverman, D. (2018). Mediating Identity: The West African Diaspora, Conflict and Communication. Crossings: Journal of Migration and Culture, 9(1), 91–106. https://doi.org/10.1386/cjmc.9.1.91_1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1386/cjmc.9.1.91_1

SlaveVoyages. (2018). Estimates. Retrieved September 20, 2018.

Steenkamp, J. B. E. M. (2001). The Role of National Culture in International Marketing Research. International Marketing Review, 18(1), 30–44. https://doi.org/10.1108/02651330110381970 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/02651330110381970

Stryker, S., and Burke, P. J. (2000). The Past, Present and the Future of an Identity Theory. Social Psychology Quarterly, 63(4), 284–297. https://doi.org/10.2307/2695840 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2695840

Tade, O. (2019, July). Superior Aggression Theory and the Fulani Herdsman. Punch Newspaper.

Tannenbaum, F. (1938). Crime and the Community (1st ed.). Columbia University Press. https://doi.org/10.7312/tann90782 DOI: https://doi.org/10.7312/tann90782

Thompson, G. A. (2014). Labelling in Interactional Practice: Applying Labelling Theory to Interactions and Interactional Analysis to Labelling. Symbolic Interaction, 37(4), 458–482. https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.127 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/symb.127

Thompson, K. (2011). A Sidelong Glance: The Practice of African Diaspora Art History in the United States. Art Journal, 70(3), 6–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/00043249.2011.10791045 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00043249.2011.10791045

Thompson, R. J., and Kolstoe, R. H. (1974). Physical Aggression as a Function of Strength of Frustration and Instrumentality of Aggression. Journal of Research in Personality, 7(4), 314–323. https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-6566%2874%2990053-1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-6566(74)90053-1

Triandis, H. C. (1989). The Self and Social Behaviour in Differing Cultural Contexts. Psychological Review, 96(3), 506–520. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.96.3.506 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.96.3.506

Wade, P. (2008). African Diaspora and Colombian Popular Music in the Twentieth Century. Black Music Research Journal, 28(2), 41–56.

Weber, R. (1990). Basic Content Analysis (2nd ed.). Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412983488 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412983488