published on January 20, 2023

Or¨²nm¨¬li¨¤n Film-Philosophy
Aesthetics of ?j¨¬gb¨¨d¨¨ ?k¨² in Saworoid?

This article discusses a relationship between the philosophical praxis of ??r¨²nm¨¬l¨¤ and aesthetics of ?j¨¬gb¨¨d¨¨ ??k¨² (i.e., the costume of the living and the costume of the dead) in Saworoid? (dir. T¨²nd¨¦ K¨¨l¨¢n¨ª¡¯s, 1999). I construct the Yor¨´b¨¢/??r¨²nm¨¬l¨¤ philosophical method of ?j¨¬gb¨¨d¨¨ ??k¨² in the contemporary Nigerian narrative film as case study of how contemporary African filmmakers, like their oral artiste counterparts, continue to articulate their inherited traditions via cinematic storytelling. In doing that I draw on what I call the ??r¨²nm¨¬li¨¤n ¡°parable of E¨¦g¨²n¡± (masquerade) to establish what I designate the philosophical/therapeutic questions of ?j¨¬gb¨¨d¨¨ ??k¨²; and thus, argue that ?j¨¬gb¨¨d¨¨ ??k¨² gives ¡°presence to non-presence¡± so that the living/present can dialogue with the dead/past as a way of healing, re-moralizing, and/or decolonizing the living through cinematic storytelling. I conclude that ??r¨²nm¨¬li¨¤n film does not solely rekindle, and teach us, a valuable aesthetic practice of self-reflection or self-reevaluation but also decolonize and de-westernize film-philosophy