Moral Publics: Human trafficking, video films, and the responsibility of the postcolonial subject

Abstract

This article analyzes the ways in which a Nigerian video film about human trafficking is received by Nigerian women who experienced trafficking in their migration itinerary to Italy. This radically contextualized case study is used as a methodological “lockpick” to open up new lines of enquiry into the relationship that southern Nigerian video films create with their audiences. The essay argues that, by virtue of their specific “addressivity” (Barber 2007), the genre of Nigerian video films that focus on female migration and prostitution participates in the creation of moral publics that are concerned with the definition of the postcolonial subject’s responsibility in shaping his/her own destiny.

Peer reviewed