MEDIA, CULTURE, AND YOUTH IDENTITY FORMATION: RECEPTION OF SOCIO-CULTURAL REPRESENTATIONS IN SELECTED NOLLYWOOD FILMS

ABSTRACT: This article examined audience reception of socio-cultural representations in Nollywood productions Jagun Jagun, A Tribe Called Judah, and Far From Home, with particular focus on youth identity formation. Drawing on Reception Theory and Stuart Hall’s Encoding/Decoding framework, the study investigates how young audiences interpret, negotiate, and internalise socio-cultural meanings embedded in the selected screen texts. Using a qualitative research approach, the study employs thematic textual analysis alongside audience-centred interpretation to explore representations of culture, morality, class relations, masculinity, spirituality, family responsibility, peer influence, and youth aspiration. The findings reveal that audience reception is diverse and context-dependent, as youths decode media meanings differently based on their socio-economic background, educational exposure, and lived experiences. The article further demonstrates that while Jagun Jagun reinforces themes of indigenous identity, heroism, and traditional authority, A Tribe Called Judah foregrounds urban survival, resilience, and family solidarity, whereas Far From Home reflects contemporary anxieties surrounding class mobility, peer pressure, and identity negotiation within globalized youth culture. It concludes that Nollywood remains a powerful medium through which cultural meanings are preserved, contested, and reconfigured in contemporary society. The study contributes to scholarship on media reception, youth cultural studies, and African screen media by foregrounding the interpretive agency of audiences within evolving digital and cultural environments.

KEYWORDS: Audience Reception, Identity Formation, Media Culture, Socio-Cultural Representation