SOCIO-ECONOMIC RESILIENCE IN NIGERIA: A HUMOURISTIC AND SOCIAL SEMIOTIC PERSPECTIVE

Political cartoon is a powerful tool of communication used to express opinions. It is used to relay issues that are, otherwise, too difficult to communicate. This study systematically analysed satirical political cartoons on the sufferings of Nigerian citizens. Through the admixture of satire and amusement, the cartoonists humourously spoke to the powers that be and revealed the spirit of resilience exuded by the citizens. Using Kress and van Leeuwen’s Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis and Lakoff and Johnson's Metaphoric Thought Theory as the theoretical frameworks, it explored the denotative and connotative meanings of given images and how they were mapped metaphorically from the source to target domains. The population of the study comprised one hundred and twenty online cartoons on the Nigerian socio-economic situation from 2019 and beyond. Nine cartoons were purposively sampled and descriptively analysed. Results showed that language can be used to communicate and promote social and economic values while humour can be used to ameliorate sufferings and aid resilience. The study recommended, among others, using language policies to encapsulate our mores and values while diversifying economically. A government of inclusivity would be a panacea for the current socio-economic situation in Nigeria