Nigerian stand-up comediennes performing femininity

Nigerian stand-up comedy has attracted several investigations from different disciplinary perspectives; however, there has been little research interest into the performance of femininity in the genre. Coming from pragmatics, this paper analyses how Nigerian comediennes use the language of humour to (de)construct sociocultural perspectives on the female identity. Data comprise purposively selected routines of three female comics while Kecskes’ (2014) approach to intention serves as the theoretical framework. Comediennes employ different pragmatic strategies that reference their intention to reinforce or challenge the traditional image of femininity. Analysis reveals comediennes perform the popular perspectives on femininity, which are enshrined in the wider sociocultural context of the country.