A Theoretical Investigation of Globalization’s Impact on Indigenous Performance Practices in Nigeria

Globalisation has profoundly affected indigenous performance practices in Nigeria through both creative hybridisation and cultural displacement, and developing an original theoretical framework for understanding these dynamics addresses a significant gap in Nigerian cultural studies and performance anthropology. This study conducted a theoretical investigation into globalisation's differential impact on indigenous performance practices across six Nigerian performance traditions representing all geopolitical zones. A theoretical analysis combined systematic review of globalisation and performance theory (82 publications from 2018 to 2024), ethnographic field research at 20 traditional performance communities, and structured interviews with 40 indigenous practitioners and 15 cultural economists. Analysis identified four distinct response patterns to globalisation pressures: adaptive hybridisation (traditions successfully integrating global elements while retaining indigenous structural integrity), commodification transformation (traditions fundamentally altered by tourist market demands), resistance preservation (traditions actively resisting external influence through esoteric restriction), and extinction vulnerability (traditions unable to adapt or resist, facing disappearance). The original Globalisation-Indigenous Performance Dynamics Framework maps these four responses to specific institutional, demographic, and geographic conditions, predicting which factors drive each response pattern. Analysis confirmed that urban proximity, state support withdrawal, and practitioner education level were the strongest predictors of commodification transformation. Expert review by 22 cultural studies and performance scholars confirmed the framework's original theoretical contribution. Recommendations include integrating the framework into cultural policy for indigenous performance preservation and using it to design differentiated state support based on each tradition's response pattern.

Keywords: globalisation, indigenous performance, Nigeria, cultural theory, original framework