Spiritual Cannibalism in Occult African Cinema: A Semiotic Perspective on Cameroonian and Nigerian Films’ Depiction of “Soul Eating”

Authors : Floribert Patrick C. Endong

Pages : 474-489

Doi:10.47777/cankujhss.1652117

View : 272 | Download : 673

Publication Date : 2025-12-29

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :The popular imagination in Cameroon and Nigeria associates voodoo or black magic with a host of horrific practices one of which is “soul eating”. Also known as spiritual cannibalism or soul cannibalism, this “soul eating” is a situation where some witches or paranormal entities spiritually or mysteriously consume a human being’s soul or vital energy, thereby causing the latter to suffer a physical sickness, a mysterious accident or any inexplicable circumstance that can even be mortal in real life. Although a product of folktales and legends, the myth of “soul eating” has become strongly rooted in Cameroonian and Nigerian societies. This myth has inspired many Nigerian and Cameroonian video films, some of which even attempt vivid and sensational depictions of the phenomenon (spiritual cannibalism). The cinematic techniques deployed in these occult films to represent the “soul eating” myth/practice are diverse, interesting, but understudied. In view of filling this gap in knowledge, the present article uses semiotics and secondary sources to show how the cinematic language used in the depiction of “soul eating” in Cameroonian and Nigerian video films is mainly metaphoric and euphemistic. The paper argues that Nigerian and Cameroonian horror film directors mainly use indexes and symbols in the form of special effects, diction and ellipses to represent horrific spiritual cannibalism. These symbolic and indexical approaches – which may largely be attributed to low film budget – most often lead to euphemistic representations of a supposedly gory and frightening experience.
Keywords : Spiritual Cannibalism, Horor Movies, Nollywood, Collywood, Occult African Film, Soul Eater

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