Copyright © 2026 Authors retain the copyright of this article. This article is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

@article{190730,
        author = {Dhivyaharshana B G and Dr. B. Pavithra},
        title = {Spectral Archetypes and Cultural Memory: Ghosts, Moral Cosmology, and Visual Aesthetics in Nollywood Cinema},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {12},
        number = {8},
        pages = {3119-3129},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=190730},
        abstract = {The article examines the representation of ghosts in Nollywood cinema, focusing on Heart of a Ghost (2019) and A Ghost Story (2017), to explore the intersection of archetypal imagery, cultural worldview, and cinematic aesthetics. Ghosts, within Igbo cosmology, are liminal entities inhabiting the boundary between the living and the dead, often manifesting in response to moral transgression, ritual neglect, or social injustice. Drawing on Carl Jung’s theory of archetypes and the frameworks of magical realism and interpretive community theory, the analysis demonstrates how Nollywood’s ghost narratives operate simultaneously as reflections of collective belief systems and as imaginative visual constructs. Particular attention is given to the visual aesthetics of ghostly clothing, which oscillates between continuity with corporeal life and symbolic or creative representation. The study argues that these cinematic choices reveal a dynamic interplay between cultural fidelity and artistic invention, demonstrating cinema’s capacity to materialise metaphysical realities while negotiating narrative clarity and audience comprehension. Ultimately, Nollywood ghosts are shown to function as moral agents, ethical mediators, and cultural metaphors, sustaining indigenous epistemologies while articulating archetypal fears, communal memory, and ethical accountability.},
        keywords = {Ghosts, Nollywood cinema, Igbo cosmology, archetypal representation.},
        month = {January},
        }