A Multimodal Strategies of Media Representation of Identities of African Celebrities in Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards

Celebrity culture is an extension of popular culture that curates celebrities’ identities and lifestyles in the 21st century. The public visibility of these celebrities depend heavily on the media. Therefore, this study examines the multimodal nexus in which African celebrities are constructed, negotiated, and contested during the 2025 Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) Cultural Day. Using a qualitative, descriptive methodology, this research analyses the purposive selection of Ten (10) gendered images that represent African cultural heritage to adequately explore the semiotic ensembles deployed by these celebrities during the 2025 AMVCA cultural day and how the media represented them. Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen’s visual grammar is deployed to analyse the data mapped out for this study, enabling a holistic interpretation of how meaning is construed visually leaving the textual dimension. The findings reveal that semiotic tools such as fashion, colour, and accessories interlock to construct cultural identities of African celebrities. Additionally, female gender is concerned with self-assertion rather societal valuation. This research contributes to the understanding of cultural preservation within the modern media landscape.