Visualizing trans identities: a multimodal critical discourse analysis of Bobrisky and Lehlogonolo Machaba in Nigerian and South African newspapers

Abstract This study explores the visual and discursive representation of trans identities in selected Nigerian and South African newspapers, with a comparative focus on two prominent figures: Bobrisky, a popular Nigerian gender nonconforming individual, and Lehlogonolo Machaba, South Africa’s first openly transgender Miss South Africa contestant. Drawing on Machin and Mayr’s Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA), the study examines how image composition, headline language, and associated narratives shape public perceptions of gender non-conformity in selected Nigerian and South African newspapers. Through a close reading of news images and accompanying texts, the study identifies contrasting ideological framings. While Bobrisky’s visibility is often marked by criminalization, moral panic, and spectacle, Machaba is framed through discourses of novelty, respectability, aspiration, and cultural legitimacy. The analysis reveals how media contexts in Nigeria and South Africa reproduce or resist cisnormative gender norms, and how trans visibility is conditioned by intersecting factors such as law, national identity, media ideology, and aesthetic codes. The study argues that visual as well as textual representations function not only as a site of recognition but also of regulation, determining the ideological boundaries within which trans identities are seen, accepted, or excluded in African media discourse.