As scholars begin to tease out many of the factors in the Egyptian revolution and beyond, it needs emphasized that once again the affective dimensions of such struggles should not remain excluded from our analyses. Anna Sussman has an interesting article in The Atlantic demonstrating some of the ways that irony, satire, and other seriocomic forms were used to create solidarity and propel citizen mobilizations in Egypt.
Protestors held signs in Tahrir square imploring “Leave, my arm hurts” and “Leave, I want to shower/see my wife/shave/get married.” Of particular note is the way in which administration appeals were used as material for comic fodder. I think that the existence of such discourses in these matters continues to demonstrate two points about the role of humor in politics: a) it still remains highly undertheorized in a way that is no longer adequate for present conditions, and more so, b) that in everyday practice, it blends with a variety of other ways of communicating to create interactional effects larger than the sum of their parts.
Comments 3
Kenneth M. Kambara — February 28, 2011
I think you're spot-on with this. I think that marketing and consumer behaviour are struggling with these same issues in the wake of social media and the growing phenomenon of brand communities. The increased prevalence of the "micronarrative" (short posts, images, comments, etc.) communicated instantaneously that use humour or draw upon the "fail" meme is affecting brands in ways not fully understood, at least in my opinion. The implications for selling are peanuts compared to those for social movements. Unless, one is still clinging to the idea of a Gladwellian universe.
Don Waisanen — March 3, 2011
Interesting comment about the "fail" meme. It makes me wish I could do more network analysis, or time permitting, should probably try to figure out what kinds of mapping tools might exist for tracking humorous discourses clustering around that kind of meme. Do you know of any software or applications that could track the use of humor within and across social media? Maybe some kind of online tracking method needs invented that could help us deal better with these impacts.
azaza — March 28, 2011
This is not a joke