[Commlist] CfC-Ridicule and Humour in the Global South: The politics of laughter in the social media age-An edited collection

*Proposed title: *Ridicule and Humour in the Global South:  The politics 
of laughter in the social media age

Ridicule and humour, while making people laugh and at times appreciate 
their conditions of existence or even push them to make alterations – as 
a capacitor for change – has been one of the accessible ways of coping 
or bringing about change in society. In some cases it has been the 
dictators’ ways of resisting change. Daily we encounter humorous 
engagements thanks to the digitized public spheres which have made these 
accessible on the click of a button. While humour, ridicule and comedy 
could be seen as lighter and pleasant forms of and to human 
communications, identity markers, they have the potential of engendering 
hatred, violence and hatred based on social, political, ethnic or racial 
lines. However, in some cases attempts at humorously depicting societal 
ills and perceived realities have led to debates and attitudes that may 
drive people apart, moreso in ethnically or racially fractious 
communities like South Africa where the privileged few stained with 
‘whiteliness’ and white privilege insist that the world be seen, and 
understood to function only through the way they see and understand 
it. In other cases, humour has been critical at providing people with an 
avenue to face their fears especially during disasters and pandemics 
like the Coronavirus (Covi-19) and others, political crises such as 
coups and stolen elections and many others.

This edited book collection attempts to link crucial nodal points in 
politics, identity and humour in the digital age in the Global South. 
This work is different from other seminal works on humour and politics 
which have largely not focused on the digital age where ordinary 
citizens’ agency has been amplified and they have participated in some 
debates in ways unimagined before. For instance most researches on 
humour look at newspaper cartoons, rumour and folklore and these are 
disseminated through platforms whose reach is limited. This book project 
therefore attempts at looking at how digital media have made debates and 
spread of humour, politics and identity ubiquitous. The book will offers 
a nexus between identity, ridicule, humour and digital media where 
ordinary people’s engagements with those issues considered taboo such as 
politics and identity are brought to the fore and engaged with. The book 
is expected to draw a wide array of chapters that problematize and 
theorise humour  and ridicule in the digital age. Underlying this humour 
and ridicule are of course issues that deal with the political, be it at 
national, global or even village level. Identity, too, has been a 
critical aspect on the menu of the ridiculous and comical especially in 
Africa where racial and ethnic tensions remain rife and pronounced. The 
role of the digital media in this regard remains undertheorized in 
academic works and this book partly covers that lacuna. Further the 
chapters are to gauge how these discussions have liberated certain 
debates and what this means for coping or encouraging agential 
citizenship to foster change, cope with difficulties and how dictators 
use different forms of humour as suppression or resistance strategies.

Topics expected to be covered include theories of humour and ridicule in 
Africa in the digital age,

Humour in African politics,

Humour and disasters in the digital age

  Humour and ridicule in the digital cultures,

  Humour and ridicule,

Humour and desensitization,

Humour, identity, ethnicity and race,

Humour and art,

Humour and politics,

Humour and the marginalized,

Humour on social media,

  Humour, politics and culture,

Humour and ethics in the digital age,

Humour and taboo,

Humour as coping mechanism and humour as disciplining the political elite.

Please email chapter proposals of up to 500 words in length, as well as
brief author biographical information, to the volume editor at 
(shepherd.mpofu /at/ ul.ac.za) <mailto:(shepherd.mpofu /at/ ul.ac.za)> and copy 
(semang.mathobela /at/ ul.ac.za) <mailto:(semang.mathobela /at/ ul.ac.za)> . These 
should be sent through by the 30^th of April 2020. Decisions on 
proposals will be made and communicated to authors around May 20, 2020.

---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please use it responsibly and wisely.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------