[Commlist] Call for Proposals: The State of Political Comedy

Call for Proposals: The State of Political Comedy

On February 12, 2024, roughly eight and a half years since his initial 
retirement, Jon Stewart returned to his role as host of /The Daily 
Show/. In its prime, /The Daily Show with Jon Stewart/ had been the most 
celebrated and influential outlet for political comedy in the world. It 
had served as a centerpiece for American political conversation during 
the Bush and Obama administrations, spawned a raft of imitators in 
America and abroad, and inspired countless debates regarding the 
relationship between comic entertainment and serious politics.
Although Stewart’s return was hailed in some quarters (and provided an 
immense ratings boost for the show), many commentators criticized the 
move as a return to the past. In the years since Stewart’s retirement, 
times have changed for politics and comedy alike. On the one hand there 
is the rise of new global populisms, a decline of American influence, 
and the ongoing consequences of climate change and the pandemic. On the 
other hand, comedy has becoming increasingly embroiled in cultural 
conflicts, even as its media form has been disrupted by new 
communication technologies. Amongst all this change, was the Stewart 
restoration a return to glorious form or an admission that there were no 
new ideas? And what might this mean for political comedy more broadly in 
a new era for both politics and comedy?
Twenty years after the ‘golden years’ of Stewart’s original run on /The 
Daily Show/, this special section of /Comedy Studies /invites 
contributors to reflect on the current state of political comedy: What 
role does comedy serve in the political environment of the 2020s? Is 
there still a belief that comedy can inform meaningful and/or 
responsible interventions in political conversations? How has political 
comedy responded to changes in the economic and technological 
infrastructure of media? Can politics still be funny?
Topics might include (but are not limited to):

  * The Legacy of /The Daily Show/ and its contemporaries;
  * Comic responses to new political formations, including populism,
    nationalism and the far right;
  * The relation between political comedy, ‘cancel culture,’ and 
‘wokeness’;
  * The efficacy of political comedy as a form of intervention;
  * The international and global status of political comedy;
  * Political comedy in online and digital media;
  * The future of political comedy.

Please submit proposals (250-300 words) to Nicholas Holm 
<(nhfholm /at/ massey.ac.nz)> by Friday 7 June 2024. Selected proposals will be 
invited to prepare articles of 6000-8000 words which will be due in 
November 2024 and will be peer reviewed.
Articles will be published on-line as they are accepted. The special 
section will be published as a set in an issue when complete. This is 
expected to take place in 2025.


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