Comedy and Political Theory

Session Submission Type: Virtual Full Paper Panel

Session Description

Democratic public spheres are replete with comedic rhetoric. This was the case in democratic Athens, and it is also the case today, where comedy, humour, satire and parody are more prevalent than ever. We watch comedic television programs, flock to comedic social media and laugh our way both into and out of difficult political encounters. Increasingly, many of us are turning to comedic sources for our news, viewing current events via the prism of comedy. Further, comedy has seeped into electoral politics, with politicians of different stripes employing humour in their campaigns and rallies, both to laugh with their supporters as well as to laugh at their opponents.

What specifically are the effects of comedy on and for our politics? How might comedic modalities shape political outcomes relative to tragic, dramatic, romantic or other such modes of speech or communication? What are the consequences of a demos that laughs with or at one another, and what, normatively and critically, distinguishes different types of laughter? When is comedy a spur for critical reflection or political action and when is it a vehicle either for cathartic release or for assertions of superiority? Finally, how might comedy facilitate productive pluralism rather than spur mere antagonism or withdrawal into our respective echo chambers?

Bringing together perspectives from the history of political thought, feminist philosophy, comedy studies and critical theory, the papers on this panel are intended to stimulate further discussion on comedy’s political role in the 21st century. Papers address comedy’s potential to facilitate a new model for democracy in the Anthropocene (Lars Tønder); late night comedy’s relation to hyperbole and polarization (Julie Webber); the relation between laughter and truth telling and comedic deception’s role in emancipatory politics (Patrick Giamario); and comedy’s unique proclivity to shape its own dissonant reception (Simon Lambek).

Sub Unit

• Division 2: Foundations of Political Theory

Individual Presentations

• “Staying with the Trouble”: Comic Politics in the Anthropocene - Lars Toender, University of Copenhagen

• Ridicule This! Comedic Stylization and Its Role in Political Hyperbole - Julie A. Webber, Illinois State University

• It's Funny Because It's True? Reflections on Laughter, Deception, and Critique - Patrick Giamario, University of North Carolina, Greensboro

• Comedy as Dissonant Rhetoric - Simon Lambek, University of British Columbia

Chair

• Kennan Ferguson University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

Discussant

• John T. Lombardini College of William & Mary