Studies in Political Humour
In between political critique and public entertainment
Editors
If politics is a serious matter and humour a funny one, this volume investigates how and why the boundaries between the two are blurred: politics can be represented in a humorous manner and humour can have a serious intent. Political humour conveys criticism against the political status quo and/or recycles and reinforces dominant views on politics. The data analysed comes from European states with different sociopolitical histories and traditions and the methodologies adopted originate in different fields (discourse analysis, folklore and cultural studies, media studies, sociolinguistics, sociology, theatre semiotics). The first part of the volume is dedicated to politicians’ humour as a means of public positioning, deliberation, and eventually attack against political adversaries, while the second one involves political satire as realised in different genres: animation, impersonation, and cartoons. Last but not least, the third part shows how political humour can be manipulated in public debates or become an integral part of postmodern art.
[Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture, 46] 2011. x, 290 pp.
Publishing status: Available
© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Table of Contents
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Acknowledgements | p. vii
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List of tables and figures | pp. ix–x
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Chapter 1. Humour in politics and the politics of humour: An introductionVilly Tsakona and Diana Elena Popa | pp. 1–30
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Part I. Humour by politicians
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Chapter 2. Fun in the German parliament?Ralph Müller | pp. 33–59
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Chapter 3. Informal talk in formal settings: Humorous narratives in Greek parliamentary debatesArgiris Archakis and Villy Tsakona | pp. 61–81
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Chapter 4. “Stop caressing the ears of the hooded”: Political humour in times of conflictMarianthi Georgalidou | pp. 83–107
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Chapter 5. Entertaining and enraging: The functions of verbal violence in broadcast political debatesMarta Dynel | pp. 109–133
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Part II. Political humour in the media
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Chapter 6. Political satire dies last: A study on democracy, opinion formation, and political satireDiana Elena Popa | pp. 137–165
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Chapter 7. Being Berlusconi: Sabina Guzzanti’s impersonation of the Italian Prime Minister between stage and screenClare Watters | pp. 167–189
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Chapter 8. Mocking Fascism: Popular culture and political satire as counter-hegemonyEfharis Mascha | pp. 191–213
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Part III. Public debates and political humour
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Chapter 9. Politics of taste in a post-Socialist state: A case studyLiisi Laineste | pp. 217–241
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Chapter 10. Humour and… Stalin in a National Theatre of Greece postmodern production: Stalin: A Discussion about Greek TheatreVicky Manteli | pp. 243–270
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Chapter 11. Postscript: A final (?) note on political humourDiana Elena Popa and Villy Tsakona | pp. 271–278
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Contributors | pp. 279–282
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Name index | pp. 283–286
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Subject index | pp. 287–290
“A praiseworthy feature of the volume lies in its strong editorship. [...] Studies in Political Humour is a volume which scholars working on political discourse, humour theory, and the interface of the two will find valuable. It considers humour (broadly defined) from a wide range of perspectives and this may inspire readers to look to other disciplines when carrying out further work on such topics.”
James Murphy, University of Manchester, on Linguist List, 23.1425
“This interesting collection of essays by scholars from Romania, Poland, Estonia, Greece, Switzerland and England is a significant contribution to the study of the uses of humour within politics in several European countries, including Germany and Italy. [...] Studies in Political Humour is an excellent and wide-ranging volume that should enjoy a place on the bookshelves of both humour scholars and political scientists.”
Christie Davies, University of Reading, in Israeli Journal of Humor Research, 1(1), 2012
“As a survey of humour in a relatively geographically contained though culturally diverse area, this book functions as a solid starting point from which to launch into the world of political humour research.”
Jay M. Woodhams, Victoria University of Wellington, in Language in Society 42 (2013)
“Editors Villy Tsakona and Diana Elena Popa are to be congratulated for organizing this methodologically varied, empirically wide-ranging, and theoretically informed collection of European contributions to the study of political humor [...]. This collection is very valuable in that it demonstrates that political humor operates in a relationship of co-dependency. Humor reflects and
enables reflection upon political realities, but those same political dynamics also contest the status of humor and appropriate it for use in serious conflict.”
enables reflection upon political realities, but those same political dynamics also contest the status of humor and appropriate it for use in serious conflict.”
Sammy Basu, Willamette University, in Humor 27:3 (2014)
“
Studies in Political Humour is well rounded. The book guides both expert and general readers through a range of discussions about political humour. The applications, functions, and limitations of political humour and the difficulty of using it to communicate values and positions between parts of society become especially apparent in the concluding remarks of Tsakona and Popa. Extending the editors’ reflections would come in handy here as a starting point for further study in national environments. Those interested in the political dimension of humour and European politics will find the book a very helpful resource.”
Benjamin Nickl, in Pragmatics.Review Vol. 2:2 (2014)
“The book is a timely contribution as it addresses the current trends in political humour study. One of its strengths is its analysis of data in different genres collected from different languages and countries and the various methodologies adopted to analyze discourse.”
Songqing Li, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, in Discourse Studies, Vol. 15:6 (2013), pag. 782-784
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This list is based on CrossRef data as of 16 april 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.
Subjects
Communication Studies
Main BIC Subject
CFG: Semantics, Pragmatics, Discourse Analysis
Main BISAC Subject
LAN009000: LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General