This event explores the relationship between humour and politics in Africa to consider the context of the production and reception of humour in multiple African countries. Beginning with the critique that analyses of humour often focus primarily on the Global North, with little consideration for examples and practices from elsewhere, this talk provides a brief precis of a longer work that sets out to provide a vital contribution to humour theory by developing an alternative perspective. Through a wide-ranging view across the African continent, the speakers argue that humour is more than just symbolic or simply a mode of resistance and move beyond this focus to investigate the ‘political work’ that humour does and the complex entanglements in which the politics, practices and performances of humour are located.
Contributors
- Daniel Hammett, University of Sheffield, UK and University of Johannesburg, South Africa
- Laura Martin, University of Nottingham, UK and University of Makeni, Sierra Leone
- Izuu Nwankwọ, Johannes Gutenberg University, Germany
Registration will close two hours before the event begins.