Description

This edited volume brings together scholars of comedy to assess how political comedy encounters neoliberal themes in contemporary media. Central to this task is the notion of genre; under neoliberal conditions (where market logics motivate most actions) genre becomes “mixed.” Once stable, discreet categories such as comedy, horror, drama and news and entertainment have become blurred so as to be indistinguishable. The classic modern paradigm of comedy/tragedy no longer holds, if it ever did. Moreover, as politics becomes more economic and less moral or normative under neoliberalism, we are able to see new resistance to comedic genres that support neoliberal strategies to hide racial and gender injustice such as unlaughter, ambiguity, and anti-comedy. There is also an increasing interest with comedy as a form of entertainment on the political right following both Brexit in the UK and the election of Trump in the U.S. Several essays confront this conservative comedy and place it in context of the larger humor history of these debates over free speech and political correctness. For comedians too, entry into popular media now follows the familiar neoliberal script of the celebration of self-help with the increasing admonishment of those who fail to win in market terms. Laughter plays an important role in shaming and valorizing (often at the same time!) the precarious subject in the aftermath of global recession. Doubling down on austerity, self-help policies and equivocation in the face of extremist challenges (right and left), politics foils the critical comedian’s attempt to satirize and parody its object. Characterized by ambiguity, mixed genre and the increasing use of anti-humor, political comedy mirrors the social and political world it mocks, parodies and celebrates often with lackluster results suggesting that the joke might be on us, as audiences.

Table of Contents

Chapter One: All They Need is Lulz: Racist trolls, unlaughter, and Leslie Jones

Viveca Greene

Chapter Two: Brexit Irony, Caricature and Neoliberalism

Simon Weaver

Chapter Three: What’s Wrong with Slactivism? Confronting the Neoliberal Assault on Millennials

Sophia A. McClennen

Chapter Four: Political Humour in the face of Neoliberal Authoritarianism in “New” Turkey

Secil Dagtas

Chapter Five: A Silly Citizenship Take on Infotainment Satire: The Medium of Televisual Political Satire as Ludic Surveillance

David Grondin and Marc-Olivier Castagner

Chapter Six: The Political Economy of Comedy in Late-Night Shows

Don J. Waisanen,

Chapter Seven: British Comedy and the Politics of Resistance: The Liminality of Right Wing Comedy

James Brassett

Chapter Eight: I Want to Party with You, Cowboy: Stephen Colbert and the Aesthetic Logic of “Truthiness” After Campaign 2016

Aaron McKain and Thomas Lawson

Chapter Nine: From Awkward To Dope: Black Women Comics in the Alternative Comedy Scene

Jessyka Finley

Chapter Ten: Savage New Media: Discursive Campaigns For/Against Political Correctness

Rebecca Krefting

Chapter Eleven: “An Actual Nightmare- but Pretty Good TV”: Comedy/Horror in The Trump Era

Diane Rubenstein

Conclusion: You’re Fired!

Julie Webber

Product details

Published 11 Dec 2018
Format Ebook (PDF)
Edition 1st
Extent 1
ISBN 9781978751491
Imprint Lexington Books
Illustrations 3 b/w illustrations; 14 b/w photos;
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Anthology Editor

Julie A. Webber

Contributor

James Brassett

Contributor

Seçil Dagtas

Contributor

Jessyka Finley

Contributor

Viveca Greene

Contributor

David Grondin

Contributor

Thomas Lawson

Contributor

Aaron McKain

Contributor

Don Waisanen

Contributor

Simon Weaver

Contributor

Julie A. Webber

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