Stand-Up: The Comic Public Sphere in India

Title

Stand-Up: The Comic Public Sphere in India

Creator

Bhargava R.; Singhal S.

Description

Comic performances might take a subversive form, especially in an autocratic regime where used as an instrument of expression by the oppressed, the silenced, the unseen, and the unheard, thereby offering a political critique of the state, economy, and systemic failures. This article discusses the ability of contemporary Indian stand-up comic performances to undermine hegemony. The article begins with a theoretical evaluation of the comic in the public sphere, moves to a brief survey of South Asian forms of comic performances, and links these concerns to performances by two contemporary comedy collectives, Aisi Taisi Democracy (ATD) and East India Comedy (EIC). The article then concludes with the possible complications of ATD and EICs contribution to a robust public sphere. Copyright 2023 (Rashi Bhargava and Samarth Singhal). Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives (by-nc-nd). Available at http://ijoc.org.

Source

International Journal of Communication, Vol-17, pp. 5852-5869.

Date

2023-01-01

Publisher

University of Southern California

Subject

comic; India; political critique; public sphere; satire; stand-up comedy

Coverage

Bhargava R., Christ University, India; Singhal S., University of California, Riverside, United States

Rights

Restricted Access

Relation

ISSN: 19328036

Format

Online

Language

English

Type

Article

Identifier

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85177084924&partnerID=40&md5=f44f0a66fd802c11e12a75e2efdd3324