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PhD Project: You Can't Laugh at That! The Politics of Laughter and Australian Overidentification Political Satire
Better Billionaires Australia (BBA) is one method out of two of a University of Melbourne, School of Social and Political Science PhD research project belonging to anthropologist Jack Brady. The project is being supervised by Associate Professor Lauren Rosewarne and co-supervised by the Chair of Social Anthropology, Professor Andrew Dawson. The project is titled “You Can’t Laugh at That! The Politics of Laughter and Australian Overidentification Satire”
This project is Participatory Action Research (PAR). The project will ask questions about how and when comedians and/or satirists moderate their content because of social and political pressures. This research aims to put the voices of satirists and comedians first. It will assist in better understandings of how power relationships and politics impact Australian comedy production.
What is Overidentification Satire? Some nerdy stuff…
Overidentification (also known as authentic irony) political satire provokes laughter and thought by mocking reality so closely, there is equal discomfort and escape in laughter. Overidentification satire has also been used to make comment when government scrutiny upon the arts is an issue (Boyer and Yurchak 2010). There is much written on audience reception theory but not much about the production of satire and its political context. This project will contribute to the understanding of the politics of Australian political satire and, by extension, the arts industry and satirical and artistic political commentary.
Australian examples of this type of comedy are Clarke and Dawe, Mark Humphries, Sammy J and Honest Government Ads.
Why?
One of the contributions of this research will be to acknowledge and understand the nature of the political pressures upon Australian political satire and to inform conversations about the preservation of satirical and artistic political commentary.
This research acknowledges a recent increase in overidentification political satire and an increase in government and public scrutiny of satire (Boyer and Yurchak 2010; see also Dawson and Brady 2021; Glitsos 2021; Macdonald, Ilic and Bartlett 2015). Another contribution of this research relates to identifying ways in which the changing Australian political landscape is perceived to influence how satire is produced.
What this research will do (that is not reflected in humour studies or political studies) is to centre the expertise of Australian satirists and comedians (see Higgie 2013 for a discussion of the need for this kind of research). It will also not only focus on the famous, but the grassroots efforts from those lesser known and not backed by large media organisations. It will also contribute to understandings of how notions of national identity, intersects with how we consume satire (Holm 2017; Milner-Davis and Foyle 2017; O’Connor) and how that might influence comedy production.
How?
Comedians and satirists will be able to directly contribute to research as content experts. They don’t have have to have experience performing comedy in topics that are directly aimed at Australian politics. However, they need to have at least 5 years performance experience at a level where they have some understanding of the issues involved in Australian comedy production. That might mean being a part of festivals such as Fringe festivals or comedy festivals or coordinated local council or regional events and community arts.
They can participate in two ways:
As part of the Better Billionaires Australia experimental satire project (see the FAQ here), and/or,
As an expert interviewee. This is for you if you have specialised in political content and have a long view on the Australian comedy scene. The interview is less than an hour with optional follow up of now more than what suits you (you can opt out of receiving bi annual results summaries and other information).
Further reading
Boyer, D. and Yurchak, A. (2010). American Stiob: Or What Late-Socialist Aesthetics of Parody Reveal about Contemporary Political Culture in the West. Cultural Anthropology, 25(2), 179–221.
Dawson, A and Brady, J. (2021, July 28). The policing of Australian satire: why defamation is still no joke, despite recent law changes. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/the-policing-of-australian-satire-why-defamation-is-still-no-joke-despite-recent-law-changes-164076
Glitsos, L. (2021, May 5). NSW deputy premier threatens to sue FriendlyJordies, reminding us that parody hits in a way traditional media can’t. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/nsw-deputy-premier-threatens-to-sue-friendlyjordies-reminding-us-that-parody-hits-in-a-way-traditional- media-cant-159345
Higgie, R. L. (2013). Speaking truth: the play of politics and Australian satire. [Doctoral Dissertation, Curtin University, Department of Communication and Cultural Studies] https://catalogue.curtin.edu.au/permalink/f/ndovj9/cur_dspace_dc20.500.11937/2180
Holm N. (2017) The Politics of Deadpan in Australasian Satire. In: Milner Davis J. (ed), Satire and Politics: The Interplay of Heritage and Practice Satire and Politics.
Krefting, R. (2019) Hannah Gadsby: On the Limits of Satire. Studies in American Humor, (5): 1, 93-102.
Macdonald, H., D. Ilic. and Bartlett, P. (2015, January 14). What are the limits of comedy and satire? Radio National Breakfast, Australian Broadcasting Corporation. https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/what-are-the-limits-of-comedy-and-satire/6016678
Milner Davis, J. and Foyle, L. (2017), The Satirist, the Larrikin, and the Politician: An Australian Perspective on Satire and Politics. In Milner Davis,
J. (Ed.), Satire and Politics: The Interplay of Heritage and Practice. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56774-7_1
O’Connor, A. (2017). The Effects of Satire: Exploring Its Impact on Political Candidate Evaluation. In: Milner Davis J. (ed), Satire and Politics: The Interplay of Heritage and Practice Satire and Politics.
I wanna be a Billionaire or contribute as an expert interviewee! Where do I sign up?
If you would like more information about the project, please contact the researcher; Jack Brady via email on jack.brady1@student.unimelb.edu.au
There is a little process to follow with consent forms and plain language statements and there is a selection process for comedians. We have a limited number of spots for duration of the project, but if you miss out this time, there may be future opportunities.