Punctum.

By: Argiris Archakis and Villy Tsakona

ABSTRACT

The present study aims to put forward a critical analytical schema for discriminatory humor, taking into consideration the incongruity and aggression/superiority theories of humor and the notion of social critique as conceptualized by Reisigl and Wodak (2001). Emphasis is placed on how humorous texts, which appear to criticize racist practices and values, turn out to be ambiguous by also reproducing them, thus constituting instances of liquid racism (Weaver 2016). In particular, we analyze three internet memes comparing two different disastrous events: the Titan submersible implosion and the Messenia migrant boat sinking, both occurring in June 2023. Our textual analysis at the micro-level in terms of humor theories constitutes a form of text immanent critique, as it brings to the surface the logical contradictions/incongruities included in the texts; namely, the fact that, although a large number of migrants lose their lives, Western authorities do little to save them. At the macro-level of analysis, the sociodiagnostic critique reveals the manipulative character of antiracist discourse with which the internet memes under scrutiny seem to align. We argue that this hypocritical, as we could call it, antiracist discourse obscures the origins of the problem, i.e., the existence and strengthening of the borders and related practices, which are not humorously questioned or even ridiculed in the data examined here. We conclude by discussing the underlying assumptions that could contribute to creating humorous texts that offer an unambiguous antiracist perspective on contemporary racist acts.

 
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