Woke Comedy vs. Pride Comedy: Kondabolu, Peters, and the Ethics of Performed Indian Accents
- Authors
- Type
- Published Article
- Journal
- The Philosophy of Humor Yearbook
- Publisher
- De Gruyter
- Publication Date
- May 18, 2020
- Volume
- 1
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 211–219
- Identifiers
- DOI: 10.1515/phhumyb-2020-0015
- Source
- De Gruyter
- Keywords
- Disciplines
- License
- Yellow
Abstract
Humor can be used as a tool for a wide range of tasks, including fighting for social justice. How to most effectively use it, however, is a matter of contention. Jokes that alienate members of an out-group can be called “Otherizing,” and can cause harm by virtue of the alienation. Woke comics, like Hari Kondabolu, intentionally avoid Otherizing in general, but may engage in a version of it that seeks to defang stereotypical treatments of out-groups by replacing the alienating content with something benign. We term this use of Otherizing, “mOtherizing.” Pride comics, like Russell Peters, take a different approach and try to usurp the power of Otherizing by over-engaging in it. The intention is to use the jokes to cobble together a coalition of out-groups that turns itself into an in-group. We term this use of Otherizing, “brOtherizing.”
