LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 18:9 September 2018
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
         N. Nadaraja Pillai, Ph.D.
         Renuga Devi, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.
         Dr. S. Chelliah, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Is English Stand-Up Comedy in India Intersectional?

Sonali Sahoo, M.A., M.Phil. Scholar
Dr Rolla Das, Assistant Professor, M.A., Ph.D.

Abstract

Stand-up has been found to share similar social responsibilities as that of Parrhesia which means “free speech” in a democratic space (Foucault, 1983). Politicization of the comedic space thus brings forth its potential as a critique on social injustice, incorporating a range of issues prevalent in any societal setting. On this premise, the space ideally should have inclusivity on the basis of caste, class, and gender across various communities in a country as diverse as India. However, on evaluation, we argue, that English stand-up comedy, through its demographics, nature of participation, discourses, and performative locations challenge their fundamental premise.

Using the theoretical (Crenshaw, 1991) and methodological framework (Intercategorical methodology) from intersectionality, the researchers present in this paper, a critique of the nature of English stand-up performances in India. In conclusion, two Hindi stand-up comedy performances have been used to counteract the gradual transition of stand-up comedy from a space that could ‘stand-up’ for social change to an elite-privileged space, where issues, political or social are raised strategically, mostly, if it matches the sensibilities of the urban populace.

Introduction

While stand-up comedy is being hailed as a contemporary cultural phenomenon that takes cognizance of social discriminations and responds to the same by inverting the disparity in power and raising voice against marginalisation, its roots could be traced back to the Greek figure of speech Parrhesia (emerging around 400 B.C) which stood for “free speech”. Foucault (1983) considers an individual a parrhesiastes, “the one who uses parrhesia, i.e., is the one who speaks the truth.” In contemporary times, an analogy could be drawn between the stand-up comics’ alias parrhesiastes and the society.

This is only the beginning part of the ARTICLE. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Sonali Sahoo
Door no. 304, GV Comforts, 3rd cross, SG Palya
Koramangala, Hosur Road
Bengaluru - 560029
sonali.sahoo@res.christuniversity.in

Dr Rolla Das
Centre for Publications and Department of English
Office: Centre for Publications, Ground Floor - Central Block
Contact: 080-4012-9019
CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Hosur Road, Bangalore 560029
India
rolla.das@christuniversity.in

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