“Breaking Taboos”: Bond Notes, Humour, and Civil Resistance in Zimbabwean Cyber-Communities

IF 0.5 Q4 COMMUNICATION Communicatio-South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research Pub Date : 2022-10-02 DOI:10.1080/02500167.2023.2181370

Zvinashe Mamvura, S. Nyota, Hugh Mangeya

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Abstract

Abstract Humour can function as a protest against bad governance, and citizens often appropriate digital humour to speak back to power. The article analyses 20 satirical memes and texts shared on Facebook and WhatsApp after the government of Zimbabwe introduced bond notes in 2016. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe indicated that the bond notes would be pegged equally against the US dollar. However, the Zimbabwean populace did not embrace the idea of the bond notes. The article uses the theory of voice and the thesis of the weapons of the weak to interrogate how humour speaks truth to power on online public platforms. Zimbabwean netizens do not enjoy such an opportunity in the actual public sphere, given the inhibiting political environment in Zimbabwe. Civil resistance is a form of protest by civilians against those in authority. Cyberspaces offer alternative platforms for registering dissatisfaction with state policies in contexts where the state has orchestrated a substantial shrinkage of the democratic space.

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“打破禁忌”：债券、幽默和津巴布韦网络社区的民间抵抗

摘要幽默可以作为对不良治理的抗议，公民经常使用数字幽默来反击权力。这篇文章分析了2016年津巴布韦政府推出债券后，脸书和WhatsApp上分享的20个讽刺模因和文本。津巴布韦储备银行表示，债券将与美元平等挂钩。然而，津巴布韦民众并不接受债券的想法。文章运用声音理论和弱者武器理论，探讨幽默如何在网络公共平台上向权力说出真相。鉴于津巴布韦的政治环境令人压抑，津巴布韦网民在实际公共领域并不享受这样的机会。民间抵抗是平民对当权者的一种抗议形式。在国家策划民主空间大幅缩小的情况下，网络空间为登记对国家政策的不满提供了替代平台。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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Communicatio-South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research COMMUNICATION-

CiteScore

1.50

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0.00%

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