{"title":"Making Sense of the Pandemic: Kenyan Covid-19 Jokes and Online Liveness","authors":"Kimingichi Wabende","doi":"10.1080/10131752.2021.1989752","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The words, the phrases, and the faces of those delivering news regarding the Covid-19 pandemic from the Ministry of Health—new cases, number of deaths, number of recoveries, and efforts towards “flattening the curve”—became a routine television feature in Kenya. This drove Kenyans to adapt to an abnormal situation as the new norm. Kenyan comedians, especially Eric Omondi, built their jokes around the personalities that delivered the Covid-19 messaging and the expectations and fears of Kenyans regarding the effects of these special Covid-19 announcements. This article, in contrast to the extant literature’s treatment of ethno-centric humour, seeks to explore online jokes surrounding the Ministry of Health’s Covid-19 announcements and the monthly presidential addresses, as expressed by Eric Omondi, a Kenyan comedian. The aim is to understand how Kenyans made sense of the pandemic through the creation of incongruous humour.","PeriodicalId":41471,"journal":{"name":"English Academy Review-Southern African Journal of English Studies","volume":"66 1","pages":"46 - 59"},"PeriodicalIF":0.4000,"publicationDate":"2021-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"English Academy Review-Southern African Journal of English Studies","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10131752.2021.1989752","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
Abstract The words, the phrases, and the faces of those delivering news regarding the Covid-19 pandemic from the Ministry of Health—new cases, number of deaths, number of recoveries, and efforts towards “flattening the curve”—became a routine television feature in Kenya. This drove Kenyans to adapt to an abnormal situation as the new norm. Kenyan comedians, especially Eric Omondi, built their jokes around the personalities that delivered the Covid-19 messaging and the expectations and fears of Kenyans regarding the effects of these special Covid-19 announcements. This article, in contrast to the extant literature’s treatment of ethno-centric humour, seeks to explore online jokes surrounding the Ministry of Health’s Covid-19 announcements and the monthly presidential addresses, as expressed by Eric Omondi, a Kenyan comedian. The aim is to understand how Kenyans made sense of the pandemic through the creation of incongruous humour.
期刊介绍:
The English Academy Review: A Journal of English Studies (EAR) is the journal of the English Academy of Southern Africa. In line with the Academy’s vision of promoting effective English as a vital resource and of respecting Africa’s diverse linguistic ecology, it welcomes submissions on language as well as educational, philosophical and literary topics from Southern Africa and across the globe. In addition to refereed academic articles, it publishes creative writing and book reviews of significant new publications as well as lectures and proceedings. EAR is an accredited journal that is published biannually by Unisa Press (South Africa) and Taylor & Francis. Its editorial policy is governed by the Council of the English Academy of Southern Africa who also appoint the Editor-in-Chief for a three-year term of office. Guest editors are appointed from time to time on an ad hoc basis.