The why of humour during a crisis: An exploration of COVID-19 memes in South Africa and Zimbabwe

References

1. Adegoju, A., and Oyebode, O.. ( 2015;), ‘ Humour as discursive practice in Nigeria’s 2015 presidential election online campaign discourse. ’, Discourse Studies, 17:6, pp. 643–62.
   [Google Scholar]
2. Alexander, J.. ( 2010;), ‘ The political imaginaries and social lives of political prisoners in post-2000 Zimbabwe. ’, Journal of Southern African Studies, 36:2, pp. 483–503.
   [Google Scholar]
3. Bakhtin, M. M.. ( 1984), Rabelais and His World (trans. H. Iswolsky), Bloomington and Indianapolis, IN:: Indiana University Press;.
   [Google Scholar]
4. Burgess, J. E., and Green, J. B.. ( 2009), Video and Participatory Culture, Cambridge:: Polity Press;.
   [Google Scholar]
5. Castells, M.. ( 2008;), ‘ The new public sphere: Global civil society, communication networks, and global governance. ’, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 616:1, pp. 78–93.
   [Google Scholar]
6. Chigudu, S.. ( 2017;), ‘ “State of emergency”: The politics of Zimbabwe’s cholera outbreak, 2008/09. ’, doctoral dissertation, Oxford:: University of Oxford;.
   [Google Scholar]
7. Deveau, D. J.. ( 2012;), ‘ The aristocrats! Comedy, grotesqueries and political inversions of the masculine code. ’, Humor, 25:4, pp. 401–15.
   [Google Scholar]
8. Eko, L.. ( 2015;), ‘ The art of satirical deterritorialization: Shifting cartoons from real space to cyberspace in sub-Saharan Africa. ’, International Communication Gazette, 77:3, pp. 248–66.
   [Google Scholar]
9. Ellis, S.. ( 1989;), ‘ Tuning in to pavement radio. ’, African Affairs, 88:352, pp. 321–30.
   [Google Scholar]
10. Evens, W. D., and Ulasavich, A.. ( 2005;), ‘ News media tackling tobacco control: A review of sampling methodologies. ’, Journal of Health Communication, 10:5, pp. 403–17.
    [Google Scholar]
11. Goriunova, O.. ( 2012;), ‘ New media idiocy: Convergence. ’, The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 19:2, pp. 223–35.
    [Google Scholar]
12. Habermas, J.. ( 1974;), ‘ The public sphere: An encyclopedia article (1964). ’ (trans. J. Habermas, S. Lennox and F. Lennox), New German Critique, 3, pp. 49–55.
    [Google Scholar]
13. Halliday, M.. ( 1985), An Introduction to Functional Grammar, London:: Arnold;.
    [Google Scholar]
14. Hammet, D.. ( 2010;), ‘ Resistance, power and geopolitics in Zimbabwe. ’, Area, 43:2, pp. 202–10.
    [Google Scholar]
15. Hendricks, H., and Jansen, L.. ( 2017;), ‘ Frightfully funny: Combining threat and humour in health messages for men and women. ’, Psychology and Health, 33:5, pp. 594–613.
    [Google Scholar]
16. Hess, A.. ( 2009;), ‘ Resistance up in smoke: Analyzing the limitations of deliberation on YouTube. ’, Critical Studies in Media Communication, 26:5, pp. 411–34.
    [Google Scholar]
17. Jones, S. R.,, Torres, V., and Arminio, J.. ( 2006), Negotiating the Complexities of Qualitative Research in Higher Education: Fundamental Elements and Issues, New York:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
18. Karekwaivenevanhu, G. H.. ( 2019;), ‘ “Tapanduka Zvamuchese”: Facebook, “unruly publics”, and Zimbabwean politics. ’, Journal of East African Studies, 13:1, pp. 54–71.
    [Google Scholar]
19. Kasiyamhuru, C.. ( 2019;), ‘ Does President Mugabe’s shit stink too? An exploration of selected Mugabe memes on Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp (2015–2017). ’, M.A. thesis, Johannesburg:: University of Johannesburg;.
    [Google Scholar]
20. Kress, G., and van Leeuwen, T.. ( 1996), Reading Images, London:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
21. Kress, G., and van Leeuwen, T.. ( 2006), Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design, New York:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
22. Lee, J. Y.,, Slater, M. D., and Tchernev, J.. ( 2015;), ‘ Self-deprecating humor versus other-deprecating humor in health messages. ’, Journal of Health Communication, 20:10, pp. 1–11.
    [Google Scholar]
23. Makwambeni, B., and Adebayo, J. O.. ( 2021;), ‘ “Humour and the politics of resistance”: Audience readings of popular amateur videos in Zimbabwe. ’, in S. Mpofu. (ed.), The Politics of Laughter in the Social Media Age, Cham:: Palgrave Macmillan;, pp. 155–73.
    [Google Scholar]
24. Matsilele, T.,, Tshuma, L., and Msimanga, M.. ( 2022;), ‘ Reconstruction and adaptation in times of a contagious crisis: A case of African newsrooms’ response to the Covid-19 pandemic. ’, Journal of Communication Inquiry, article first, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/01968599221085702. Accessed 4 April 2022.
    [Google Scholar]
25. Matsilele, T.. ( 2019;), ‘ Social media dissidence in Zimbabwe. ‘, Ph.D. thesis, Johannesburg:: University of Johannesburg;.
    [Google Scholar]
26. Mbembe, A.. ( 2001), On the Post Colony, Berkeley, CA:: University of California Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
27. Mpofu, S.. ( 2014;), ‘ Public and diasporic online media in the discursive construction of national identity: A case of “Zimbabwe”. ’, Ph.D. thesis, Johannesburg:: University of Witswatersrand;.
    [Google Scholar]
28. Mpofu, S., and Matsilele, T.. ( 2020;), ‘ Social media and the concept of dissidence in Zimbabwean politics. ’, in S. Ndlovu-Gatsheni, and P. Ruhanya. (eds), The History and Political Transition of Zimbabwe, Cham:: Palgrave Macmillan;, pp. 221–43.
    [Google Scholar]
29. Msimanga, M. J.,, Tshuma, L. A., and Ndlovu, M.. ( 2021;), ‘ An analysis of Internet memes and discourses on traditional medicines as remedies for COVID-19 in Zimbabwe. ’, in M. Shepherd. (ed.), Digital Humour in the Covid-19 Pandemic Perspectives from the Global South, Cham:: Palgrave Macmillan;, pp. 101–22.
    [Google Scholar]
30. Msimanga, M. J.,, Ncube, G., and Mkhwananzi, P.. ( 2021;), ‘ Political satire and the mediation of the Zimbabwean crisis in the era of the “new dispensation”: The case of Magamba TV. ’, in S. Mpofu. (ed.), The Politics of Laughter in the Social Media Age: Perspectives from the Global South, Cham:: Palgrave Macmillan;, pp. 43–67.
    [Google Scholar]
31. Mututwa, W., and Matsilele, T.. ( 2020;), ‘ COVID-19 infections on international celebrities: Self presentation and tweeting down pandemic awareness. ’, Journal of Science Communication, 19:5, https://doi.org/10.22323/2.19050209. Accessed 10 February 2020.
    [Google Scholar]
32. Ndlovu, M.. ( 2021;), ‘ Humour in the time of COVID-19 pandemic: A critical analysis of the subversive meanings of WhatsApp memes in Zimbabwe. ’, in S. Mpofu. (ed.), [Crossref] Digital Humour in the Covid-19 Pandemic Perspectives from the Global South, Cham:: Palgrave Macmillan;, pp. 259–79.
    [Google Scholar]
33. Ndlovu-Gatsheni, S. J.. ( 2020;), ‘ The Zimbabwean national question: Key components and unfinished business. ’, in S. Ndlovu-Gatsheni, and P. Ruhanya. (eds), The History and Political Transition of Zimbabwe, Cham:: Palgrave Macmillan;, pp. 51–84.
    [Google Scholar]
34. NEW FRAME ( 2020;), ‘ Unlearning the Zimbabwean lesson. ’, 17 April, https://www.newframe.com/long-read-unlearning-the-zimbabwean-lesson/. Accessed 10 February 2020.
35. Nyamnjoh, F. B.. ( 2009;), ‘ Press cartoons and politics: The case of Cameroon. ’, in J. A. Lent. (ed.), Cartooning in Africa, Cresskill:: Hampton Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
36. Obadare, E.. ( 2009;), ‘ The uses of ridicule: Humour, “infrapolitics” and civil society in Nigeria. ’, African Affairs, 108:431, pp. 241–61.
    [Google Scholar]
37. Papacharissi, Z.. ( 2010), A Private Sphere: Democracy in a Digital Age, Malden, MA:: Polity Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
38. Pearce, K., and Hajizada, A.. ( 2014;), ‘ No laughing matter: Humor as a means of dissent in the digital era: The case of authoritarian Azerbaijan. ’, Demokratizatsiya, 22:1, pp. 67–85.
    [Google Scholar]
39. Ross, A. S., and River, D. J.. ( 2018;), ‘ Discursive deflection: Accusation of “fake news” and the spread of mis- and disinformation in the tweets of President Trump. ’, Social Media and Society, 4:2, https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2056305118776010. Accessed 10 February 2020.
    [Google Scholar]
40. Sharra, A., and Matsilele, T.. ( 2021;), ‘ This is a laughing matter: Social media as a sphere of trolling power in Malawi and Zimbabwe. ’, in S. Mpofu. (ed.), The Politics of Laughter in the Social Media Age, Cham:: Palgrave Macmillan;, pp. 113–34.
    [Google Scholar]
41. Shereen, M. A.,, Suliman, K.,, Kazmi, A.,, Bashir, N., and Siddique, R.. ( 2020;), ‘ COVID-19 infection: Origin, transmission, and characteristics of human coronaviruses. ’, Journal of Advanced Research, 24, pp. 91–98.
    [Google Scholar]
42. Shifman, L.. ( 2014), Memes in Digital Culture, Massachusetts, MA:: MIT Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
43. Shifman, L.. ( 2007;), ‘ Humor in the age of digital reproduction: Continuity and change in internet-based comic texts. ’, International Journal of Communication, 1:2007, pp. 187–209.
    [Google Scholar]
44. Siziba, G., and Ncube, G.. ( 2015;), ‘ Mugabe’s fall from grace: Satire and fictional narratives as silent forms of resistance in/on Zimbabwe. ’, Social Dynamics, 41:3, pp. 516–39.
    [Google Scholar]
45. Stam, R.. ( 1989), Subversive Pleasures: Bakhtin, Cultural Criticism and Film, Baltimore, MD and London:: Johns Hopkins University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
46. Taecharungroj, V., and Nueangjamnong, P.. ( 2015;), ‘ Humour 2.0: Styles and types of humour and virality of memes on Facebook. ’, Journal of Creative Communications, 10:3, pp. 288–302.
    [Google Scholar]
47. Tavory, I.. ( 2014;), ‘ The situations of culture: Humor and the limits of measurability. ’, Theory and Society, 43:3, pp. 275–89.
    [Google Scholar]
48. Uzuegbunam, C. E.. ( 2020;), ‘ A critical analysis of transgressive user-generated images and memes and their portrayal of dominant political discourses during Nigeria’s 2015 general elections. ’, in M. Ndlela, and W. Mano. (eds), Social Media and Elections in Africa, Volume 2: Challenges and Opportunities, Cham:: Palgrave Macmillan;, pp. 223–43.
    [Google Scholar]
49. van Leeuwen, T.. ( 2005), Introducing Social Semiotics, London and New York:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
50. Wasserman, H.. ( 2020;), ‘ Laughter in the time of a pandemic: Why South Africans are joking about coronavirus. ’, The Conversation, 15 March, https://theconversation.com/laughter-in-the-time-of-a-pandemic-why-south-africans-are-joking-about-coronavirus-133528. Accessed 15 July 2020.
    [Google Scholar]
51. Willems, W.. ( 2011;),  ‘ Comic strips and “the crisis”: Postcolonial laughter and coping with everyday life in Zimbabwe. ’, Popular Communication, 9:2, pp. 126–45.
    [Google Scholar]
52. Yeku, J.. ( 2018;), ‘ The hashtag as archive: Internet memes and Nigeria’s social media election. ’, in A. Adelakun, and T. Falola. (eds), Art, Creativity, and Politics in Africa and the Diaspora, Cham:: Palgrave Macmillan;, pp. 217–45.
    [Google Scholar]
53. Yoon, J. H., and Tinkham, S. F.. ( 2013;), ‘ Humorous threat persuasion in advertising: The effects of humor, threat intensity, and issue involvement. ’, Journal of Advertising, 42:1, pp. 30–41.
    [Google Scholar]
54. Zelizer, B.. ( 1998), Remembering to Forget: Holocaust Memory Through the Camera’s Eye, Chicago, IL:: University of Chicago Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
55. Msimanga, Mbongeni Jonny,, Tshuma, Lungile Augustine, and Matsilele, Trust. ( 2022;), ‘ The why of humour during a crisis: An exploration of COVID-19 memes in South Africa and Zimbabwe. ’, Journal of African Media Studies, 14:2, pp. 189–207, https://doi.org/10.1386/jams_00073_1
    [Google Scholar]