 | Punching Up in Stand-Up Comedy: Speaking Truth to Power Subjects: Museum and Heritage Studies; Arts; Area Studies; Humanities; Language & Literature; Theatre & Performance Studies; Asian Studies; Music & Drama; Cultural Studies; Media & Film Studies; Language & Linguistics; Popular Culture; Media & Communications; Drama; Practice & Practitioners; Language and Communication; Punching Up in Stand-Up Comedy explores the new forms, voices and venues of stand-up comedy in different parts of the world and its potential role as a counterhegemonic tool for satire, commentary and expression of identity especially for the disempowered or marginalised. The title brings together essays and perspectives on stand-up and satire from different cultural and political contexts across the world which raise pertinent issues regarding its role in contemporary times, especially with the increased presence of OTT platforms and internet penetration that allows for easy access to this art form. It examines the theoretical understanding of the different aspects of the humour, aesthetics and politics of stand-up comedy, as well as the exploration of race, gender, politics and conflicts, urban culture and LGBTQ+ identities in countries such as Indonesia, Finland, France, Iran, and India. It also asks the question whether along with contesting and destabilizing existing discursive frameworks and identities, a stand-up comic can open up a space for envisaging a new social, cultural and political order? This book will appeal to people interested in performance and performance studies. It will also be of interest to students and researchers of media, popular culture, digital culture, sociology, digital sociology and anthropology, and English literature. Rashi Bhargava is currently an Assistant Professor at the Department of Sociology, Maitreyi College, University of Delhi. She completed her doctorate from the Centre for the Study of Social Systems, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University. Her research interests include politics and culture in North-East India, sociology of gender and urban spaces, visual culture and disciplinary practices of sociology and social anthropology in South Asia. Her recent publications include Social Scientist in South Asia: Personal Narratives, Social Forces and Negotiations co-edited with Achla Pritam Tandon and Gopi Tripathy and Materiality and V isuality in North East India: An Interdisciplinary Perspective co-edited with Tiplut Nongbri. Richa Chilana is currently teaching at the School of Liberal Studies, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun as an Assistant Professor. She has a decade long experience of teaching English Literature at the Department of English, Maitreyi College, University of Delhi. Her doctoral thesis titled "Negotiating the Veil: Purdah in Twentieth Century Indian English Writing" (Centre for English Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University) engaged with the complexities of purdah as a garment, an ideology and division of space on the basis of gender. She has taught, has an avid interest and has published research articles and book chapters in the fields of gender studies, Indian English writing, popular fiction and literature and cinema. |
