Identity and difference without opposition : constructing and exposing strategic subjectivities for social comic comment

Abstract

This explication is an investigation into comedy as a medium for constructing strategic subjectivities and the potential holds for diffusing experiences of difference in contemporary South African contexts. Our culture is on that encounters difference and often experiences these moments as threatening. Comedy creates the opportunity for engagement with other subjective experiences, however, this potential is in my opinion, mostly wasted and performances tend instead to support the dominant social discourse. By examining the nature of subjectivity and identity within a postmodern, technologically connected culture, the active agency of the audience is kindled by the performer. The strategies of this encounter are discussed in relation to Lawrence Mintz's theories of the licensed spokesperson and the negative exemplar.