Comedy as an avenue for speaking truth to power. Bustop TV, Comic Pastor and Zimbabwe’s socio-economic political crisis

Abstract

 INTRODUCTION For many people, comedy is an outlet to vent out frustrations and concerns against social, political and economic ills. The primary function of comedy is to induce laughter by amusing and entertaining the audience whilst portraying targeted social institutions and persons as corrupt; ridiculing them through satirizing, parodying and poking fun at their vices. In the Zimbabwean context, ordinary people or subalterns have resorted to comedy to raise awareness on the socio-economic and political challenges that they face. Political satire has provided comic relief to many Zimbabweans but above all, it has innovative ways of „speaking truth to power‟, ( Monro, 2015:2). This study explores the extent to which comedy has been used as an avenue of speaking truth to power in the socio- economic political crisis in Zimbabwe. This is done by analyzing online comedy (video skits) by Bus Stop TV and Comic Pastor in light of the ongoing socio economic and political crisis in Zimbabwe and how these have attempted at providing a voice against authority. This is against the monopoly of all forms of mainstream or traditional media by ZANU-PF leaving the ordinary people to resort to comedy in passively resisting authority as the state has little or no power over online media.