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Is humor an effective way of undermining the assumed authority of Fundamentalism?
Most researchers suggest that humor is a great weapon against Fundamentalism. There is something unusual about the regimes of the authoritarian that is not promptly understandable (Amarasingam, 2010). They tend to consolidate their authority on the back of a sequence of conciliations that turn out to be more extreme with time. This deceptive sequence of concentrating power and excluding citizens from the process of making decisions often occur, making it easier to overcome popular resistance. As such, using humor can help in hiding out the contradictions and as such revealing the true nature of the authority of fundamentalism.
The power of using humor is that it enables us to depict the contradictions as well as the irrational nature of the authoritarian regulations. Humor is specifically powerful, and it works as a tool of undermining the excesses of power and balancing them to their extreme (Amarasingam, 2010). Humor also reverberates with people as it goes with conversant conditions and assumptions that the authority of fundamentalism portrays as necessary and temporary then exposes as characteristically illogical or authoritarian.
Humor is also useful in undermining the authorities as they always masquerade as a benevolent protectiveness (Kolsy, 2015). Along the process, satire justifies its decisions, therefore, making it look like it was purposed for good. It depends on uprightness and portraying itself as someone who cares, something that is much loved by most dictators. Satire and humor can help in undermining this logic of underserved propriety.
According to the anthropology of Islamic, humor has been used in history to give hope to the rile, subjugated, and oppressors as well as endorse resistance (Michael, 2011). It is a powerful weapon that psychologically cut down the oppressor to the extent of rejecting their social lawfulness. An excellent example of this is when the anti-Nazi jokes were banned as they dejected the social legitimacy of the Nazi. Humor can similarly sustain resistance, indicating that despite the bitter odds, one cannot break their spirit and this explains the observation of Kolsy (2015) that gallows humor is an indication of power particularly on the side of the oppressed people.
Humor is time and places specifically. It does not cross religion well and even with the Islamic group; there will continue to be different subgroups with flowing understanding of the things that are socially acceptable (Marson, 2007). Therefore, it is essential to understand the audience before using humor against the authoritarian fundamentalism. Of of the best strategies for reducing this risk in varied voices and include the members of the target audience into the creative team and get enough feedback as one develop his or her work.
The opponents of this case contend that using humor cannot undermine the assumed authority of fundamentalism. They suggest that using satire can be harmful especially to the vulnerable people who are oppressed by the authoritarian fundamentalists. In this light, it is essential to use humor to redress the imbalances in power but not exacerbate them. The risk of using humor can arise when those in power harness the pretense of a fraudster, setting themselves up as a maverick (Kolsy, 2015).
It can be difficult to successfully ridicule a person who has already positioned themselves as a disrupter or a parody to authority however false the disguise may seem to be. In long-distance governments and religions, humor can turn out to be fatalistic and escapist. There is always a sense of acknowledgment that purposes only at positioning the complaints of the people instead of challenging the ones in authority, particularly the Islamic fundamentalism. In this light, responding with humor cannot undermine the authority of the fundamentalists (Zayid, 2013). One may need to concentrate on the exposing the extent of the actual authority target and control through balanced information. However, humor can once again be useful once the extent of privilege is evidently developed. It is worth noting that anti-authoritarian humor is all about impartially upsetting hierarchies so that the target audience first notice the existing hierarchy.
The terrific comedy Harvey and Toulson have flawlessly summarized the suspicion in Edinburg where Islamic fundamentalists are greatly undermined. The newly energized atheists offer critical points of darkness as they respond to the negative behaviors of the Islamic fundamentalists in a sarcastic manner (Marson, 2007). A few brave Muslim comedians are being threatened with death and head hackers. A good example is in the case of Omar Marzouk whereby a Muslim comedian with a unique take on fever broke over the Muslim fever drawing Mohammed in animations design.
The smartest, bravest critic of Islamic fundamentalism is often a woman as they are far much accepted that the male critics of Islamic fundamentalism. For example, Shappi Khorsandi and Shazia Mirza are commonly known to play funny videos about Islamic fundamentalism (Zayid, 2013). Shappi is one of the Islamic revolution lists who has become the most prominent and articulate devoted atheist internationally in the eyes of the Iranian Mullahs theoretic repression. She portrays her hunger on how the Muslim people ridicule Christianity, particularly on their dressing code. However, she only takes on the Muslims as none of them seem to hold off from disrespecting the Christians.
It is not easy being a Muslim comedian. Most Muslims do not approve of the Muslim comedian mocking their Islamic fundamentalists (Michael, 2011). Furthermore, it is difficult for the Muslim people to determine what to boycott and what to accept. Still, the comedians need to be politically brave enough to defend the free speech and develop jokes that would lead to the repression of the negative behavior of the Islamic fundamentalists. Most of these jokes help in shaping the political structure of the fundamentalism and as such should be adequately deliberated.
Finally, using humor is all about the context of the story and needs subtlety. Humor can be more effective when the authority is attempting to associate its rule, not with the circumstance (Kolsy, 2015). In long-distance governments and religions, humor can turn out to be fatalistic and escapist. There is always a sense of acknowledgment that purposes only at positioning the complaints of the people instead of challenging the ones in authority, particularly the Islamic fundamentalism. Humor can be formulaic, and therefore, it needs to be creative and inventive to be effective at undermining the assumed authority of fundamentalism.
In conclusion, humor should be funny. However obvious this statement is, it is crucial for fun to be funny so that the Islamic fundamentalists get to understand the importance of developing positive behavior instead of getting irritated by the humor that could undermine fundamentalism. . Humor is specifically powerful, and it works as a tool of undermining the excesses of power and balancing them to the extreme of the Islamic fundamentalists. Finally, humor needs to be ruled on its characteristics but not its political significance. Otherwise, most of the contemporary satire could go wrong.
References
Amarasingam, A. (2010). Laughter the best medicine; Muslim Comedians and Social Criticism in Post 9/11 America. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs.
Kolsy, U. (2015, April 29). The Qu'osby Show: The new Funny or Die series Halal in the Family seeks to mock Islamophobia, but has a troubling definition of what it means to be a 'normal' Muslim. Retrieved from The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/04/the-quosby-show/391778/?utm_source=SFFB
Marson, C. (2007). Little Mosque Difuses Hate with Humor. New York Times Journal.
Michael, J. (2011). American Muslims Stand up and Speak Out; trajectories of humor in muslim america stand-up comedy. Cont Islam Journnal.
Zayid, M. (2013). I got 99 Problems Palsy isnt one. Retrieved from Ted.com: https://www.ted.com/talks/maysoon_zayid_i_got_99_problems_palsy_is_just_one