Suffering and smiling: Nigerians’ humorous response to the coronavirus pandemic | Intellect Skip to content
1981
Deadly Serious: Pandemic Humour, Media and Critical Perspectives
  • ISSN: 2040-199X
  • E-ISSN: 1751-7974

Abstract

Nigerians have intriguing penchant for humour even in moments of life tribulations, grief and uncertainties. They tend to defy being overwhelmed by sorrow, fear or even their helplessness in the face of adversity. Consequently, despite the global hysteria that has trailed the outbreak of the dreaded coronavirus, Nigerians stoically manage their grief through humour. The growing predilection for humour production and consumption in the country, which is partly occasioned by the advent of social media and an unprecedented growth of the Night of a Thousand Laughs (a stand-up comedy industry), deserves scholarly attention on account of its social and mental health impacts. This work blends Freudian psychoanalysis with Merton’s functional analysis to build a framework of analysis that captures the psychogenesis and consequences of Nigerians’ humorous response to the coronavirus pandemic. Semiotic method was used to analyse some selected humorous memes, cartoons, pictures and videos on or about COVID-19 obtained from WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube between March and August, 2020. In so doing, these humorous stuffs were subjected to both broad and context specific analyses. It was found that although the humours were expressed in different styles, they are mostly aggressive (intended to ridicule their leaders using satire, sarcasm), and self-enhancing (used as mechanisms to cope with boredom and anxiety occasioned by the pandemic) and, in a few cases, self-defeating (involved self-mockery: use of remarks that are self-demeaning or self-disparaging). The article concludes that the COVID-19-induced humours are a route to their peddlers’ unconscious realm and a defence mechanism to anxiety, stress and boredom. While the spread of these jokes has manifest function of self-enhancing, their latent consequence is that they trivialize the pandemic and, by extension, make people reluctant to take precautionary measures and comply with the established guidelines and protocols.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/jams_00076_1
2022-06-01
2024-03-29
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Abel, M. H.. ( 2002;), ‘ Humour, stress and coping strategies. ’, Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 15:4, pp. 36581.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Cann, A., and Collette, C.. ( 2014;), ‘ Sense of humour, stable affect, and psychological well-being. ’, Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 10:3, pp. 46479.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Freud, S.. ( 1960), Jokes and their Relation to the Unconscious, New York:: W. W. Norton;.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Global Happiness Council ( 2019), Global Happiness and Well-Being: Policy Report 2019, Columbia:: SDSN;, https://www.happinesscouncil.org/report/2019/global-happiness-and-well-being-policy-report. Accessed 11 April 2022 .
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Jackson, B. S.. ( 2012;), ‘ What’s funny?. ’, Psychology Today, 18 May, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/culture-conscious/201205/whats-funny. Accessed 11 April 2022.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Jiang, T.,, Li, H., and Hou, Y.. ( 2019;), ‘ Cultural differences in humour perception, usage, and implications. ’, Frontiers in Psychology, 10:123, pp. 18.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Klages, M.. ( 2011), Literary Theory: A Guide for the Perplexed, London:: Continuum International Publishing Group;.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Kperogi, F.. ( 2020;), ‘ As the world battles COVID-19, Nigerians confront COVIK 4-1-9. ’, Nigerian Tribune, 4 April, https://tribuneonlineng.com/as-the-world-battles-covid-19-nigerians-confront-covik-4-1-9/. Accessed 11 April 2022.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Kuti, F.. ( 2011;), ‘ Suffering and Smiling. ’, YouTube, 4 November, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y--5IlljO78. Accessed 26 April 2022.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Maples, M. F.,, Dupey, P.,, Torres, E. R., and Phan, L. T.. ( 2001;), ‘ Ethnic diversity and the use of humour in counselling: Appropriate or inappropriate?. ’, Journal of Counseling and Development, 79:1, pp. 5361.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Martin, R. A., and Ford, T.. ( 2018), The Psychology of Humour: An Integrative Approach, Burlington:: Elsevier Academic Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Martin, R., and Kuiper, N. A.. ( 2016;), ‘ Three decades of investigating humour and laughter: An interview with Professor Rod Martin. ’, Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 12:3, pp. 498512.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Martin, R. A.,, Puhlik-Doris, P.,, Larsen, G.,, Gray, J., and Weir, K.. ( 2003;), ‘ Individual differences in uses of humour and their relation to psychological well-being: Development of humour styles questionnaires. ’, Journal of Research in Personality, 37:1, pp. 4875.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Martin, R.. ( 2016;), ‘ Three decades investigating humour and laughter: An interview with Rod Martin. ’, European Journal of Psychology, 12:3, pp. 498512.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Mayer, A.. ( 2020), Naija Marxisms: Revolutionary Thought in Nigeria, London:: Pluto Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Merton, R. K.. ( [1967] 2007), Social Theory and Social Structure, New York:: The Free Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Obadare, E.. ( 2009;), ‘ The uses of ridicule: Humour, “infra-politics” and civil society in Nigeria. ’, African Affairs, 108:431, pp. 24161.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Obadare, E.. ( 2010;), ‘ State travesty: Jokes and the logics of socio-cultural improvisation in Africa. ’, Critical African Affairs, 2:4, pp. 92112.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Pryor, J. B.. ( 1995;), ‘ The phenomenology of sexual harassment: Why does sexual behaviour bother people in the workplace?. ’, Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 47:3, pp. 16068.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Punch ( 2019;), ‘ Buhari spends one year, 39 days abroad in three years, 10 months. ’, Punch, 20 April, https://punchng.com/buhari-spends-one-year-39-days-abroad-in-three-years-10-months/. Accessed 11 April 2022.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Ritzer, G.. ( 1983), Sociological Theory, New York:: Alfred A. Knopf;.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Romero, E. J., and Crudthirds, K. W.. ( 2006;), ‘ The use of humour in the workplace. ’, Academy of Management Perspective, 20:2, pp. 5869.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Sen, A.. ( 2012), Humour Analysis and Qualitative Research, Guildford:: University of Surrey;.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Yue, X. D.. ( 2011;), ‘ Chinese ambivalence to humour: Views from undergraduates in Hong Kong and China. ’, Humor: International Journal of Humor Research, 24:4, pp. 46380.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Ali, Aminu. ( 2022;), ‘ Suffering and smiling: Nigerians’ humorous response to the coronavirus pandemic. ’, Journal of African Media Studies, 14:2, pp. 24556, https://doi.org/10.1386/jams_00076_1
    [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/jams_00076_1
Loading
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error