Humour as discursive practice in Nigeria’s 2015 presidential election online campaign discourse

Bibliographic Data

ID5966483
AuthorsAdeyemi Adegoju (0000-0002-9677-9770, University of Freiburg, corresponding author), Oluwabunmi Oyebode (Obafemi Awolowo University), Oluwabunmi O Oyebode (0000-0001-8608-5217, Obafemi Awolowo University)
Year2015
Volume17
Issue6
Pages643-662
Publication date2015-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDiscourse Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1461-4456 • E-ISSN: 1461-7080
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1461445615602378
OpenAlexW2335957564
LanguageEN
Citations received30
References cited24

One of the most popular forms of humour on the Internet is memes. Given the identity construction motif that is associated with memes, agents of memes select targets outside the in-group and criticise the targets’ behaviour for ideological purposes. This study examines the patterns of humour evidenced in the deployment of Internet memes (both verbal and visual) in the online campaign discourse of the 2015 presidential election in Nigeria. Data for the study consist of Internet memes produced and disseminated during the presidential election campaign between December 2014 and March 2015. Considering Archakis and Tsakona’s view that humour can be a very efficient means of identity construction, the study applies Van Dijk’s socio-cognitive model with particular reference to the theoretical concept of the ‘ideological square’, which encapsulates the twin strategies of positive ‘in-group’ description and negative ‘out-group’ description. This theoretical approach is complemented with Neuendorf et al.’s taxonomy of theoretical perspectives on humour. The study reveals that the memes deployed in the presidential election online campaign discourse largely serve subversive purposes to detract greatly from the electoral value of the targets. In terms of the reinforcing function of humour, however, serious socio-political issues were raised to express the public’s worries and desires in a bottom-up communication flow

Aesthetics · Discourse analysis · Epistemology · Ideology · Linguistics · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Presidential election · Presidential system · Public relations · Sociology · The Internet · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Digital Communication and Language · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · Humor Studies and Applications · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology