Laughing and unlaughing at religion-related fake news in Estonia

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12196843
AutoresL Laineste (0000-0003-2033-6057, 20153925 Estonian Literary Museum , Tartu , Estonia, autor de correspondencia), A Fiadotava (0000-0001-6985-1880, 20153925 Estonian Literary Museum , Tartu , Estonia), Tõnno Jonuks (0000-0001-8980-5128, 20153925 Estonian Literary Museum , Tartu , Estonia)
Año2024
Volumen37
Número2
Páginas237-258
Fecha de publicación2024-04-02
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaHumor - International Journal of Humor Research (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0933-1719 • E-ISSN: 1613-3722
EditorialDe Gruyter Mouton (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/humor-2023-0119
OpenAlexW4393716195
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas31

Contemporary contacts and interactions with religion are often mediated by mass and social media. These sources vary in their reliability and some are known for their use of humor as a communicative strategy. In this article we analyze how humorous religion-related news triggers reactions to and discussions about the intertwined issues of humor, religion, history and ethnic identity. First, we look at how people perceive religion as an institution, contextualizing the results against the backdrop of the historical and present-day role of religion in the (ethnically, politically, and culturally) divided Estonian society. Second and more broadly, we analyze the (mis)use of strong religious symbols. We aim to understand why serious reactions to initially humorous fake news come about, and why humorous stimuli are sometimes met with discontent or even disgust. This contributes to understanding the intersection of humor and religion in divided societies. The results point out that the religious controversies triggered by humor are related to societal and political issues rather than ideas about religion and belief. We suggest that fast and broad dissemination via online media might be one of the reasons why the humorous and serious are closely interwoven in discussions on religious issues

Aesthetics · Anger · Disgust · Ethnic group · Identity (music · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Humor Studies and Applications · Law · Media, Religion, Digital Communication · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Psychology · Social Psychology