Cultural Form and Protest

Act Up New York’s Tactics of Irony and Camp

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6209909
AutoresTerence E Mcdonnell (0000-0002-7944-9200, † Terence E. McDonnell is an Associate Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, at the University of Notre Dame. Katherine Everhart is an Assistant Professor of Sociology, at the University of Virginia's College at Wise. Please direct correspondence to [email protected], autor de correspondencia), Katherine Everhart († Terence E. McDonnell is an Associate Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, at the University of Notre Dame. Katherine Everhart is an Assistant Professor of Sociology, at the University of Virginia's College at Wise. Please direct correspondence to [email protected])
Año2024
Volumen29
Número1
Páginas59-80
Fecha de publicación2024-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaMobilization An International Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1086-671X • E-ISSN: 1938-1514
EditorialMobilization Journal (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.17813/1086-671x-29-1-59
OpenAlexW4393039304
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2

The strategic use of irony and camp in protest movements presents a complex interplay between cultural expression and social action. We examine the deployment of these cultural forms in AIDS activism, proposing a social theory of irony and camp in protest. Through an analysis of 188 interviews from the ACT UP Oral History project, we identify three primary effects of irony and camp: diffusion of tension and critique engagement, solidarity building and recruitment facilitation, and invitation across symbolic boundaries to undermine legitimacy. These outcomes stem from the unique cultural forms of irony and camp, which accentuate the incongruities in protest situations and draw attention to symbolic boundaries between discursive communities. Our findings challenge the predominant focus on frame analysis in the cultural analysis of protests, advocating for a deeper examination of how ideas are communicated within social movements

Irony · Legitimacy · Political science · Politics · Social movement · Sociology · Solidarity · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · Gender Studies · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Law · Rhetoric and Communication Studies