Stereotypes and the Ambiguities of Humour in Kenya
TheChurchill Show
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2173318 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Serah Namulisa Kasembeli (0000-0001-6430-6832, Language, Cultural and Creative Studies, Mzuzu University, Mzuzu, Malawi) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 173-185 |
| Publication date | 2022-04-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of African Cultural Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1369-6815 • E-ISSN: 1469-9346 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13696815.2022.2072819 |
| OpenAlex | W4281761435 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 11 |
The Churchill Show is a weekly live and recorded comedy show, originally staged at the Carnivore Grounds in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, and later hosted in various parts of the country. The live recordings were disseminated on Kenya’s NTV television network and published on YouTube by Laugh Industry Limited and NTV Kenya. The Churchill Show’s theme song includes a reference to bringing Kenyans back together, and the so-called ethnic jokes in the show are presented as a celebration of Kenyan multiculturalism and as a counter to what is popularly known as negative ethnicity. I show in this article that these negative ethnic narratives are situated in colonial and postcolonial archives such as harambee, nyayo philosophy, patriotism and tujenge Kenya ideologies that have been imposed on citizens, as a way of shifting the burden of nation-building onto ordinary Kenyans. I use selected stand-up comedians’ performances that were uploaded on YouTube and TV interviews to explain the prominence of the show in the country, how the humour in the show borrows from historical archives of the country, and how the ethnic-themed humour inadvertently re-constructs negative stereotypes
Art · Colonialism · Ethnic group · Ideology · Kenya · Literature · Media studies · Multiculturalism · Narrative · Patriotism · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Theme (computing · African history and culture studies · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies · Gender Studies · History · Law
The Postcolonial Exotic
Churchill Show
The ‘Redykyulass Generation‘S’ intellectual interventions in Kenyan public life
Tensions in Empowerment
Citizenship and Ethnicity
The Incomplete Rebellion
Tusker Project Fame
China, Unaona Mkono Yangu Ama Una-nini
Hegemonic Enterprises and Instrumentalities of Survival
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |