Emasculating Humor From Algeria's Dark Decade, 1991–2002

Bibliographic Data

ID8970348
AuthorsElizabeth Perego (0000-0001-6075-4371, Appalachian State University, corresponding author), Elizabeth M Perego
Year2020
Volume52
Issue1
Pages67-86
Publication date2020-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal Middle East Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-7438 • E-ISSN: 1471-6380
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s002074381900093x
OpenAlexW3010453926
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited18

This paper explores shifting notions of Algerian masculinities during the Dark Decade (approximately 1991–2002) as articulated through humor. Both in the period leading up to and during conflict, Algerian cartoonists and joke tellers played with socially accepted norms concerning male behavior. In the armed struggle, however, comedy reflected how the terrifying and random violence that characterized the conflict may have disturbed local gender relations and definitions. The conflict prevented men from practicing masculinity in preestablished ways, most notably through the protection of self, family, and community. The present article contributes to the broader literature on gender during the armed struggle as well as in the Middle East and North Africa more widely, to argue that humor, a critically under-considered aspect of the cultural lives of Algerians and men across the region, provided civilians with space to navigate changes in gender issues brought about by the harrowing circumstances of the Dark Decade

Art · Comedy · Joke · Literature · Masculinity · Sociology · Gender Studies · Hispanic-African Historical Relations · History · Humor Studies and Applications · North African History and Literature

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