To Laugh or not to Laugh: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Humour Employed in Khabardaar

Abstract

Although the primary function of humour is to make people laugh, it also plays a major role in shaping people‟s attitudes. Apparently the function of humour is to generate laughter in order to amuse people and release their tension but verbal humour also involves the use of language to construct or deconstruct people‟s identity. The aim of the current study is to explore the identity constructed through the humour employed in one of the programmes: Khabardaar telecast on Express, a Pakistani News channel, in order to unmask the hidden ideologies. Being a qualitative case study, instances of verbal humour taken from different shows of the programme are analyzed within the framework of Critical Discourse Analysis. The data analysis reveals that in most of the cases the physical features of people, including their obesity and skin colour, are made the target of humour. The study exposes injustice against such people who are considered physically unattractive, according to our cultural notion of attractiveness and addresses the issue of inequality highlighted by Fairclough (1995). The humour is not just confined to the physical appearance of people but also involves ridiculing people on the basis of their gender, ethnicity, and nationality. The paper ends with a note of recommendation for the TV channels in general and the comedians in particular, that advertently or inadvertently, become agents in spreading hatred and intolerance against individuals and groups leading to further reinforcement of different forms of prejudice that already exist in our society.