Panel 147: Satire and Caricature as Tools for Political and Democratic Spaces?

This panel seeks to investigate the power of satire and caricature in mass media in Africa and its diaspora, especially the development that has taken place during the past ten years.The point of departure for this panel is research into popular culture, mediated in the massmedia such as newspapers, television, internet and mobile communication, in editoral cartoons,blogs, television satire or internet news sites. Satire and caricature thrive at the intersection of popular culture and political communication. Having had a long history in a number of African countries, satire and caricature seem to have experienced renewed success as it can now also befound in the internet. In a number of African countries, political commentary and opposition has managed to find a viable outlet through political satire in the mass media, and sometimes having been forced to move from one medium to another, or from domestic media to diaspora media, as harsh legislation have been introduced against their publications. Despite being heavily regulated by media legislation, which has left many political satirists in fear of their livelihood and indeed their lives, political satire continue to harbour a potential of offering topical commentary and criticism that may evade state repercussions and legal action. Several political satirists have established themselves as political commentaries in their own right, and a number of them even have a large international following. What is common is that political satire and caricature often remain popular with the general public. Satire and caricature may thus offer opinion to people, the power elite and in turn the overall critical discourse in any given society. Does this contribute to the opening up or keeping open spaces where political and democratic communication may be exchanged? What are the critical questions that should be posed to satirists across the political spectrums? Are there hidden agendas which researchers are liable to overlook in their possible focus on political satire as one of the tools for communication for social and political change? This panel seeks to investigate both the historical background and current development of political satire and caricature in the media in a variety of African countries and the diaspora, by means of interdisciplinary approaches within qualitative, critical textual and cultural analyses.