Political Humor and the Creation of Joke Work
READING GLORIAGARCI JOKES: THE SEMANTIC SCRIPT THEORY OF HUMOR/GENERAL THEORY OF VERBAL HUMOR AND FILIPINO POLITICAL HUMOR
Maria Rhodora G. Ancheta, PhD Department of English and Comparative Literature University of the Philippines Diliman
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Political Humor and the Creation of Joke Work
Who has not heard of at least one GloriaGarci joke? Or has not laughed at [if not downloaded and made a mobile phone ring tone of] the “Hello Garci” opening of the continuing political debacle that is now termed Gloriagate? It is, on the one hand, a testament to this situation’s gravity that a whole joke work cycle is devoted to it, as culture memorializes that which leaves the deepest cut to its psyche. However, it is also ironic that such a popular cultural artifact, while manifesting national concerns, is deemed too trivial for actual study, read only in the context of ephemeral entertainment. This is adjudged even more so in the light of these jokes current provenance the internet, and the mobile phone/ texting culture. In 2005, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism came out with the book Hello, Garci?: Political Humor in the Cellphone Age, following the much celebrated Joke Ni Erap in 2000, which are written texts that not only compile the existing joke work and joke cycles of the mêlée of Philippine politics, but indeed, chronicle a more powerful delineation of how Filipino humor is deployed not only to “poke fun” at [illicit] holders of power, but to counter hegemonic states in this nation, by the powerless in Philippine society. Sheila Coronel, in her preface to the book, avers that “jokes are not just a commentary on our politics and politicians… [but] are a form of political participation… by joking, Filipinos show that they are watching, commenting, and taking part in what is going on” (xi). I contend that this “participation” of which Coronel speaks can be seen in a number of ways. The deployment of political humor
Maria Rhodora G. Ancheta, PhD Department of English and Comparative Literature University of the Philippines Diliman
1.0
Political Humor and the Creation of Joke Work
Who has not heard of at least one GloriaGarci joke? Or has not laughed at [if not downloaded and made a mobile phone ring tone of] the “Hello Garci” opening of the continuing political debacle that is now termed Gloriagate? It is, on the one hand, a testament to this situation’s gravity that a whole joke work cycle is devoted to it, as culture memorializes that which leaves the deepest cut to its psyche. However, it is also ironic that such a popular cultural artifact, while manifesting national concerns, is deemed too trivial for actual study, read only in the context of ephemeral entertainment. This is adjudged even more so in the light of these jokes current provenance the internet, and the mobile phone/ texting culture. In 2005, the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism came out with the book Hello, Garci?: Political Humor in the Cellphone Age, following the much celebrated Joke Ni Erap in 2000, which are written texts that not only compile the existing joke work and joke cycles of the mêlée of Philippine politics, but indeed, chronicle a more powerful delineation of how Filipino humor is deployed not only to “poke fun” at [illicit] holders of power, but to counter hegemonic states in this nation, by the powerless in Philippine society. Sheila Coronel, in her preface to the book, avers that “jokes are not just a commentary on our politics and politicians… [but] are a form of political participation… by joking, Filipinos show that they are watching, commenting, and taking part in what is going on” (xi). I contend that this “participation” of which Coronel speaks can be seen in a number of ways. The deployment of political humor
Bibliography: Westport, CT: Greenwood P, 2002. 8.. Whitfield, Stephen J. “Political Humor” Humor in America: A Research Guide to Genres and Topics. Lawrence E. Mintz, ed. NY: Greenwood P, 1988, 195212. 9th Philippine Linguistics Congress (2527 January 2006) Organized by the Department of Linguistics, University of the Philippines 16