W spólnota protestu
The Community of Protest

Summary/Abstract: The article focuses on the role of humor in shaping the visual communication language of protests. The author argues that satire and irony represent some of the most effective means of protest. Protests that use humor to convey their its messages are able to counteract the persuasiveness of propaganda and disarm the exalted narratives offered by an authoritative government. The article addresses questions such as: how did Poland’s freedom movement of the 1980s impact present-day social and political engagement among Poles? What types of visual communications are we using to express ourselves during the current protests? Is it acceptable to laugh during a protest or is “a straight face” the preferable option? How and why did humor find its way onto protest signboards? Contemporary class-based societies incorporate elements of carnival celebrations in mass public gatherings such as parades, marches and protests. A visual language which utilizes humor encourages participation, despite frequently relying on extreme and in-joke forms. Deciphering the hidden meanings of injokes is a challenge willingly undertaken by protest participants. The reward mechanism transforms civic engagement into a “game”. By engaging the cognitive processes, a participant can achieve “ enlightenment” signifying membership in an in-group that understands the hidden message. The desire to understand and be well-informed motivates individuals to use unconventional forms of communication and verify sources of information, in turn this may result in a change of opinion or attitudes towards current events. A protest that relies on humor is effective because satire is an important catalyst for critical analysis - much more so than exalted and pompous narratives.

• Details
• Contents