Beyond Laughter: An Analysis of Phonological Joke in A. B. Crentsil's Atia and Osookoo

Abstract

Phonological joke is an area that appears to be under-studied especially in its application to the analysis of humor in a given setup such as Ghana. This study explores the concept of phonological joke in the songs, Atia and Osookoo by the Ghanaian musician, A. B. Crentsil, paying attention to the critical issues that are embedded in the songs. These selected highlife songs are conveniently sampled in order to capture the elements of phonological joke. Phonological joke is explained as a type of humor that parodies the sound of another language for an effect other than simply amusement. This study's application of phonological joke, as an interpretative framework, is borne out of the views shared by phonological joke theorists, Adrjan & Muñoz-Basols. At the end of the study, the findings reveal that A. B. Crentsil uses phonological parallelism and paradigmatic associations to foreground the conveyance of critical messages such as: stereotyping certain ethnic group(s) and mixed or cross-cultural gender representations. The major implication of this study is that the utility of humor in Ghanaian music goes beyond amusement to convey critical issues. This study contributes to the on-going pedagogical understanding of phonological joke in the Ghanaian highlife culture.