Abstract
Satire is a genre of communication that enables people to say the unspeakable, often enabling powerful norms and powerful people to be questioned and challenged. As such, satire is a powerful weapon with which society may strike at and against oppression and other problematic orders. However, satire may also be misused to misrepresent and demean others. Meanwhile, in online encounters where people are not subject to a wide gamut of social controls and moral obligations are weakened by anonymity, people are liable to use satire in ways that are experienced by others as offensive and hurtful. This is arguably pointedly problematic in contexts where historical developments have marginalised and tribally positioned people to be the butt of jokes. This article examines these and related concerns in the light of the animated video Jesus is a Shangaan to argue that it is worthwhile to present a scholarly account of what the African moral philosophy of Ubuntu may say about how people should satirise. The conclusion is that there is a need for scholars to elaborate more systematically and adequately what Ubuntu requires of satirical communication – how African excellence can be understood when communication is satirical.
Highlights
Satire is a genre of artistic or theatrical production
■■ online communication often frees people to express themselves in extreme ways that are conducive to tribalising others
Ten years after the formal end of apartheid, well-known comedian Desmond Dube – on the popular show Dube on Monday (2003) – spoke of Shangaan people being so ugly that even baboons look better than them. He seemingly did not immediately see anything wrong with his statement. After defending his “joke” for almost two weeks, he succumbed to pressure from Shangaans who had lodged a complaint to the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa and the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC)
Summary
Satire is a genre of artistic or theatrical production. It identifies and mocks and besmirches generalised characteristics which are associated with its targets. It gives people resilience, enabling them to survive and emerge still human despite all efforts to dehumanize them This view of African moral values which Tutu expresses is fundamental to how Metz (2007: 338) derives his view on what Ubuntu teaches: “An action is right just insofar as it promotes shared identity among people grounded on goodwill; an act is wrong to the extent that it fails to do so and tends to encourage the opposites of division and ill will”. The authors think it is valuable to put forward tentative thoughts on how Ubuntu may guide online satire in contemporary South Africa. This article casts a critical gaze at an online video titled Jesus is a Shangaan (2012) and purposively selects online comments from a YouTube site (https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Bekg59wQVgE) on which the video is featured
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