Kefaya Ba2a as cringe comedy and the multimodal humorous stunts of the podcast’s communitas

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this research is to investigate how Egyptian podcast Kefaya Ba2a (That is Enough!) is a good instance of cringe comedy that aims at critising and commenting on social issues in a sarcastic manner. This research presents an interpretive reading of the podcast as a cultural practice that leads to creating a discourse (or narrative) that provides different/alternative knowledge breaking social norms. The meanings and themes delivered through the podcast’s narratives manage to create a communication code that is shared and negotiated by the Kefaya Ba2a digi-communitas on the podcast’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/kefayaba2a). The analytical framework of this research is based on the frame that both Kress and Van Leeuwen propose through their theory of multimodal communication (Kress, Gunther & Theo Van Leeuwen. 2001. Multimodal discourse: The modes and media of contemporary communication. Arnold Publishers). The theory suggests a four-strata-frame that focuses on different multimodal resources that contribute to meaning-making. This research investigates the different semiotic resources that all combine to create the discourse of Kefaya Ba2a which takes humour as its major tool to deliver certain messages. It also explores the effect of Kefaya Ba2a’s discourse on its audience who have the chance to respond to it on the podcast’s Facebook page. Different response patterns are demonstrated to show how Kefaya Ba2a’s discourse turns to into a user-generated content that opens the opportunity for new readings of the original discourse. In this regard, multimodality is investigated to show how audience communicates with the themes and topics the podcast tackles using multimodal resources to generate their readings.