ERIC Number: EJ1385776
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1744-9642
EISSN: EISSN-1744-9650
'Laughing Ourselves out of the Closet': Comedy as a Queer Pedagogical Form
Henry, Seán; Bryan, Audrey; Neary, Aoife
Ethics and Education, v18 n1 p151-166 2023
This paper explores comedy as a "queer pedagogical form" that subverts problematic representational tropes of queerness pervading mainstream depictions of queer experience. Articulating 'form' less as a fixed arrangement of characters, images, objects, and ideas, and more as a kind of "formation" that positions these in dynamic relation to the wider context in which comedies are encountered, we mobilise the idea of "queer pedagogical forms" to capture how comedy can foster new modes of thinking about and embodying queerness for, and with, audiences. Drawing on specific examples from "Schitt's Creek" and "Derry Girls," we document the potential of specific comedic modalities (e.g. irony, sarcasm, irreverence, and slapstick) to foster alternative representations of queerness, in which normative tropes are poked fun at, problematised, and reimagined. Through these examples, we demonstrate how comedies can enable us to 'laugh ourselves out of the closets' we live by, feel, navigate, and embody.
Descriptors: Humor, LGBTQ People, Social Bias, Comedy, Television, Films, Social Attitudes, Self Disclosure (Individuals), Psychological Patterns
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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