COVID-19 Vaccines Humor and Identity Construction in the Arab World

Rania Habib — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In addition to tracing the themes and stages of humor during COVID-19, the study explores the interaction between COVID-19 vaccines' performance humor and identity construction in the Arab world. It presents a textual and visual qualitative analysis of two solo social media sketches, Egyptian and Lebanese, employing a socio-interactional approach to language use infused with a sociocultural perspective to identity construction and stancetaking. The study shows that humor in these sketches has two functions: to alleviate frustration with COVID-19 through laughter and to convey a serious message. The two functions are interdependent; neither is attainable without the other. To generate humor, both comedians rely on shared sociocultural values, repertoires, and knowledge of how vaccines became available to Arabs, public reactions, as well as the hesitancy and controversy surrounding vaccines and boosters. They utilize language mixing and Westernized physical appearance to construct glocalized identities as a positioning mechanism of their stances that advance the humor.

Journal of Arabic and Diglossia Studies

COVID-19 Vaccines Humor and Identity Construction in the Arab World