A Different Humour: A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of the Nature of Participation of Select Indian Female Stand-Up Comedians on YouTube A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Master of Philosophy in English by Sonali Sahoo Reg. No 1730031 Under the Supervision of Rolla Das Assistant Professor Department of English CHRIST (Deemed to be University) BENGALURU, INDIA December 2018 Approval of Dissertation Dissertation entitled A Different Humour: A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of the Nature of Participation of Select Indian Female Comedians on YouTube by Sonali Sahoo, Reg. No 1730031 is approved for the award of the degree of Master of Philosophy in English. Supervisor: ______________________________________ Chairman: ______________________________________ General Research Coordinator: ______________________________________ Date: …………………….. Place: Bengaluru ii DECLARATION I Sonali Sahoo hereby declare that the dissertation entitled A Different Humour: A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of the Nature of Participation of Select Indian Female Comedians on YouTube by Sonali Sahoo is a record of original research work undertaken by me for the award of the degree of Master of Philosophy in English. I have completed this study under the supervision of Dr Rolla Das, Department of English. I also declare that this dissertation has not been submitted for the award of any degree, diploma, associateship, fellowship, or other titles. I hereby confirm the originality of the work and that there is no plagiarism in any part of the dissertation. Place: Bengaluru Date: ………………… Sonali Sahoo Reg No 173031 Department of English CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru iii CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the dissertation submitted by Sonali Sahoo (Reg. No 1730031) entitled “A Different Humour: A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of the Nature of Participation of Select Indian Female Comedians on YouTube” is a record of research work done by her during the academic year 2017-2018 under my/our supervision in partial fulfilment for the award of Master of Philosophy in English. This dissertation has not been submitted for the award of any degree, diploma, associateship, fellowship, or another title. I hereby confirm the originality of the work and that there is no plagiarism in any part of the dissertation. Place: Bengaluru Date: ………………… Dr Rolla Das Assistant Professor Department of English CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru Head of the Department Department of English CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to thank the Vice-Chancellor, Dr Fr Thomas C Mathew, Dean, Humanities and Social Sciences, Dr John Joseph Kennedy, the HOD, Department of English, Dr Abhaya N.B., and the course coordinator, Dr Kishore Selva Babu for their support. I express my gratitude towards my supervisor Dr Rolla Das for mentoring me through these eighteen months. I am extremely grateful to her for having taken extra effort in teaching me the nuances of research and academic writing. Ma’am, who has excellent skills for research, has not only taught me but also helped immensely to acquire the required skill-set for being a scholar in the past months. This dissertation could not have turned out the way it has, had it not been for your timely evaluation, suggestions and motivation, ma’am. For putting up with me at odd hours of the day and being an extraordinary teacher, I owe this to you, ma’am. My parents have been the pillar of my strength. I cannot thank them enough for believing and motivating me incessantly. Mom and Dad, thank you. I would also like to thank my elder brother for helping me move into the city, boosting my morale and being there for me, whenever I missed being home. I dedicate this to you, family. I would like to thank my friends, fellow scholars for showing immense support and encouragement. I would also like to thank my roommate for adjusting to my odd schedule and taking care of me. Finally, cheers to all the people I have met during my stay here, and for being good to me. v ABSTRACT In recent times, Stand-up Comedy space in India has been registering itself as an alternative public sphere. As comedy has always been understood to be a masculine domain in any given society, it becomes imperative to examine if this aspect of the ‘implied’ public sphere of the Stand-up Comedy space changes the dimension of comedy. This dissertation studied the nature of participation of both the male and female stand-up comics on YouTube using descriptive surveys which reported the default nature of the stand-up comedy space in India. Furthermore, the thesis studied the implications of the performances by select few female comics with specific reference to the audience reception of their comedic routines. In addition, this dissertation studied how female stand-up comics negotiate their citizenship and gender in a stand-up comedy space in India. Thematic and Critical Discourse Analysis were used to examine the theme, style, and nature of humour pervasive throughout their comedic routines. The style of humour presentation by the select female comics included subversion which was articulated in varied ways, often by marking it explicitly through themes, narratives and humour, and in other times, using it covertly. The thesis explored the dimensions of “unladylike” or “unfunny” which were used as markers to identify their routines by both themselves and their YouTube audience/commentators, the thesis also attempted to explain how these comedians found a balance between ‘doing gender’ and ‘undoing gender’ in these comedy spaces. The thesis concluded with an argument that the stand- up comedy space as negotiated by the select comics provides us a glimpse of an emergent feminist public sphere. Keywords: Stand-up Comedy, Subversion, Unladylike, Public Sphere, Feminist vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Title Page i Approval of Dissertation ii Declaration iii Certificate iv Acknowledgement v Abstract vi Contents vii List of Tables viii 1. Chapter 1 Funny Women 1-32 1.1 Introducing the Thesis 1 1.2 Review of Literature 2 1.2.1 Humour 2-4 1.2.2 Stand-up Comedy 5-6 1.2.3 Stand-up Comedy as a Public Sphere 6-8 1.2.4 Gender in Humour and Stand-up Comedy 8-9 1.2.5 Laughter and Power 9-11 1.2.6 Stand-up in India 11-14 1.2.7 Stand-up in India on YouTube 14-15 1.2.8 Gender Differences in Stand-up in India on YouTube 15-17 1.3 Research Questions, Objectives, and Methodology 17-18 1.4 Methods 18-20 1.5 Theoretical Framework 20-24 1.6 Locating the Significance of the Study 24-25 Work Cited 26-32 2. Chapter 2 Am I not Funny? – An Analysis of Gender Representation of Women in Stand- 33-59 Up Comedy Space on YouTube 2.1 Introduction 33 2.1.1 Stand-up Comedy: Definition and Variables 34-36 2.2 Nature of Participation on YouTube 36-57 Work Cited 58-59 3. Chapter 3 Unruly Women: Mitigating Gender and Humour in Stand-up Comedy Spaces 60-100 3.1 Introduction 60-61 3.2 The Semiotics of the Routines 61-68 3.3 Undoing Gender 68-71 3.4 Texts, Discourses and Public Sphere 71-91 3.5 Towards Feminist Public Sphere 91-95 Work Cited 96-100 4. Conclusion 101-109 4.1 In Conclusion 101-102 4.2 Performativity and Subversion in their Routines 102-104 4.3 Intersectionality 104-105 4.4 Feminist Public Sphere 105-108 Work Cited 109 Bibliography 110-126 vii List of Tables Table 1 Number of clips, average views, average time of the video, average up votes, 37-38 and subscribers for channels owned by individual female performers. Note: This tabular format was last updated in the month of February 2018. Table 2 Number of clips, average views, average time of the video, average up votes, 38-39 and subscribers for channels owned by individual male performers. Note: This tabular format was last updated in the month of February 2018. Table 3 Comparative account of the number of clips, range of upper limit of views, 39-40 range of up votes and subscribers for channels owned by individual male (Top 10) and female performers. Note: This tabular format was last updated in the month of February 2018. Table 4 Profiling of comments section 42 Table 5 Differences in positive and negative comments for individual performers 43 who performed their routines that dealt with similar themes viii Chapter 1 ‘Funny Women’ Introduction 1.1 Introducing the Thesis In contemporary times, there is an extension of the vigilance from real to the virtual world online. This often diminishes faith in the rational public sphere. However, that does not negate the need for public spaces for political participation neither does it challenge the democratic function of these spaces. Rather, that eventually leads to the construction of an alternative platform where observations on the politics in everyday life through entertainment are made accessible to all (Cvetkovich and Pellegrini 1-19). Paul posits how the emergence of a relatively uninhibited public sphere in the form of stand-up comedy has proved promising and has been argued as being particularly important when media organisations in India are experiencing new forms of censorship and control, via more informal mechanisms of business practice, including judgements about audience taste that use ratings, and the need to advance advertising revenues, as the sole justification for the presentation of programming (125). While the uninhibited public sphere has been considered as a celebratory intervention, humour researchers have been puzzled about the lack of intersectionality in these spaces that are particularly accountable for providing alternative spaces for articulations arising from the intersections of humour, public sphere, and gender.