„Вече даже не искаме да е „хубаво“. Искаме да свърши“: хумор и политика на терена на София

Abstract

A central interest of this article is the study of the political potential of vernacular hu- mour, which targets the urban ground as part of urban infrastructure in Sofia. Eccentri- cally and ambivalently, in instances of infrastructural breakdown humour proceeds by weaving together associations with other times and spaces, with territories that remain foreign and strange when superimposed upon the familiar territory of the city. In the ar- ticle I first briefly engage with the „post-political“ paradigm in critical analyses of Bul- garian post-socialism. I argue that this theoretical framework, together with the opposi- tion between the spheres of „culture“ and „politics“ in some of the analyses available to us, prevent us from developing a complex understanding of heterogenous political events and articulations; instead, they construct a homogenising and totalising narrative about the present. In the second part of this article, I examine with some instances of humorous interventions and appropriations of urban infrastructure in Sofia, discussing these vis-à-vis some theoretical and philosophical texts engaging with memes, media- tion and humour.

More information

Identifiers

ORCID for Neda Genova: orcid.org/0000-0003-0558-6840

Catalogue record

Export record