Satire or power relations? An interesting article that appeared in todays The Hindu. Nobody except for certain extremists would justify or condone the cold blooded murder of the 12 members of the Charlie Hebdo team. There was a near unanimous condemnation of this dastardly act that no human being could justify. However, beyond this condemnation and solidarity expressed for freedom of speech, there is certain cautiousness in debating about the extent of freedom that can be allowed or not allowed in countries that label themselves as democracies. India the largest democracy in the world would think twice or thrice about allowing the press to engage in satire, jokes or insults about religions or their practices. In Malaysia, except for certain groups or individuals, no one in the right mind is prepared to ridicule, joke or make fun of religions. Ironically, it was the French philosopher Miche Focault in in his various writings reminded us that power-relations underpin most debates and exchanges in society. While the dominant discourse in Western democracies is for the unfettered exchange of free ideas rooted in the very nature of Western philosophy, such as exchange leading to creating jokes, making fun, satire and ridicule always stem from deeply embedded power relations. The satirical activities of Charlie Hebdo could be simply approached from the point of view of freedom of press from the Western stand point. However to those from non-Western civilizations, ridiculing Islam, Hindusm or Buddhism tantamounts looking down upon the relgions, cultural practices and other features of the non-Western societies. Thus, in a nutshell, the activities of Charles Hebdo tells us about the deeply ingrained values and practices of the dominant Western civilization and how modern day satire is used deftly to cover up the power relationships between the dominant and those in the subordinate ranks.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 23:15:29 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015