Authors

Verita Sriratana¹;  ¹ Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

Discussion

Necropolitics, which -- according to Achille Mbembe -- is the power dictating who should live and who must die, operates on and through both physical and epistemic violence. Epistemic violence is maintained through the affect of fear. What the Orange Alternative (Pomarańczowa Alternatywa) and the youth-led pro-democracy movement in Thailand have in common is the use of art and parody as ways to transform the affective atmosphere of fear into collective ridiculing laughter against tyranny. This paper offers a comparative analysis of how the Polish parody of smurfs (signifying police officers) and revolution of dwarves wearing orange cone-shaped hats can be seen translated into the Thai parody of dinosaurs (signifying right-wing ultra-royalist “boomers” with obsolete views on education, gender, sexuality etc.) and revolution of giant yellow rubber ducks (used as “comic relief” shields against the deadly chemical-laced water cannons) and Harry Potter cosplay against lèse-majesté. It will also present the outcome of what Gernot Böhme terms “aesthetic labour” of Thai young artists who aim to transform the affect of fear to that of joy ("radość") and laughable absurdity through political satire e.g. cartoonist/caricature artist known as Khai Maew and the graphic designer Saratta Chuengsatiansup, who is behind the “Uninspired by Current Events” Facebook page. Lessons on laughter, which is no laughing matter, from Southeast Asia and Central Europe can be cultivated.