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FUNERARY COMEDIES IN CONTEMPORARY KINSHASA: SOCIAL DIFFERENCE, URBAN COMMUNITIES AND THE EMERGENCE OF A CULTURAL FORM

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2015

Katrien Pype
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Abstract

The article situates a new type of stand-up comedy, performed in Kinshasa's mourning spaces (matanga), within the city's social universe. This type of funerary joking, enacted by comedians unrelated to the bereaved, represents a clear departure from the customary funerary humour in which accepted jokers occupy particular social positions vis-à-vis the deceased. Following recent changes in the organization of mourning rituals within the circles of Kinshasa's wealthy, these rather intimate events are ever more open to ‘strangers’, who anticipate the spending capacities of the gathered crowd. Comedians constitute one among a wide range of outsider groups who approach the bereaved community as a space of opportunity. It is argued that this emergent cultural form is utterly urban, and could only appear within urban life worlds where conviviality with others, and in particular an understanding of people's need to make a living in precarious circumstances, transforms the mourning community into an audience that pays for a cultural performance. Humour is not only derived from a symbolic difference between the poor and the rich, but also through the performance of exaggerated flattery, producing the illusion of patronage and situating the comedian within a feigned patron–client relationship for the duration of that performance.

Résumé

L’article situe un nouveau type de stand-up comique qui se pratique dans les lieux de deuil (matanga) de Kinshasa, au sein de l’univers social de la ville. Ce type de plaisanterie funéraire, pratiqué par des comiques sans lien de parenté avec les proches du défunt, représente une nette rupture avec l’humour funéraire coutumier dans lequel des plaisantins acceptés occupent des positions sociales particulières vis-à-vis du défunt. Suite à une évolution récente de l’organisation des cérémonies de deuil dans les milieux aisés de Kinshasa, ces événements plutôt intimes sont de plus en plus ouverts aux « étrangers », qui anticipent le pouvoir d’achat des personnes rassemblées. Les comiques forment un des nombreux groupes extérieurs qui abordent la communauté en deuil comme un espace d’opportunité. L’auteur soutient que cette forme culturelle émergente est strictement urbaine et qu’elle ne pourrait apparaître que dans des univers de vie urbains où la convivialité avec autrui, et en particulier une compréhension du besoin des personnes en situation précaire de gagner leur vie, transforme la communauté endeuillée en public qui paye pour voir un spectacle culturel. L’humour vient non seulement de la différence symbolique entre les pauvres et les riches, mais aussi de l’interprétation d’une flatterie exagérée qui donne l’illusion d’un patronage et situe le comique, le temps du spectacle, dans une relation patron-client feinte.

Type
Pageants, play and passion
Information
Africa , Volume 85 , Issue 3 , August 2015 , pp. 457 - 477
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2015 

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