Political Correctness in Contemporary American Stand-up Comedy - A Critical Discourse Analysis

Politička korektnost kao društveni fenomen utječe na način kako komunicirao te samim time i na naše ponašanje jednih prema drugima. Humor je jedna od univerzalnih ljudskih osobina koja može poslužiti kao odraz stereotipa i društvenih praksi koje prevladavaju u društvu. Cilj rada bilo je kritičkom analizom diskursa istražiti kolika je razina političke korektnosti u modernom američkom stand-up humoru vezano za performanse komičara o rodnim ulogama te muško-ženskim odnosima. Također, istraženo je koliko komičari poput Dave Chappellea, Bill Burra, Lise Lampanelli i Chris Rocka sudjeluju u reprodukciji stereotipa i podupiranju trenutnih društvenih praksi. Rezultati su pokazali da postoji razina političke nekorektnosti u performansima navedenih komičara te da se isti oslanjaju na stereotipe prilikom svojih nastupa i tako podupiru društvene prakse vezane za rodne uloge. Buduća, detaljnija istraživanja trebala bi se kretati prema usporedbi diskurzivnih praksi između muškaraca i žena prilikom stand-upa te kriterijima odabira tema.Political correctness as a social phenomenon affects the way we communicate and thus our behavior toward one another. Humor is one of the universal human traits that can serve as a reflection of stereotypes and social practices that prevail in society. The aim of this paper was to explore level of political correctness in a modern American stand-up humor associated with gender roles and male-female relationships using critical discourse analysis. Also, it was explored how comedians like Dave Chappelle, Bill Burr, Lisa Lampanelli and Chris Rock are involved in reproducing stereotypes and supporting current social practices. The results have shown that there is not very high degree of political correctness in the performance of the associated comedians and that they heavy rely on use of stereotypes during their performances and thus support social practices related to gender roles. In the future, more detailed research should examine the comparison of discursive practices between men and women in stand-up humor and the criteria for selecting themes