Article published In:
Pragmatics: Online-First Articles

The role of multimodality and intertextuality in accentuating humor in Algerian Hirak’s posters

| Jordan University of Science and Technology
| Moulay Tahar UniversitySaida
This study investigates how the interaction between multimodal modes and intertextual resources accentuates humor functions. Kress and van Leeuwen’s Visual Grammar (2006) was adopted to analyze a set of sixty humorous online posters of Hirak’s movements. The results revealed that humor was generated from the purposeful interplay of various semiotic modes and the reproduction and recontextualization of shared socio-cultural and political resources. The protesters utilized cartoon characters, religious discourse, folk traditions, and cultural mundane to represent the authority’s members humorously as lawbreakers, prisoners, robbers, and gangsters. This humorous exposition has placed the authority members outside the Algerian societal in-group boundaries. In contrast, such a device has enhanced conformity among the protesters and exhibited their superiority over the ruling outer group. We hope such an investigation will pave the grounds for further studies and provide insights into multimodal discourse analysis.
Keywords: Algerian Hirak , Multimodal Discourse Analysis, multimodality, intertextuality, humor
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical background and related studies
    • 2.1Multimodality
    • 2.2Humor in protest discourse
    • 2.3Intertextuality
  • 3.Methods and procedures of data analysis
  • 4.Results and discussion
    • 4.1Analysis of language metafunctions
      • 4.1.1Representational metafunction
      • 4.1.2Interactive metafunction
      • 4.1.3Compositional metafunction
    • 4.2The role of multimodal mode interaction and intertextual resources in vocalizing humor
  • 5.Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 2 November 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.22008.ala
References (42)
References
Abdelhai, Nour El-Houda. 2021. “A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Impoliteness Strategies in Algerian Hirak Protests.” PhD dissertation. University of Jordan.
Abu Hatab, Wafa. 2016. “The Arab Spring: A New Era of Humor Consumption and Production.” International Journal of English Linguistics 6 (3): 70–87. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Abulof, Uriel. 2011. “What Is the Arab Third Estate?” Huffington Post. Available at: [URL]. (Accessed 10 December 2021).
Al-Momani, Kawakib, Mohammad Badarneh, and Fathi Migdadi. 2017. “A Semiotic Analysis of Political Cartoons in Jordan in Light of the Arab Spring.” Humor: International Journal of Humor Research 30 (1): 63–95. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Barahmeh, Yousef. 2020. “Carnivalesque Politics and Popular Resistance: A Bakhtinian Reading of Contemporary Jordanian Political Humor.” PhD dissertation. University of Portsmouth.
Bazerman, Charles. 2004. “Intertextuality: How Texts Rely on Other Texts”. In What Writing Does and How It Does It: An Introduction to Analyzing Texts and Textual Practices, ed. by Charles Bazerman, and Paul Prior, 83–96. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Bentahar, Ziad. 2020. “‘Ytnahaw ga’!’: Algeria’s Cultural Revolution and the Role of Language in the Early Stages of the Spring 2019 Hirak .” Journal of African Cultural Studies 33 (4): 1–17.Google Scholar
Bhatia, Vijay. 2004. Worlds of Written Discourse. Lonon: Continuum.Google Scholar
Camps-Febrer, Blanca. 2012. “Political Humor as a Confrontational Tool against the Syrian Regime.” ICIP Working Papers 2012/18. [URL] (accessed 2 June 2022).
Cheong, Yin. 2004. “The Construal of Ideational Meaning in Print Advertisements.” In Multimodal Discourse Analysis: Systemic Functional Perspectives, ed. by Kay L. O’Halloran, 163–195. London: Continuum.Google Scholar
Čmejrková, Světla. 2006. “Cultural Specifics of Advertising in Czech: Intertextuality and Interdiscursivity”. Linguistica Pragensia (2): 77–92.Google Scholar
Cook, Guy. 2001. The Discourse of Advertising, 2nd ed. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Douglas, Mary. 1975. Implicit Meanings. London: Rutledge.Google Scholar
Dynel, Marta. 2011. “Entertaining and Enraging the Functions of Verbal Violence in Broadcast Political Debates”. In Studies in Political Humor in between Political Critique and Public Entertainments, ed. by Villy Tsakona, and Diana Popa, 109–133. John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Eagleton, Terry. 2019. Humor. London: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Halliday, Michael. 1994. An Introduction to Functional Grammar, 2nd edition. London: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar
Hart, Marjolein’t. 2007. “Humour and Social Protest: An Introduction.” Internationaal Instituut voor Social Geschiedenis 521: 1–20. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Helmy, Mohammed, and Sabine Frerichs. 2013. “Stripping the Boss: The Powerful Role of Humour in the Egyptian Revolution 2011.” Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science 47 (4): 450–481. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hussein, Omar. 2015. “A Sociolinguistic Study of the Slogans of the Syrian Revolution.” Unpublished MA Thesis. Yarmouk University.
Jewitt, Carey. 2009. “An Introduction to Multimodality.” In The Routledge Handbook of Multimodal Analysis, ed. by Carey Jewitt, 14–27. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Kress, Gunther, and Theo van Leeuwen. 2006. Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. London: Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lahlali, El Mustafa. 2014. “The Discourse of Egyptian Slogans: From ‘Long Live Sir’ to ‘Down with the Dictator’.” Arab Media & Society 191: 1–19.Google Scholar
Lemke, Jay. 1995. Textual Politics: Discourse and Social Dynamics. London: Tayler & Francis.Google Scholar
Mansouri, Nadim. 2013. The Sociology of the Internet. Beirut: Muntada Almaarif.Google Scholar
Martin, Rod. 2007. The Psychology of Humor: An Integrative Approach. Elsevier Academic Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Matheson, Donald. 2005. Media Discourses: Analyzing Media Texts. Maidenhead: Open University Press.Google Scholar
Mifdal, Mohamed. 2016. “Digital Politics on Facebook during the Arab Spring in Morocco: Adaptive Strategies of Satire Relative to its Political and Cultural Context.” European Journal of Humor Research 4 (3): 43–60. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Moalla, Asma. 2013. “Tunisian in the Aftermath of the Revolution: Insights into the Use of Humor on Facebook to Create Social Bonds and Develop Relational Identity.” SAGE Open July-September 2013: 1–7.Google Scholar
. 2015. “Incongruity in the Generation and Perception of Humor on Facebook in the Aftermath of the Tunisian Revolution.” Journal of Pragmatics 751: 44–52. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Morreal, John. 2005. “Humour and the Conduct of Politics.” In Beyond the Joke the Limits of Humour, ed. by Sharon Lockyer, and Michael Pickering, 63–78. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmilla. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Morva, Oya. 2016. “The Humorous Language of Street Dissent: A Discourse Analysis on the Graffiti of the Gezi Park Protests”. European Journal of Humour Research 4 (2): 19–34. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nassar, Mahmoud. 2020. “A Socio-pragmatic Study of the Lebanese Uprising Slogans.” PhD dissertation. University of Jordan.
Noelle-Neuman, Elizabeth. 1991. “The Theory of Public Opinion: The Concept of the Spiral of Silence.” In Communication Yearbook, ed. by James Anderson, 256–287. Newbury Park: Sage. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Paltridge, Brain. 2012. Discourse Analysis: An Introduction. Continuum International Publishing Group. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pearce, Katy, and Adnan Hajizada. 2014. “No Laughing Humor as a Means of Dissent in the Digital Era: The Case of Authoritarian Azerbaijan.” The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization 22 (1): 67–85.Google Scholar
Raskin, Victor. 1985. Semantic Mechanisms of Humor. Dordrecht: Reidel Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Royce, Terry. 2007. “Intersemiotic Complementarity: A Framework for Multimodal Discourse Analysis.” In New Directions in the Analysis of Multimodal Discourse, ed. by Terry Royce, and Wendy Bowcher, 63–109. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Schwarz, Jeannine. 2010. “Linguistic Aspects of Verbal Humor in Stand-up Comedy.” PhD dissertation. Saarland University.
Scott, James. 1990. Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts. Ann Arbor: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Tsakona, Villy, and Diana Popa. 2011. “Humour in Political and the Politics of Humour: An Introduction.” In Studies in Political Humour in Between Political Critique and Public Entertainments, ed. by Villy Tsakona, and Diana Popa, 1–30. John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wang, Wei. 2004. “A Contrastive Analysis of Letters to the Editor in Chinese and English.” Australian Review of Applied Linguistics 271: 72–88. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wieczorek, Magdalena. 2021. “Humour as a Carrier of Meaning in Sitcom Discourse: A Data-Based Study from A Relevance Theoretic Perceptive.” PhD dissertation. Warsaw University.