“Somewhere between Comfort and Crisis”: An Analysis of Humour As a Means to Deal with Challenging Times in South Africa

“Kuhlekwa noma kufiwe”, a Zulu phrase translated to “laughing in the face of adversity”; describes how humour is a means of creating dialogue, addressing important issues and forming social bonds in South African families and in the wider society. Growing up in a large and multifaceted family, humour has always been a way to start difficult conversations, react to difficult situations, create and re-create memories. Even though it may be seen as a diversion from facing difficult issues head-on; it somehow has cemented the social bonds in my family. Similarly, the SA social media space which I observe as a macro level virtual family, emulates the way in which my family utilises humour. The emergence of social media initially for the purpose of communication and forming network communities, has grown into a space whereon various social issues are discussed and reacted to. It has evolved from a means of information dissemination into a daily virtual reality for many South Africans. During the Covid-19 pandemic hard lock down; South Africans were riddled with fear, confusion and uncertainty about this new illness and its implications. However, through humour expressed and shared on social media, South African families and society found a way to cope with challenges and uncertainty during that time. This did not remove the seriousness of the situation; instead, humour created a means for South Africans to cope with the challenging times ahead and create virtual social bonds. Since then, platforms such as TikTok have become instrumental for both content creators and consumers to analyse and re-create social issues. This paper analyses how humour is instrumental in dealing with crises at a micro and macro level, through examining how diverse families and individuals use it to navigate their challenging lives on social media platforms in the South African context.