{"id":{"repo_id":"uwo","oai_identifier":"oai:uwo.scholaris.ca:20.500.14721/14872"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uwo/oai:uwo.scholaris.ca:20.500.14721/14872","repository":{"repo_id":"uwo","name":"Western University","base_url":"https://uwo.scholaris.ca/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Bad Comic, Good Comic: The Social Construction of Brownness in the Racial and Ethnic Humor of South Asian Comedians","abstract":"The current study aims to compare how South Asian comedians Russell Peters and Hasan Minhaj use racial and ethnic humor to articulate their understandings of Brownness, a tenuous space of both privilege and persecution in North America. Racial and ethnic humor inhabit a contentious continuum that includes exclusionary racist humor, which naturalizes and reiterates racial ideologies, and emancipatory racial humor that exposes and resists dominant power structures. I employ a thematic content analysis of the stand-up comedy shows Comedy Now!(2004) and Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King (2017) to argue that the social construction of Brownness in the material of South Asian comedians shapes its propensity for social order and social change. In conclusion, I consider the ideological implications of racial and ethnic humor on the social perceptions of marginalized groups and in public discourses on race and racism.","abstract_html":"The current study aims to compare how South Asian comedians Russell Peters and Hasan Minhaj use racial and ethnic humor to articulate their understandings of Brownness, a tenuous space of both privilege and persecution in North America. Racial and ethnic humor inhabit a contentious continuum that includes exclusionary racist humor, which naturalizes and reiterates racial ideologies, and emancipatory racial humor that exposes and resists dominant power structures. I employ a thematic content analysis of the stand-up comedy shows Comedy Now!(2004) and Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King (2017) to argue that the social construction of Brownness in the material of South Asian comedians shapes its propensity for social order and social change. In conclusion, I consider the ideological implications of racial and ethnic humor on the social perceptions of marginalized groups and in public discourses on race and racism.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Islam, Tasmeea"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Allahar, Anton"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2018,"date_issued":"2018","date_published":"2018","updated_at":"2026-08-21T22:21:56Z","subjects":["South Asians","Brownness","stand-up comedy","racist humor","emancipatory racial humor"],"languages":["en_ca"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/14872","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"source_record":{"url":"https://uwo.scholaris.ca/server/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=dim&identifier=oai%3Auwo.scholaris.ca%3A20.500.14721%2F14872","prefix":"dim"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Allahar, Anton"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Islam, Tasmeea"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2025-06-23T14:59:21Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-06-23T14:59:21Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2018"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["research report"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["South Asians","Brownness","stand-up comedy","racist humor","emancipatory racial humor"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en_ca"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/14872"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The current study aims to compare how South Asian comedians Russell Peters and Hasan Minhaj use racial and ethnic humor to articulate their understandings of Brownness, a tenuous space of both privilege and persecution in North America. Racial and ethnic humor inhabit a contentious continuum that includes exclusionary racist humor, which naturalizes and reiterates racial ideologies, and emancipatory racial humor that exposes and resists dominant power structures. I employ a thematic content analysis of the stand-up comedy shows Comedy Now!(2004) and Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King (2017) to argue that the social construction of Brownness in the material of South Asian comedians shapes its propensity for social order and social change. In conclusion, I consider the ideological implications of racial and ethnic humor on the social perceptions of marginalized groups and in public discourses on race and racism."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Bad Comic, Good Comic: The Social Construction of Brownness in the Racial and Ethnic Humor of South Asian Comedians"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Allahar, Anton"],"dc:creator":["Islam, Tasmeea"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2025-06-23T14:59:21Z"],"dc:date.available":["2025-06-23T14:59:21Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2018"],"dc:description.abstract":["The current study aims to compare how South Asian comedians Russell Peters and Hasan Minhaj use racial and ethnic humor to articulate their understandings of Brownness, a tenuous space of both privilege and persecution in North America. Racial and ethnic humor inhabit a contentious continuum that includes exclusionary racist humor, which naturalizes and reiterates racial ideologies, and emancipatory racial humor that exposes and resists dominant power structures. I employ a thematic content analysis of the stand-up comedy shows Comedy Now!(2004) and Hasan Minhaj: Homecoming King (2017) to argue that the social construction of Brownness in the material of South Asian comedians shapes its propensity for social order and social change. In conclusion, I consider the ideological implications of racial and ethnic humor on the social perceptions of marginalized groups and in public discourses on race and racism."],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14721/14872"],"dc:language.iso":["en_ca"],"dc:subject":["South Asians","Brownness","stand-up comedy","racist humor","emancipatory racial humor"],"dc:title":["Bad Comic, Good Comic: The Social Construction of Brownness in the Racial and Ethnic Humor of South Asian Comedians"],"dc:type":["research report"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-08-21T22:21:56Z"}