Hindi Humour as a Mediatic, Digital and Literary Mode

Conference paper presented i in the panel "Freedom to Laugh and Freedom to be: Humour and Democracy in Contemporary Times", organised and chaired by Dr. Rashi Barghava (Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, North-Eastern Hill University) on 24 December 2024. The theoretical objective of the panel was to discuss the following questions. What does it mean to 'do' humour in different socio-cultural and political settings? What are the ways in which has transformed over the years? Can we think of humour as a democratising site? Does the study of humour need new methodologies and theoretical orientations? The conference was part of the All India Sociological Conference (AISC) 2024 organised by BLM Munjal University from 22-24 December 2024. The title of the conference was "Sociology, Development and Democracy". The title of the paper presented was "Hindi Humour as Mediatic, Digital and Literary Mode". The paper aimed to explore the use of humour as an interdiscursive mode in the contemporary Indian public sphere, with a focus on the use of this mode in the Hindi language. The paper also briefly explores the connections between the humorous narratives that have emerged in recent years in Hindi literature, performative arts and new media.