Decoding the political allegory in the Syrian comedy <i>al-Kherba</i>

The Syrian television sitcom al-Kherba (‘the Ruin’, 2011-present) can be viewed as a political allegory that dramatises the authoritarian Ba’th regime in Syria (1971–2024). Analysing the village-setting and character dynamics in numerous scenes distributed throughout the entirety of the musalsal ’s 30 episodes, the paper argues that al-Kherba invites an allegorical reading of the humoristic discourse arising from the integration of sociopolitical realism and idealism. The paper concludes that al-Kherba , making available an allegorical reading of authoritarian governance, testifies to the capacity of television comedy drama to transmit political messages beyond the limits of everyday laughter.