The Interplay Between Art, Aesthetics and Politics in The Xyz Show
Abstract
Artivism, a neologism of art and activism, has attracted the interest of scholars who have studied artivism in various popular art productions. The XYZ Show, the first animated Kenyan puppet comedy, has received fair attention; however, the nature of artivism in the show has not been consistently addressed. This study therefore interrogated The XYZ Show to determine how as a popular art production it engages art to ridicule various omissions and commissions of political leaders in Kenya. The interpretation is guided by Grace Musila’s model of reading popular art: Politics/Power/Agency, to corroborate the artistic aesthetics that make the show politically textured. The study is qualitative and it engages in textual analysis of purposively sampled episodes to explain the nature of artivism as depicted in the show. Videos of sampled episodes were watched and data was collected using structured observation checklists and analyzed using thematic content analysis. From the analysis of the data collected the study determined that The XYZ Show employs artistic strategies to speak truth to power. It uses allusion, allegory and imagery among other techniques to present events that are intelligible to the Kenyan audience with a view to satirizing government officials and the Kenyan political landscape. This article expects to add knowledge on the subject of popular art and artivism in Kenya
Downloads
References
Aladro, Vico Eva and Dimitra Jivcova and Olga Bailey. "Artivism: A New Educative Language for Transformative Social Action." Media Education Research Journal (2018): 9-18. Document.
Asamoah, Andrews Atta. Response to Insecurity in Kenya: Too Much, Too Little. Survey Report. Pretoria: Institue For Secrity Studies, 2015.
Awat, Loi and King Muriuki. "Nieman Lab." 31 July 2018. Jamlab. Document. 10 March 2024.
Barasa, Remmy. "Re-Imagining The Post Colony in Kenyas XYZ Show Joke Cartoons." Chukwumah, Ignatius. Joke Performance in Africa: Mode, Media and Meaning. London: Routledge, 2018. 21-69.
Barsey, Janer Marina. "The Decolnial Proposals of Performance Artivism through Encounter with La PochaNostra & Freddie Mercelo." Masters Thesis. 2018. Document.
Bartinikowski, Marcin. "The Puppetteers Body." Kordjak, Joanna and Kamil Kopania. Puppets, Theatre, Film and Politics. Warsaw: Zacheta National Gallery of Art, 2019. 73-86. Document.
Bouhmala, Zakariae. "Joking about Government: AClose Reading of Moroccan Comic Show "The School of the Naughty"." Chukwumah, Ignatius. Joke Performance in Africa: Mode, Media and Meaning. London: Routledge, 2018. 61-69. book.
Callus, Paula. "The Rise of Kenyan Political Animation: Tactics of Subversion." Bournemouth University (2018): 1-47. Document.
Cohen, Matthew. "Puppets, Puppetteers and Puppet Spectators." Contemporary Theatre Reviw (2017): 255-265. Document.
Creswell, John and David Creswell. Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed Methods 5th Ed. California: Sage Publishers, 2018.
Critchley, Simon. On Humour. London: Routledge, 2002.
Davies, Stephen. "Defining Art and Art Worlds." Journal of Aesthetics and Criticism (2015): 375-384. Document.
Eagleton, Terry. Humour. New Haven and London: New Yale University, 2019. Ebook.
Emmerson, Phil. "Thinking Laughter Beyond Humour: Atmospheric Refrains and Ethical Interminiancies in Spaces of Care." Sage Pubications (2017): 2082-2099. PDF Doc.
Hachimi, Mohammed El. From Activism to Artivism. 29 January 2016. Document.
Hollander, Goris Yaninke and Sakia. "Activism, Artivism and Beyond: Inspiring Initiatives in Civic Power." Project Report. 2017.
Holm, Nicholas. Humour as Politics: The Political Aesthetics of Contemporary Comedy. Pamerson North Manawatu: Palgrave- Macmilan, 2017. E-Book.
Kebaya, Charles. "Popular Art and Reconfiguration of Police Atrocities in Kenya." Literary Studies (2018): 105-123. Document.
Kordjak, Joanna. "A collage of Things, Stories, Objects and People." Kordjak, Joanna and Kamil Kopania. Puppets, Theatre, Film and Politicc. Warsaw: Zacheta- National Gallery of Art, 2019. 7- 22. Document.
Kosinski, Dariusz. "The Politicality of The Puppet." Kordjak, Joanna and Kamil Kopania. Puppets, THeatre, Film And Politics. Warsaw: Zacheta- National Gallery of Art, 2019. 59-72.
Latorre, Guisela. "Boarder Consciousness and Artivist Aesthetics: Richard Lou's Performance and MultiMedia Art Work." American Studies Journal (2012). E-document.
—. "Border Consciousness and Artivist Aesthetics: Richard Lou's Performance and MultiMedia Art Work." Amercan Studies Journal (2012). Document.
Lombardini, John. "Civic Laughter: Aristotle and Political Virtue of Humour." Sage Publications (2013). E Document.
—. "Civic Laughter: Aristotle and Political Virtue of Humour." Sage Publications (2013).
Mesias, Jose Maria. "Artivism and Social Conscience: Transforming Teacher Training from a Sensibility Standpoint." Media Education Research Journal (2018). Document.
Musila, Grace A. Thirteen Ways of Reading African Popular Culture. Routledge, n.d.
Norrick, Neal. R. "Hyperbole, Extreme Case Formulation." Journal of Pragmatics (2004): 1727- 1739.
Onsarigo, Dennis. The Secrets of the Artur Brothers. Newspaper. Nairobi: The Standard, 2008. Web Document.
Peck, Rashelle. "Political Strictures and Latex Caricatures in Kenya: Buttressing Mzee Masculinitiesin The XYZ Show." Research in African Literatures (2013): 146-165.
Sedeno, Concha Mateos and Ana. "Video Artivism: The Poetics of Symbolic Conflict." Media Education Research Journal (2018): 49-58. Document.
Sorensen, Ju Majken. Humour in Political Activism: Creative Non-vioent Resistance. Palgrave Macmillan, 2016. E-book.
Copyright (c) 2024 Gladys Mbithe John, Larry Ndivo, PhD, Charles Kebaya, PhD
![Creative Commons License](http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.