Political satire and the mediation of the zimbabwean crisis in the era of the "new dispensation": The case of magamba tv

Abstract

This chapter examines the mediation of the post-Mugabe Zimbabwean crisis through satirical parody videos circulated on Magamba TV, a YouTube-based platform. This chapter shows how political satire is used to show that "New Dispensation" of Emmerson Mnangagwa has failed to deal with the multiplicity of problems bedevilling the country. The proliferation of political satire in the "New Dispensation", we argue, is not a sign of the opening up of democratic space in Zimbabwe but rather a growing propensity to keep the government in check. In this way, political satire has a subversive function as well as acting as a "social barometer/moral watchdog". Drawing on Scott's theory of the "weapons of the weak" and Downing's postulations on "radical alternative media", we show that political satire allows for an interrogation of the new ruling elite in Zimbabwe. Using Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis, we show how alternative media, as embodied by Magamba TV, represent a multiplicity of discourses whose themes are primarily intended to satirise and question the government and public officials in Zimbabwe.