When President Mnangagwa came to power in November 2017, he postured as a democrat by among other things, opening the social media space and loosening some of the media restrictions of the Mugabe era. Consequently, his Facebook Page, which he used to inform followers about government initiatives, became a site of political contestation. This chapter focuses on how social media in post-Mugabe Zimbabwe has become a carnivalesque space akin to Bakhtin’s medieval marketplace where citizens contest hegemonic narratives of the nation through satire and subversive humour. I argue that Zimbabwean citizens took advantage of the President’s official Facebook Page not only to express their frustrations (through vulgar language and other expletives) but also to write an alternative narrative about Zimbabwe under the Mnangagwa presidency.

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Platformed Satire and the Politics of “Kutonga” on President Mnangagwa’s Facebook Page

  • Rodwell Makombe

摘要

When President Mnangagwa came to power in November 2017, he postured as a democrat by among other things, opening the social media space and loosening some of the media restrictions of the Mugabe era. Consequently, his Facebook Page, which he used to inform followers about government initiatives, became a site of political contestation. This chapter focuses on how social media in post-Mugabe Zimbabwe has become a carnivalesque space akin to Bakhtin’s medieval marketplace where citizens contest hegemonic narratives of the nation through satire and subversive humour. I argue that Zimbabwean citizens took advantage of the President’s official Facebook Page not only to express their frustrations (through vulgar language and other expletives) but also to write an alternative narrative about Zimbabwe under the Mnangagwa presidency.