Periodic Reporting for period 1 - FISM (Fighting with a Smile: Satirical and Humourist Voices of Resilience from Hindi Speaking Subaltern Subjects and Communities)
Reporting period: 2024-07-01 to 2026-06-30
Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project
Studying comedy and satire is essential for exploring various topics and aspects of global society. Comedy, satire, and humor are important tools for improving the representation and democratic participation of underrepresented subjects and communities. Over the last ten years, the digitalization of many performative arts and practices has undoubtedly provided performers with new opportunities for self-expression. At the same time, this digital shift has significantly impacted the development of new literary, performative, and media practices in various global contexts. New and old forms of "charged" satire, humor, and comedy have proven to be important instruments of critique and participation in debates ranging from eco-feminist theories to discussions about the empowerment of underrepresented and marginalized groups. As a rhetorical means that can create psychological, ideological, and sociocultural dynamics of resilience, comedy is increasingly employed by cultural actors who previously had fewer opportunities to reach a wider audience.
However, despite the growing academic interest in this broader field, few researchers have attempted to explore the value of these practices in relation to contemporary Asian and/or Indian public spheres. With this in mind, the present research, which involved two years of fieldwork in India, aimed to theorize, from an interdisciplinary and intersectional perspective, the functions of hasya ("humor" in Hindi) and vyangya ("satire" in Hindi) within the Indian public sphere, with a focus on northern India. Furthermore, the research aimed to develop a comprehensive theoretical framework to analyze these modes of communication in Hindi literature, North Indian performing arts (e.g. stand-up comedy and oral narratives linked to regional practices), and new media. Humor and satire are important modes of expression in Indian society and can be found in diverse cultural areas. For this reason, the project has conducted a transdisciplinary study of these two forms, which transcend the boundaries between diverse disciplines. Another relevant theoretical aspect of the project is its focus on the use of these modes in the Hindi belt, a linguistic region encompassing parts of northern and central India where Hindi is a lingua franca.
The first area of investigation involved a survey of selected contemporary Hindi literary texts. The second area of investigation concerns the extra-literary life of humor and satire, focusing on local and "glocal" practices.
Additionally, the research aimed to highlight underrepresented artists in Indian society, particularly those belonging to specific social categories, offering a "Copernican" shift in the theorizations of previous studies on Indian comedy and satire.
The research focused on the satirical and humorous production by the following communities:
1) Women artists, performers, and writers who write in Hindi and that, over the past twenty years, have used satire as a tool for empowerment and feminist social criticism. In particular, the study focused on the literary works of Surya Bala and Krishna Sobti. In the performing arts, it examined the role of women performers associated with stand-up comedy and other oral storytelling practices in northern India, with a focus on the Mahila Holi ("Women's Holi"), practices in Kumaon.
2) Women and men artists and performers associated with Dalit identity.
3) Members of the Adivasi community in northern India, active in urban and peri-urban areas.
4) Members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
The research has been focused on Hindi-language literary and performative practices. Indeed, Hindi is currently used in the Indian public sphere with the objective of articulating most of the societal, socio-cultural and political claims by less represented authors and communities in the urban and in the peri-urban context in North India.
The survey, conducted through a textual and performative analysis of diverse fields of Indian cultural production, aimed to produce (also through the realization of various dissemination and communication activities in India) theorizations for an inclusive and intersectional study of the investigated problems. This research also aimed to have an impact on the realization of following cultural and sociopolitical programs and objectives:
1) To give visibility to local and regional artists who are underrepresented in the Indian public sphere.
2) To develop theoretical models for analyzing the arts of comedy and satire in India.
3) To build a network between artists and scholars interested in the field of “humor studies”.
4) To raise public awareness in India and Europe regarding the profound sociocultural significance of the practices under analysis. This objective was achieved through the participation of stakeholders, such as local theater groups, artists’ organizations, and institutions (embassies, cultural centers, etc.).
However, despite the growing academic interest in this broader field, few researchers have attempted to explore the value of these practices in relation to contemporary Asian and/or Indian public spheres. With this in mind, the present research, which involved two years of fieldwork in India, aimed to theorize, from an interdisciplinary and intersectional perspective, the functions of hasya ("humor" in Hindi) and vyangya ("satire" in Hindi) within the Indian public sphere, with a focus on northern India. Furthermore, the research aimed to develop a comprehensive theoretical framework to analyze these modes of communication in Hindi literature, North Indian performing arts (e.g. stand-up comedy and oral narratives linked to regional practices), and new media. Humor and satire are important modes of expression in Indian society and can be found in diverse cultural areas. For this reason, the project has conducted a transdisciplinary study of these two forms, which transcend the boundaries between diverse disciplines. Another relevant theoretical aspect of the project is its focus on the use of these modes in the Hindi belt, a linguistic region encompassing parts of northern and central India where Hindi is a lingua franca.
The first area of investigation involved a survey of selected contemporary Hindi literary texts. The second area of investigation concerns the extra-literary life of humor and satire, focusing on local and "glocal" practices.
Additionally, the research aimed to highlight underrepresented artists in Indian society, particularly those belonging to specific social categories, offering a "Copernican" shift in the theorizations of previous studies on Indian comedy and satire.
The research focused on the satirical and humorous production by the following communities:
1) Women artists, performers, and writers who write in Hindi and that, over the past twenty years, have used satire as a tool for empowerment and feminist social criticism. In particular, the study focused on the literary works of Surya Bala and Krishna Sobti. In the performing arts, it examined the role of women performers associated with stand-up comedy and other oral storytelling practices in northern India, with a focus on the Mahila Holi ("Women's Holi"), practices in Kumaon.
2) Women and men artists and performers associated with Dalit identity.
3) Members of the Adivasi community in northern India, active in urban and peri-urban areas.
4) Members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
The research has been focused on Hindi-language literary and performative practices. Indeed, Hindi is currently used in the Indian public sphere with the objective of articulating most of the societal, socio-cultural and political claims by less represented authors and communities in the urban and in the peri-urban context in North India.
The survey, conducted through a textual and performative analysis of diverse fields of Indian cultural production, aimed to produce (also through the realization of various dissemination and communication activities in India) theorizations for an inclusive and intersectional study of the investigated problems. This research also aimed to have an impact on the realization of following cultural and sociopolitical programs and objectives:
1) To give visibility to local and regional artists who are underrepresented in the Indian public sphere.
2) To develop theoretical models for analyzing the arts of comedy and satire in India.
3) To build a network between artists and scholars interested in the field of “humor studies”.
4) To raise public awareness in India and Europe regarding the profound sociocultural significance of the practices under analysis. This objective was achieved through the participation of stakeholders, such as local theater groups, artists’ organizations, and institutions (embassies, cultural centers, etc.).
Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far
The research was carried out through a fieldwork of two years in India (in association with UPES, University of Dehradun, and Sapienza University) and was conducted by performing the following tasks:
1. The research was accomplished through the textual analysis of five books, written by Hindi writers in the course of the last thirty years. The textual analysis focused on the texts ‘Patni-patni aur hindi sahitya’ and ‘Bhagvaan ne kaha tha’, written by Surya Bala, a Hindi woman satirist. Also, as far as the contribution of women to Hindi literature is concerned, the research has entailed the textual analysis of Krishna Sobti’s ‘Ham Hashmat’ (1999). Finally, research has focused on Tulsi Ram’s texts ‘Murdahiya’ (2010), and ‘Manikarnika’ (2014). The author of both these texts is a Dalit writer and activist and his literary production is essential to understand the connection between satire and Dalit identity in the Hindi cultural sphere. The realization of these activities was possible through the consultation of primary and secondary materials collected in India, and, more in particular, in the cities of Dehradun (Libraries at Dehradun University) and New Delhi (Prime Minister Memorial Library, Center for the Study of Developing Societies, and others).
2. The researcher has participated and obtained permission to analyze and survey three stand-up comedy shows. The events were held in New Delhi. Research has focused on shows by Manjeet Sarkar, a stand-up comedian belonging to the Namashudra community, The methodology used to conduct the analysis of these performances implied the realization of a recording and a textual analysis.Other researches connected to this task concerned the analysis of texts produced by members of the Dalit and LGBTQIA+ communities.
3. The researcher also conducted fieldwork in Kumaon (Almora, Nainital, Munsyari) with the objective of recording and surveying oral narratives connected to the local ‘carnevalesque’ celebration of the Mahila Holi (‘Women’s Holi’). The research was conducted through the realization of interviews in Hindi with local performers (‘holyar-s’) connected to this art form. Also, it entailed the recording of oral narratives in the city of Almora, at the Hukka Club centre, and in peri-urban centres around Munsyari, in Uttarakhand. Fieldwork in Kumaon was first carried out between December 2024 and March 2025; while a second phase of the research took place between March and April 2026. Finally, on the basis of collected songs and secondary sources in Hindi, research entailed a textual analysis of twenty songs, that have been translated and investigated in the context of their Indian literary and religious background.
4. The research entailed the selection and first analysis of four hundred items, such as memes, produced by authors and members of less-represented groups on social media groups. This objective focused on the reception of data by social media, and was conducted by analyzing memes produced by anonymous authors associated with Adivasi and Dalit communities. The textual analysis of these memes was conducted in a manual way.
The performed work produced the following main achievements:
1. It contributed to the theorization of the socio-cultural and socio-political value of the notions of hasya and vyangya in the Indian context, and established the connection of these modes to the identity of less-represented groups and subjects of Indian society.
2. It contributed to promote a social awareness about the value of the investigated modes, also through the organization of several communication and dissemination activities in India and in Europe.
3. It attempted to establish a network between scholars and performers who were engaged, at many levels, in the realization of the project theoretical objectives.
4. It consolidated approaches, theories and cases studies from the Humor Studies, especially with regards to the survey of the South Asian cultural context.
5. Creation of dataset offering detailed information about the diverse objectives and results of the project.
6. Publication in Open Access of three articles connected to the theoretical objectives of the research and submission of a volume.
7. Realization of a festival in India, organized, with the support of 'Akshara Theatre', at New Delhi on the date 20 February 2025. The festival aimed to give visibility to scholars and local performers connected to the broad area of the Humor studies.
8. Participation at several conferences in Europe and in India.
1. The research was accomplished through the textual analysis of five books, written by Hindi writers in the course of the last thirty years. The textual analysis focused on the texts ‘Patni-patni aur hindi sahitya’ and ‘Bhagvaan ne kaha tha’, written by Surya Bala, a Hindi woman satirist. Also, as far as the contribution of women to Hindi literature is concerned, the research has entailed the textual analysis of Krishna Sobti’s ‘Ham Hashmat’ (1999). Finally, research has focused on Tulsi Ram’s texts ‘Murdahiya’ (2010), and ‘Manikarnika’ (2014). The author of both these texts is a Dalit writer and activist and his literary production is essential to understand the connection between satire and Dalit identity in the Hindi cultural sphere. The realization of these activities was possible through the consultation of primary and secondary materials collected in India, and, more in particular, in the cities of Dehradun (Libraries at Dehradun University) and New Delhi (Prime Minister Memorial Library, Center for the Study of Developing Societies, and others).
2. The researcher has participated and obtained permission to analyze and survey three stand-up comedy shows. The events were held in New Delhi. Research has focused on shows by Manjeet Sarkar, a stand-up comedian belonging to the Namashudra community, The methodology used to conduct the analysis of these performances implied the realization of a recording and a textual analysis.Other researches connected to this task concerned the analysis of texts produced by members of the Dalit and LGBTQIA+ communities.
3. The researcher also conducted fieldwork in Kumaon (Almora, Nainital, Munsyari) with the objective of recording and surveying oral narratives connected to the local ‘carnevalesque’ celebration of the Mahila Holi (‘Women’s Holi’). The research was conducted through the realization of interviews in Hindi with local performers (‘holyar-s’) connected to this art form. Also, it entailed the recording of oral narratives in the city of Almora, at the Hukka Club centre, and in peri-urban centres around Munsyari, in Uttarakhand. Fieldwork in Kumaon was first carried out between December 2024 and March 2025; while a second phase of the research took place between March and April 2026. Finally, on the basis of collected songs and secondary sources in Hindi, research entailed a textual analysis of twenty songs, that have been translated and investigated in the context of their Indian literary and religious background.
4. The research entailed the selection and first analysis of four hundred items, such as memes, produced by authors and members of less-represented groups on social media groups. This objective focused on the reception of data by social media, and was conducted by analyzing memes produced by anonymous authors associated with Adivasi and Dalit communities. The textual analysis of these memes was conducted in a manual way.
The performed work produced the following main achievements:
1. It contributed to the theorization of the socio-cultural and socio-political value of the notions of hasya and vyangya in the Indian context, and established the connection of these modes to the identity of less-represented groups and subjects of Indian society.
2. It contributed to promote a social awareness about the value of the investigated modes, also through the organization of several communication and dissemination activities in India and in Europe.
3. It attempted to establish a network between scholars and performers who were engaged, at many levels, in the realization of the project theoretical objectives.
4. It consolidated approaches, theories and cases studies from the Humor Studies, especially with regards to the survey of the South Asian cultural context.
5. Creation of dataset offering detailed information about the diverse objectives and results of the project.
6. Publication in Open Access of three articles connected to the theoretical objectives of the research and submission of a volume.
7. Realization of a festival in India, organized, with the support of 'Akshara Theatre', at New Delhi on the date 20 February 2025. The festival aimed to give visibility to scholars and local performers connected to the broad area of the Humor studies.
8. Participation at several conferences in Europe and in India.
Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)
Results beyond the state of the art obtained during the outgoing phase of the FISM research:
1. Research has allowed the development of a theoretical model, that integrates the study of Hindi literature with Hindi performing arts and social media, to survey the socio-cultural and socio-political features of the ‘Hindi humorscape’. From this perspective, it represents an innovative contribution to the current stream of ‘Humor Studies’.
2. The research also had an impact on the study of atmakatha (‘autobiography’ in Hindi). Indeed, as theorized by the researcher in the articles produced by the research, autobiography has been historically adopted by less-represented categories as an instrument to develop a criticism of society. At the same time, unlike what has previously been noted in the critical reflection on Dalit atmakatha, this literature was also characterized by an interest towards the creation of ironic and humorous strategies. Through the investigation of this topic, the research also produced an impact on the studies concerning Hindi contemporary literature in general.
3. The research also impacted current studies on the forms of comedy, satire and humor in the Indian and South Asian Context, and stimulated new research and publications produced by a network of scholars and performers who collaborated with the researcher during the outgoing phase of the research.
4. It also impacted current studies on Indian traditional and new media, and contributed to the branch of studies that interrogates the use of comedy in the Indian public sphere.
5. It has demonstrated the effectiveness of adopting an emic perspective through the engagement of local performers and writers in activities of communication and dissemination.
6. The creation of a network between scholars and performers has also permitted the strengthening of the collaboration between these cultural stakeholders in initiatives and activities not directly connected to the project. A
7. On the societal level, the activities of research conducted by the author and the subsequent output produced by the research (Publications, Festival in New Delhi, Podcast) has contributed to give visibility to less represented arts and scholars in the Indian context, with greater emphasis on arts and narratives by women performers, and/or to performers belonging to the Dalit, LGBTQIA+ and Adivasi arts.
Until now, especially in the field of studies on South Asia and India, previous research has focused primarily on a literary and/or performative perspective on the characteristics of comedy and satire. Through a combined analysis of various fields of inquiry, the research conducted so far has contributed to develop a comprehensive overview of the theoretical issues under investigation.
The research also contributed to realize the following dissemination and communication activities, that showcase the outputs of the research and will contribute in the future to the impact of the research:
Publications
1. Mangraviti, Fabio (2025), Aesthetics and Socio-Cultural Functions of Two Hindi Satirical Fake News Columns: Sattū jī kī asatya kathāeṃ and Pappū aur Gappū kī baiṭhˡkī, "Zeitschrift für Indologie und Südasienstudien", 41, pp. 174-193. ISSN: 978-3-96769-980-7. Accessible in Open Access on Zenodo at the following link:.
2. Mangraviti, Fabio (2025), Levity during the Mahilā holī oral narratives: Notes for a literary and mediatic analysis, "Kervan", 29, 1, pp. 347-374. ISSN: 1825-263X. Accessible in Open Access at the following link:
.
3. Mangraviti, Fabio (2026), Humor and Dalit trauma: life narratives from Hindi literature and stand-up comedy, "HUMOR", 39, 2, pp. 213-236. Accessible in Open Access at the following link:.
Conferences
1. (29-31 Januart 2026), Presentation of the paper titled “I percorsi alternativi della comicità in lingua hindi: il contributo delle autrici di satira letteraria, nuove aree di indagine, contaminazione metodologica”, during the 1st Italian Conference on Asia, titled “Asian Entanglements”, held in Turin and organized by the Istituto di Studi sull’Asia (ISA) and by the Unversity of Turin.
2. (1-4 October, 2025), Co-organizer, along with Dr. Daniela Cappello and Dr. Anirudh Karnick, of the panel “Recasting Classics and Traditional Genres in South Asia: Refractions, Satirical Deviations, Adaptations” during the 28th European Conference on South Asian Studies (ECSAS), held at Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg and organized by the European Association for South Asian Studies (EASAS). Presentation of a paper titled “Yamaraja and Satire in Indian Postcolonial Hindi Literature, Movies, and Performing Arts.”
3. (December 24, 2024) Presentation of the paper titled “Hindi Humor as a Mediatic and Literary Mode” during the panel titled “Freedom to Laugh and Freedom to Be: Humor and Democracy in Contemporary Times,” organized as part of the international conference “AISC Conference 2023 (Sociology, Development, Democracy)” at BML Munjal University in Gurugram, India, by Rashi Bhargava.
Communication activities
1. (20 February 2025), Organization of a festival in India, titled ‘Festival of Satire and Humor’ at the theatre Akshara Theatre (New Delhi). The event, that had an interdisciplinary and intersectional nature, was organized in collaboration with UPES, University of Dehradun (Associate University in India) and Akshara Theatre. A dataset has been stored on Zenodo at the following link:
< https://zenodo.org/records/15077157>(opens in new window).
2. Creation of the research Website https://fismproject.com/(opens in new window).
To further enhance the project’s research objectives and broaden its scope of inquiry beyond the state of art, future analyses conducted by the researcher may explore the following subjects:
1. The diachronic development of satire and humor spanning the early-modern, colonial, and postcolonial periods.
2. An in-depth examination of additional theatrical and/or oral forms related to the use of satire and humor in the context of performative activities.
3. An analysis of the relationship between literary and performative production, especially in the context of events with poetic and theatrical significance in the Hindi public sphere.
4. The development of a diachronic perspective that examines the evolution of satire and humor in texts written in Hindi and other languages of northern India between the pre-colonial and post-colonial period.
1. Research has allowed the development of a theoretical model, that integrates the study of Hindi literature with Hindi performing arts and social media, to survey the socio-cultural and socio-political features of the ‘Hindi humorscape’. From this perspective, it represents an innovative contribution to the current stream of ‘Humor Studies’.
2. The research also had an impact on the study of atmakatha (‘autobiography’ in Hindi). Indeed, as theorized by the researcher in the articles produced by the research, autobiography has been historically adopted by less-represented categories as an instrument to develop a criticism of society. At the same time, unlike what has previously been noted in the critical reflection on Dalit atmakatha, this literature was also characterized by an interest towards the creation of ironic and humorous strategies. Through the investigation of this topic, the research also produced an impact on the studies concerning Hindi contemporary literature in general.
3. The research also impacted current studies on the forms of comedy, satire and humor in the Indian and South Asian Context, and stimulated new research and publications produced by a network of scholars and performers who collaborated with the researcher during the outgoing phase of the research.
4. It also impacted current studies on Indian traditional and new media, and contributed to the branch of studies that interrogates the use of comedy in the Indian public sphere.
5. It has demonstrated the effectiveness of adopting an emic perspective through the engagement of local performers and writers in activities of communication and dissemination.
6. The creation of a network between scholars and performers has also permitted the strengthening of the collaboration between these cultural stakeholders in initiatives and activities not directly connected to the project. A
7. On the societal level, the activities of research conducted by the author and the subsequent output produced by the research (Publications, Festival in New Delhi, Podcast) has contributed to give visibility to less represented arts and scholars in the Indian context, with greater emphasis on arts and narratives by women performers, and/or to performers belonging to the Dalit, LGBTQIA+ and Adivasi arts.
Until now, especially in the field of studies on South Asia and India, previous research has focused primarily on a literary and/or performative perspective on the characteristics of comedy and satire. Through a combined analysis of various fields of inquiry, the research conducted so far has contributed to develop a comprehensive overview of the theoretical issues under investigation.
The research also contributed to realize the following dissemination and communication activities, that showcase the outputs of the research and will contribute in the future to the impact of the research:
Publications
1. Mangraviti, Fabio (2025), Aesthetics and Socio-Cultural Functions of Two Hindi Satirical Fake News Columns: Sattū jī kī asatya kathāeṃ and Pappū aur Gappū kī baiṭhˡkī, "Zeitschrift für Indologie und Südasienstudien", 41, pp. 174-193. ISSN: 978-3-96769-980-7. Accessible in Open Access on Zenodo at the following link:
2. Mangraviti, Fabio (2025), Levity during the Mahilā holī oral narratives: Notes for a literary and mediatic analysis, "Kervan", 29, 1, pp. 347-374. ISSN: 1825-263X. Accessible in Open Access at the following link:
3. Mangraviti, Fabio (2026), Humor and Dalit trauma: life narratives from Hindi literature and stand-up comedy, "HUMOR", 39, 2, pp. 213-236. Accessible in Open Access at the following link:
Conferences
1. (29-31 Januart 2026), Presentation of the paper titled “I percorsi alternativi della comicità in lingua hindi: il contributo delle autrici di satira letteraria, nuove aree di indagine, contaminazione metodologica”, during the 1st Italian Conference on Asia, titled “Asian Entanglements”, held in Turin and organized by the Istituto di Studi sull’Asia (ISA) and by the Unversity of Turin.
2. (1-4 October, 2025), Co-organizer, along with Dr. Daniela Cappello and Dr. Anirudh Karnick, of the panel “Recasting Classics and Traditional Genres in South Asia: Refractions, Satirical Deviations, Adaptations” during the 28th European Conference on South Asian Studies (ECSAS), held at Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg and organized by the European Association for South Asian Studies (EASAS). Presentation of a paper titled “Yamaraja and Satire in Indian Postcolonial Hindi Literature, Movies, and Performing Arts.”
3. (December 24, 2024) Presentation of the paper titled “Hindi Humor as a Mediatic and Literary Mode” during the panel titled “Freedom to Laugh and Freedom to Be: Humor and Democracy in Contemporary Times,” organized as part of the international conference “AISC Conference 2023 (Sociology, Development, Democracy)” at BML Munjal University in Gurugram, India, by Rashi Bhargava.
Communication activities
1. (20 February 2025), Organization of a festival in India, titled ‘Festival of Satire and Humor’ at the theatre Akshara Theatre (New Delhi). The event, that had an interdisciplinary and intersectional nature, was organized in collaboration with UPES, University of Dehradun (Associate University in India) and Akshara Theatre. A dataset has been stored on Zenodo at the following link:
< https://zenodo.org/records/15077157>(opens in new window).
2. Creation of the research Website https://fismproject.com/(opens in new window).
To further enhance the project’s research objectives and broaden its scope of inquiry beyond the state of art, future analyses conducted by the researcher may explore the following subjects:
1. The diachronic development of satire and humor spanning the early-modern, colonial, and postcolonial periods.
2. An in-depth examination of additional theatrical and/or oral forms related to the use of satire and humor in the context of performative activities.
3. An analysis of the relationship between literary and performative production, especially in the context of events with poetic and theatrical significance in the Hindi public sphere.
4. The development of a diachronic perspective that examines the evolution of satire and humor in texts written in Hindi and other languages of northern India between the pre-colonial and post-colonial period.