| Abstract [eng] |
This master’s thesis analyses how political laughter participates in shaping the image of political reality. The idea for the thesis was prompted by the aim to examine the satirical television programme “Dviračio savaitė” not only as entertainment content, but as a text that produces political meanings. The object of the research is the episodes broadcast between September 2025 and January 2026, in which the Belarusian smuggling balloon crisis is reflected. The research problem is related to the way real political events are transformed through parody, visual and linguistic elements, repetition, and the mismatch between political language and the situation represented. The aim of the thesis is to reveal how “Dviračio savaitė” constructs an alternative image of a political crisis and what significance political laughter acquires in this process. To achieve this aim, the following objectives are set: to discuss theoretical approaches to political laughter, parody and carnival laughter; to analyse the visual elements of crisis representation; to analyse the language of the characters; and, by applying A. J. Greimas’s veridictory square, to define the relationship between the seriousness of the real crisis and its comic representation. The analysis shows that the motif of smuggling balloons and the actions of the Prime Minister’s character become the main means through which the image of the crisis is constructed. In the parody, governmental decision-making is often represented as an imitation, while the crisis itself is presented as a recurring and ultimately unresolved phenomenon. The Prime Minister’s character is constructed as a caricatured intensification of an image already recognizable in public discourse: her appearance, language and behaviour become signs through which the impression of political authority is weakened. The conclusions of the thesis suggest that “Dviračio savaitė” not only reflects political reality, but also transforms it. In the programme, a serious political crisis acquires a comic form, yet its political basis remains serious. The significance of the thesis lies in its contribution to the development of political humour studies in Lithuania: the research shows that a satirical television programme can be analysed as a text that actively participates in shaping the interpretation of political events and the public perception of political reality. |
