Description
In Vereinigung Bildender Künstler v. Austria [2007], the ECtHR established that “satire is a form of artistic expression and social commentary” based on the “exaggeration and distortion of reality,” and that any interference with the right to use this means of expression “should be examined with particular care” (at para 33). This principle has since been evoked – whether by the Court itself or by commentators – with regard to several cases revolving around satire, and humour more generally. The ECtHR’s humour-related case law cuts across multiple themes and grounds for potential speech restriction, including incitement (e.g. Féret v. Belgium and M’Bala M’Bala v. France), glorification of terrorism (from Leroy to Z.B. v. France), reputation and rights of others (Telo de Abreu v. Portugal and Canal 8 v. France) and public order or morals (from Sinkova v. Ukraine to Rabczewska v. Poland).Regardless of the specific themes addressed by the Court on each occasion, these cases share a series of recurring interpretive issues, which are inherently tied to the constitutive features of humour – such as its high reliance on figurative communication and contextual cues. In particular, the Court has frequently stressed the importance of assessing humour in context, especially when determining the necessity and proportionality of a given restriction under Article 10 ECHR. However, as highlighted by linguists and communication scholars, ‘context’ can mean several different things when analysing humour and satire (Tsakona 2020). Building on recent interdisciplinary scholarship (Godioli & Young 2023), this paper will argue that using insights from humanities-based humour research can significantly contribute towards a more systematic approach to judging context in humour-related cases. Particular emphasis will be placed on contextual aspects that have not always been examined consistently in ECtHR jurisprudence, such as co-text (i.e. the information surrounding a given disputed joke) and genre (namely the discursive tradition to which the joke can be ascribed).
| Period | 8-May-2025 |
|---|---|
| Event title | Strasbourg Observers 15th Anniversary Symposium |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Ghent, BelgiumShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |