Open AccessRidiculing the unreasonable: The political aesthetic ofZondag met Lubach
Author(s) -
Ivo Nieuwenhuis
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
european journal of cultural studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.835
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1460-3551
pISSN - 1367-5494
DOI - 10.1177/13675494221087293
Subject(s) - ridiculous , politics , rhetoric , status quo , aesthetics , order (exchange) , style (visual arts) , irrational number , sociology , epistemology , law , political science , philosophy , art , literature , economics , linguistics , geometry , mathematics , finance
This article analyses the highly popular and critically acclaimed Dutch satirical TV show Zondag met Lubach (2014-2021), using the approach of political aesthetics. Through this approach, which focuses on the form, style and rhetoric of cultural artefacts, and the way in which these elements perform politics, it is shown that Zondag met Lubach was much less critical and progressive than is often thought. Overall, the show mainly defended the existing liberal status quo. It did so by depoliticising its own viewpoint, which was presented as simply reasonable, while ideas and practices that did not fit within this viewpoint were framed as irrational and ridiculous. It also turns out that the solutions it proposed for current social issues were strongly inclined towards individual responsibility, much less towards structural changes. This is another way in which the show acted as a defender of the given socio-political order.