Introduction:

Troiani, Igea; Ewing, Suzanne

doi:10.2307/j.ctv36xw2gk.3

Cited by 1 publication

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“…The literature has approached critical visuality in different ways. It has been theorised as a method more oriented towards image production, that allows thinking 'about the visual in terms of the cultural significance, social practices and power relations that produce' (Troiani and Ewing, 2020). Or as a literacy, more oriented towards reception, which considers critical visuality as a tool to foster citizen critical thinking on how they read, create, and distribute images (Falihi and Wason-Ellam, 2009;Zagumny and Richey, 2012), so they can 'analyse visual experiences purposefully by deconstructing elements of images and reconstructing them through critical viewing and interpreting messages in a broad social, environmental, and cultural context ' Falihi and Wason-Ellam (2009): 409.…”

Section: Critical Visualitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Gig workers, critical visuality and humour in a digital context: The graphic representation of riders as a form of social criticism

Martorell

Roig

2023

Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Med

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This article studies social perceptions of gig work and its conditions through the lenses of visual humour created and shared in digital environments. Food delivery services have thrived in cities, and riders – gig workers associated with such services – have become popular urban figures, easily recognisable through light means of transport and backpacks. These iconic elements have spread to forms of visual humour like memes and cartoons in social media. We aim to analyse the depiction of food delivery services and riders through graphic humour in digital environments, and its role as critical stances of gig work conditions. We draw from the literature on gig work, as well as critical humour in the workplace, approaching the phenomenon from the perspective of critical visualities and the memetic qualities of digital visual humour. Thus, we have conducted an analysis of rider memes, and carried out a focus group with Spanish cartoonists to better understand each form. From our analysis, we have observed that a) memes showcase less explicit critical stances but reflect a shared understanding of the hurdles associated to rider work; b) cartoons place riders in a contextualised, wider critique of platform economy and capitalism; c) while most graphic humour on riders takes an external, observational position, there is also an ‘inner look’ to the rider work, emphasising the promises and deceptions associated with the gig economy.

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