International misrecognition: The politics of humour and national identity in Israel’s public diplomacy

Abstract

Recognition, or the lack of it, is a central concern in International Relations. However, how states cope with international misrecognition has so far not been thoroughly explored in International Relations scholarship. To address this, the article presents a theoretical framework for understanding international misrecognition by drawing on discursive and psychoanalytical theories of collective identity formation and humour studies. The article conceptualises international misrecognition as a gap between the dominant narrative of a national Self and the way in which this national Self is reflected in the ‘mirror’ of the international Other. We argue that humour offers an important way of coping with misrecognition by ridiculing and thereby downplaying international criticism. The significance for international relations is illustrated through an analysis of the public diplomacy campaign ‘Presenting Israel’, which, through parodying video clips, mobilised ordinary Israeli citizens to engage in peer-to-peer public diplomacy when travelling abroad. Public diplomacy campaigns are commonly seen by scholars and practitioners as attempts to improve the nation’s image and smoothen or normalise international Self–Other relations. However, after analysing the discursive and visual components of the campaign — which parodied how European media portrayed Israel as primitive, violent and exotic — this article observes that in the context of international misrecognition, such coping attempts can actually contribute to further international estrangement.

Trickstery: pluralising stigma in international society

“…The role of humour remains undecided here and may well signify depoliticisation (cf. Adler-Nissen and Tsinovoi, 2019). Humour weaves together disciplinary and emancipatory possibilities wherein estrangement from the established order creates political openings but it also supports the working of ideology, even if in fragmentary ways (Wedeen, 2013: 863–864).…”

“…In cases such as this, the issues at hand are of the utmost gravity—war and the breach of fundamental norms of international society—yet parody takes over. These actions may be a scene of performing ‘misrecognition’—that is, the dissonance between how actors recognise themselves and how they are recognised intersubjectively, with humour easing the tension and generating a (false) sense of superiority (see Adler-Nissen and Tsinovoi, 2019). However, we are invited to laugh not only with but also at the joker, whose parodic objective cannot control how the joke will be received.…”

Images, emotions, and international politics: the death of Alan Kurdi

“…121 Finally, we imagine that future studies might link visual and emotional studies to the study of diplomacy, particularly how 'image management' might be practiced and discussed away from the public stage. 122…”

Storytelling in EU public diplomacy: reputation management and recognition of success

“…The commercial sector has in the last decade favoured public relations (PR) strategies of content marketing using personal stories to influence the (consuming) behaviour of targeted audiences (Pulizzi 2012). Changes in communicative techniques through the digitalization of public diplomacy have also been noticed, for instance, digital tools and formats facilitate they ways in which micro stories using humour, irony and sarcasm can project a nation's image (Adler-Nissen and Tsinovoi 2018). This article aims to contribute to this emerging field by focusing on the sense-making of new communicative dimensions of storytelling and narrative strategies of reputation management in a diplomatic organization.…”