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@article{208651,
        author = {Deepthi Suresh and Dr. T. Jaisakthivel},
        title = {A Qualitative Content Analysis on Tamil Humour Podcasts},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {13},
        number = {4},
        pages = {2201-2212},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=208651},
        abstract = {Podcasting has emerged as an important form of digital communication, providing creators with opportunities to combine entertainment, information, and social commentary. Within the Tamil digital media landscape, humour podcasts increasingly address contemporary social and cultural issues through satire, irony, parody, and everyday conversational humour. However, limited academic research has examined how humour functions as a discursive strategy in Tamil podcasting. This study aims to examine how humour is used to represent and comment on social issues in selected Tamil humour podcasts. A qualitative content analysis was conducted on twelve episodes from six Tamil humour podcasts Vocal Oli, Om Cream, Vada Poche, Schumy Vanna Kaviyangal, Am Sorry da Kanna, and The Ichiraku Podcast selected through purposive sampling. The episodes were analysed thematically across six categories: type of humour, social issue, social message or commentary, target of humour, tone of discussion, and representation style. The findings indicate that satire, irony, parody, and observational humour are prominent forms used to engage with issues including caste, gender, digital culture, political ideology, class, sexuality, and transgender rights. The analysis further shows that humour frequently targets social behaviours, dominant ideologies, and structures of power rather than marginalized communities. The podcasts also employ Tamil orality, Tanglish, digital slang, popular culture, memes, and conversational speech to make complex social issues accessible and relatable. The study concludes that Tamil humour podcasts function beyond entertainment as spaces of social commentary, cultural negotiation, and public discourse, demonstrating how humour can facilitate engagement with sensitive contemporary issues in the Tamil digital sphere.},
        keywords = {Tamil podcasts, humour, qualitative content analysis, social commentary, satire, digital media, Tamil digital culture},
        month = {September},
        }