Laughing at war: jokes as political action among the Muina, Colombian Amazonia

Abstract

This article regards the humor of the Muina Indians as an instrument of political action in response to the strict, rigid presence of the protagonists of the Colombian war on its territory. Through the ethnographic reconstruction of some of the meetings and encounters between the Muina in the Caquetá river with guerrillas and the army, the author discusses how the jokes and comic responses used by certain indigenous people in response to armed actors are culturally oriented political actions and therefore expressions of disobedience encouraged from within their cultural frameworks.