Negotiating knowledge and creating solidarity: Humour in antenatal counselling sessions at a rural hospital in Malawi

This paper explores the role of humour in the largely under-researched context of HIV/AIDS consultations in Malawi. Drawing on audio-recordings of seven antenatal HIV/AIDS counselling sessions conducted in Chichewa (Malawi's national language) in a rural hospital, we illustrate how the counsellors skilfully utilise the multiple and often contradictory functions of humour (Schnurr and Plester, 2017) to engage the pregnant women in the negotiation of knowledge and to ensure they have understood vital information about preventing HIV/AIDS from spreading to their unborn child. The counsellors in these sessions use humour to reinforce solidarity, create a friendly atmosphere, and facilitate the discussion of sensitive or taboo topics, as well as to criticise and rebuke the pregnant women for their lack of knowledge of HIV/AIDS, their lifestyle, and their lack of engagement with the counselling. Due to its capacity to realise these highly ambiguous functions - sometimes simultaneously - humour is an excellent means to assist the counsellors in achieving their objectives.