Laughter and Ridicule: Towards a Social Critique of HumourSAGE, 3. okt. 2005 - 264 sider From Thomas Hobbes' fear of the power of laughter to the compulsory, packaged "fun" of the contemporary mass media, Billig takes the reader on a stimulating tour of the strange world of humour. Both a significant work of scholarship and a novel contribution to the understanding of the humourous, this is a seriously engaging book' - David Inglis, University of Aberdeen This delightful book tackles the prevailing assumption that laughter and humour are inherently good. In developing a critique of humour the author proposes a social theory that places humour - in the form of ridicule - as central to social life. Billig argues that all cultures use ridicule as a disciplinary means to uphold norms of conduct and conventions of meaning. Historically, theories of humour reflect wider visions of politics, morality and aesthetics. For example, Bergson argued that humour contains an element of cruelty while Freud suggested that we deceive ourselves about the true nature of our laughter. Billig discusses these and other theories, while using the topic of humour to throw light on the perennial social problems of regulation, control and emancipation. |
Indhold
Introduction | 1 |
A Critique of Positive Humour | 10 |
Historical Aspects | 35 |
Superiority Theories Hobbes and Other Misogelasts | 37 |
Incongruity Theories and Gentlemanly Laughter | 57 |
Victorian Relief Theory | 86 |
Bergson and the Function of Humour | 111 |
Freud and the Hidden Secrets of Jokes | 139 |
Theoretical Aspects | 173 |
Laughter and Unlaughter | 175 |
Embarrassment Humour and the Social Order | 200 |
Final Remarks | 236 |
References | 244 |
256 | |
261 | |
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Almindelige termer og sætninger
academic adults aggressive amusement analysis argued argument Aristotle audience Bain Beattie behaviour Bergson Cambridge century chapter child claim codes cognitive comedy comic context conversation critical culture descending incongruity described discipline discussed display eighteenth-century embarrassment emotions ethnic jokes example feel Francis Hutcheson Freud funny Goffman Henri Bergson Hobbes Hobbes's Hutcheson ibid ideas ideological positivism incongruity theories James Beattie James Sully Jewish jokes Jews joke-work language laugh laughter Lefcourt London Matter and Memory misogelasts mock mockery modern moral negative neo-Freudians Norrick observation onlookers particular person philosophical Plato pleasure political positive humour Positive Psychology Psychotherapy racist reaction rebellious humour repression rhetorical ridicule Schnorrer Schopenhauer sense of humour seriousness Shaftesbury smile social actors social order society Socrates sort speaker Spencer story suggested Sully superiority theory talk teasing tell Theodor Reik theoretical theories of humour theorists theory of laughter tion topic University Press unlaughter writing Zijderveld