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HUMOR THEORIES:

FEATURES VS. FUNCTIONS VS.

SUBJECTS

by Don L. F. Nilsenand Alleen Pace Nilsen

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HUMOR THEORIES THE EVOLUTION THEORIES as proposed by Charles

Darwin, and by the I. A. H. B.

THE HUMOR-IS-GOOD-FOR-YOU THEORIES as proposed by Norman Cousins, et. al.

THE SUPERIORITY THEORIES as proposed by Aristotle, Plato, Thomas Hobbes, Henri Bergson, and Charles Gruner

THE INCONGRUITY THEORIES as proposed by Immanuel Kant, Arthur Shopenhauer, Paul McGhee and John Morreall

THE SURPRISE THEORIES as proposed by René Descartes

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THE AMBIVALENCE THEORIES (FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS) as proposed by Socrates

THE CONFIGURATIONAL THEORIES (GESTALT RECOGNITION AND SUDDEN INSIGHT) as proposed by G. W. F. Hegel

THE PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORIES as proposed by Sigmund Freud

THE RELEASE AND RELIEF THEORIES as proposed by Harvey Mindess and William Fry

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A NEW WAY OF LOOKING AT HUMOR THEORIES:

FEATURESFUNCTIONSSUBJECTS

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FEATURES OF HUMOR: INCONGRUITY AND INCONGRUITY RESULUTION

Unresolved

Resolved

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FEATURES OF HUMOR:SURPRISE AND TENSION

SurpriseGarden PathEpiphany

Tension and Relief

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ALLEEN NILSEN’S FEATURES OF HUMOR

Ambiguity Exaggeration Understatement Hostility Incongruity or Irony Situation-Insight Sudden Insight Superiority Surprise or Shock A Trick or Twist Word Play

(A. Nilsen Living Language 202-203)

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EXPLAIN THE FEATURES IN THE FOLLOWING

JOKES: David Letterman’s first job in broadcasting

was at Ball State University’s classical music radio station, WBST. He was a constant trial to Tom Watson, the manager, who in exasperation fired him after he introduced the song “Clair de Lune” with “You know the de Lune sisters; there was Claire; there was Mabel….”

Word Play (A. Nilsen Living Language 204)

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Left to our own devices, we Wobegonians go straight for the small potatoes.

Majestic doesn’t appeal to us; we like the Grand Canyon better with Clarence and Arlene parked in front of it smiling.

(Nilsen & Nilsen Encyclopedia 301)

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Will Rogers solemnly declared, “They have an unwritten law in the Senate that a new member is not allowed to say anything when he first gets in, and another unwritten law that whatever he says afterward is not to amount to anything.”

Superiority (Nilsen Living Language 205)

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A good man dies and goes to heaven. When St. Peter asks him if there’s anything he can do for him, the man explains that he would love to talk to Mary, the mother of Jesus. St. Peter is happy to set up such a meeting. After a few polite formalities, the man tells Mary the purpose of his request. He has always wanted to ask her something.

When she encourages him to go ahead, he says, “I’ve wondered why in all your pictures you look so sad. Please tell me what it is.” Mary sighs and then with a little wistful smile confesses, “I always wanted a daughter.

Incongruity and Surprise (Nilsen Living Languag 205)

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In one of her routines, eleven-year-old Claire Friedman told about a classmate she calls Tiffany: “During lunch, Tiffany was staring at her carton of orange juice. I asked why. She said, “The box says concentrate.”

Claire said, “Tiffany is so dumb she’d get fired from an M&M factory for throwing away all the Ws.

Superiority, Hostility, Wordplay (A. Nilsen Living Language 204)

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During the 1960s, there was talk of nominating Senator Margaret Chase Smith for President of the United States. One reporter stuck a microphone in her face and asked, “Mrs. Smith, what would you do if you should wake up some morning and find yourself in the White House?”

Without batting an eye she responded, “I would go to the president’s wife, apologize, and leave immediately.”

Situation, Surprise,etc. (A. Nilsen Living Language 204)

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A four-year-old was brought to the emergency room of a hospital with a bad cough.

The child kept up a nonstop conversation while the nurse was trying to assess her lung sounds. Finally, the nurse said, “Shhh, I have to see if Barney is in there.” The child looked at her and calmly stated, “I have Jesus in my heart. Barney is on my underwear.”

Surprise, Incongruity, etc. (A. Nilsen Living Language 204)

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At the opening of a new play, George Bernard Shaw sent two tickets to Winston Churchill. Shaw wrote on the letter, “Here is a ticket for you and your friend—if you have one.”

Churchill sent back the tickets with a message for Shaw. “I can’t attend on the opening night, but I would love to go to the second performance—if you have one.”

Hostility, Exaggeration, Word Play, etc.

(A. Nilsen Living Language 204)

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In Alice in Wonderland, the Mock Turtle explains to Alice that he “only took the regular course.” “What was that?” inquired Alice. “Reeling and Writhing, of course, to begin with, and then the different branches of Arithmetic—Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.”

Word Play, etc. (A. Nilsen Living Language 205)

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PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS OF HUMOR

Arousal Social Control Establishment of Superiority Relief, and Release Ego Defense, Coping, and Saving Face Gaining Status Healing Testing Limits

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SELF-DISPARAGEMENT Self-disparagement humor is actually

intended to empower the user. Here are some effective ads using self-disparagement:

Terminix Pest Control: “When you think of pests, think of us.

Twist Lemon-Menthol Cigarettes: “Our new menthol is a lemon.”

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Champion International Trend Carpet: “Eight million people walked all over us. And they don’t even know our name.”

Quaker Oats as a diet food: “Quaker Oats: Breakfast of losers.”

Simmons bunk beds: “Simmons beds are a lot of bunk.”

(Nilsen & Nilsen 273)

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EDUCATIONAL FUNCTIONS OF HUMOR

Teaching and Learning

Arguing and Persuading

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SOCIAL FUNCTIONS OF HUMOR

In-Bonding and Out-Bonding

Promoting Social Stability and Control

Promoting Social Change

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SUPERIORITY VS. INCONGRUITY

In Reflections upon Laughter, Frances Hutcheson argued against Thomas Hobbes’s century-old superiority theory.

He pointed out that people don’t go to asylums to laugh at the “inferior” beings, nor do we laugh at animals unless they resemble human beings.

We laugh at someone who slips on a banana peel not because we feel superior, but because of the incongruity between our expectations and the sudden insight.

(Nilsen & Nilsen 163)

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!SUBJECTS OF HUMOR

Ethnic IdentificationPoliticsSexual Roles and ScatologyOccupationsReligion and Belief Systems

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!!OLD TABOOS AND CENSORSHIP

These are the taboo areas in American English. They’re the subjects that we can’t talk about, but we must talk about.

But these taboos are changing. Most of our censorship used to come from the right, but now our censorship is coming from both the right and the left. Censorship from the left is called “political correctness.”

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!!!NEW TABOOS AND CENSORSHIP

TABOO AND CENSORSHIP FROM THE RIGHT INCLUDES: Sex, Religion, Body Parts, Swear Words,

Obscenities and Vulgarities

TABOO AND CENSORSHIP FROM THE LEFT (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS) INCLUDES: Women, Gays, Disabled People, Ethnic Minorities

and Old People

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!HUMOR WEB SITES IAMERICAN COMEDY ARCHIVES (JENNI MATZ):www.emerson.edu/comedy

ART GLINER HUMOR CENTER (LARRY MINTZ):www.humorcenter.umd.edu

COMEDY ARCHIVES (JENNI MATZ):http://www.greaterboston.tv/features/

gb_20060509_comedy.html

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!!COMEDY USA (BARRY WEINTRAUB):www.comedyusa.com

THE HUMOR COLLECTION (RUTH HAMILTON):www.thehumorcollection.org

HUMOR MATTERS (STEVE SULTANOFF):http://www.humormatters.com

THE HUMOR PROJECT (JOEL GOODMAN):www.HumorProject.com

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!!! HUMOR STUDIES AT ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY:http://researchmag.asu.edu/stories/humor.html

LAUGHING JAPAN (TILL WEINGAERTNER):http://www.tillchan.typepad.com/laughing

MIRTH: HUMOR AND LAUGHTER IN TEACHING (RON BERK):

www.mirthium.com

PARENTING HUMOR (TIM BETE):http://www.TimBete.com

A PLAYFUL PATH TO WHOLENESS (BERNIE DEKOVEN):http://www.deepfun.com

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References # 1:

Berger, Arthur Asa. Berger, Arthur Asa. An Anatomy of HumorAn Anatomy of Humor. New . New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1993.Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1993.

Berger, Arthur Asa. Berger, Arthur Asa. Blind Men and Elephants: Blind Men and Elephants: Perspectives on HumorPerspectives on Humor. New Brunswick, NJ: . New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1995.Transaction Publishers, 1995.

Boskin, Joseph. Humor and Social Change in 20th Century America. Boston, MA: Boston Public Library, 1979.

Boskin, Joeph, ed. The Humor Prism in 20th-Century America. Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 1997.

Doloff, Steven. “Racism and the Risks of Ethnic Humor” (Eschholz 273-275).

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References # 2:

Eschholz, Paul, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark. “The Eschholz, Paul, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark. “The Power of the Mass Media.” Power of the Mass Media.” Language Awareness: Language Awareness: Readings for College Writers, Ninth EditionReadings for College Writers, Ninth Edition. Boston, . Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005, 349-420.MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005, 349-420.

Fry, William F. Sweet Madness: A Study of Humor. Palo Alto, CA: Pacific Books, 1963.

Fry, William F., and Waleed Salameh, eds. Advances in Humor and Psychotherapy. Sarasota, FL: Professional Resource Press, 1993.

Fry, William F., and Waleed Salameh. Handbook of Humor and Psychotherapy. Sarasota, FL: Professional Resources Exchange, 1987.

McGhee, Paul E., and Jeffrey Goldstein, eds. Handbook of Humor Research. New York, NY: Springer-Verlag, 1983.

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References # 5:

Martin, Rod A. The Psychology of Humor: An Integrative Approach. London, England: Elsevier, 2007.

Nilsen, Alleen Pace. Living Language. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon, 1999.

Nilsen, Alleen Pace, and Don L. F. Encyclopedia of 20th Century American Humor. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx, 2000.

Nilsen, Alleen Pace, and Don L. F. Nilsen. “Humor.” The New Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Volume 3. Ed. Maryanne Cline Horowitz. New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2005, 1061-1064.

Nilsen, Don L. F. Humor Scholarship: A Research Bibliography. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1993, 175-185.

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References # 6:

Nilsen, Don L. F. Humor in British Literature from the Middle Ages to the Restoration: A Reference Guide. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1997.

Nilsen, Don L. F. "Humor in the Earliest English Literature." Kansas English 79-1 (1993): 36-47.

Nilsen, Don L. F. Humor in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century British Literature: A Reference Guide. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1998.

Nilsen, Don L. F., and Alleen Pace Nilsen. Language Play. Rowley, MA: Newbury House, 1978.

Raskin, Victor. Semantic Mechanisms of Humor. Dordrecht, Netherlands: D. Reidel, 1985.