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WRITING POLITICAL HUMOR |
POLI 311 (W,IT): |
Professor Sammy Basu, |
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Thinking
about Humor
Table 1. Humor etymological categories
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PHYSIOLOGICAL lightness |
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COGNITIVE witness |
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juxta |
position |
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beastliness |
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sharpness |
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AFFECTIVE |
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EVALUATIVE |
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Table
2. Humor etymology summary
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PHYSIOLOGICAL lightness levity |
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buffoon |
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COGNITIVE witness |
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merry jolly fun |
hilarious |
foolish ludicrous |
Amuse
riddle |
wit
jest joke
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Flippancy |
mirth |
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Juggler |
facetious |
irony
farce satire
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clown |
humorous |
content |
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Laconic |
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Jolly laughter |
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raillery |
Jeer
jibe |
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bawdery comedy beastliness |
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prank |
Sarcasm |
scorn |
ridicule raillery mock scoff derision sharpness |
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AFFECTIVE |
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EVALUATIVE |
Table 3. Theories of Humor
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PHYSIOLOGICAL RELIEF
lightness |
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COGNITIVE INCONGRUITY witness |
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pleasurable relief as pent-up nervous energy, anxiety, or
sensory excitement is rapidly physically deflated |
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Kant |
pleasurable
recognition of the close juxtaposition of the familiar against what initially
is unexpected and/or meaningless but subsequently proves compactly yet
pivotally meaningful |
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juxta |
position |
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pleasurable release of psychic energy otherwise used to
regulate or repress socially taboo topics or desires |
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Plato Hobbes |
pleasurable
sense of one’s relative eminence at the expense of someone or something
aggressively downgraded |
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beastliness RELEASE
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Sharpness SUPERIORITY |
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AFFECTIVE |
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EVALUATIVE |
Table
4. Types of laughter/smiling
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PHYSIOLOGICAL RELIEF
lightness |
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COGNITIVE INCONGRUITY witness |
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Shrieks of laughter |
[aaaah!] [Happy sigh] |
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[huh!] [Laugh of amazement] |
Full-throated |
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[aha!] Wry smile Knowing smile [Smile of satisfaction] |
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[Nervous laughter] [e.g. funeral giggling] |
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juxta |
position |
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Snort Sniggers Hoots |
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Cackle Smirk Jeer [Victory guffaw] [Hah!] |
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Beastliness RELEASE
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sharpness SUPERIORITY
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AFFECTIVE |
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EVALUATIVE |
Table
5. Mapping Jokes (and their criticism)
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PHYSIOLOGICAL RELIEF
lightness the hysteric |
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COGNITIVE INCONGRUITY
Witness The buffoon |
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humorous |
juxtaposition |
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The bawd beastliness RELEASE
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The cynic Sharpness |
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AFFECTIVE |
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EVALUATIVE |
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We might try to catch the dynamic, contingent,
and cumulative quality of funniness through a multivariate equation: |
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complexity |
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standard |
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trivial |
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suddenness |
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Mirth |
= |
depth |
+ |
value |
+ |
seriousness |
+ |
timing |
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Superficial to salient |
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Cruelty dignity |
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surprise |
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Whereas incongruous ‘depth’ is a function of the
clarity of the witness or simplicity/superficiality of the alternate
resolution, ‘value’ is given by the salience or sharpness of the comparative
superiority at stake to the self, ‘seriousness’ reflects the broad and
typically polarizing social register of propriety/beastliness released in
taking up the topic, and ‘timing’ captures the relief from the physiological
tempo and sudden anxiety. |