scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
Book

Taking laughter seriously

01 Jan 1982-
About: The article was published on 1982-01-01 and is currently open access. It has received 475 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Laughter.
Citations
More filters
Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, humor's enactment leads to four basic functions of humor in communication: identification and clarification functions, enforcement and differentiation functions, and superiority theory, which can be used to delineate social boundaries.
Abstract: The compelling power of humor makes it a recurrent topic for research in many fields, including communication Three theories of humor creation emerge in humor research: the relief theory, which focuses on physiological release of tension; the incongruity theory, singling out violations of a rationally learned pattern; and the superiority theory, involving a sense of victory or triumph Each theory helps to explain the creation of different aspects of humor, but each runs into problems explaining rhetorical applications of humor Because each theory of humor origin tries to explain all instances of humor, the diverging communication effects of humor remain unexplained Humor's enactment leads to 4 basic functions of humor in communication Two tend to unite communicators: the identification and the clarification functions The other 2 tend to divide 1 set of communicators from others: the enforcement and differentiation functions Exploration of these effects-based functions of humor will clarify understanding of its use in messages Humor use unites communicators through mutual identification and clarification of positions and values, while dividing them through enforcement of norms and differentiation of acceptable versus unacceptable behaviors or people This paradox in the functions of humor in communication as, alternately, a unifier and divider, allows humor use to delineate social boundaries

631 citations

Book
Phillip Glenn1
18 Sep 2003
TL;DR: Laughter in Interaction as mentioned in this paper is an illuminating and lively account of how and why people laugh during conversation, and how participants in a conversation move from a single laugh to laughing together, how the matter of who laughs first implicates orientation to social activities and how interactants work out whether laughs are more affiliative or hostile.
Abstract: Laughter in Interaction is an illuminating and lively account of how and why people laugh during conversation. Bringing together twenty-five years of research on the sequential organisation of laughter in everyday talk, Glenn analyses recordings and transcripts to show the finely detailed co-ordination of human laughter. He demonstrates that its production and placement, relative to talk and other activities, reveal much about its emergent meaning and accomplishments. The book shows how the participants in a conversation move from a single laugh to laughing together, how the matter of 'who laughs first' implicates orientation to social activities and how interactants work out whether laughs are more affiliative or hostile. The final chapter examines the contribution of laughter to sequences of conversational intimacy and play and to the invocation of gender. Engaging and original, the book shows how this seemingly insignificant part of human communication turns out to play a highly significant role in how people display, respond to and revise identities and relationships.

387 citations

Book
01 Jan 2001
TL;DR: This paper presented a theory of long humorous texts based on a revision and an upgrade of the General Theory of Verbal Humour (GTVH), a decade after its first proposal.
Abstract: This book presents a theory of long humorous texts based on a revision and an upgrade of the General Theory of Verbal Humour (GTVH), a decade after its first proposal. The theory is informed by current research in psycholinguistics and cognitive science. It is predicated on the fact that there are humorous mechanisms in long texts that have no counterpart in jokes. The book includes a number of case studies, among them Oscar Wilde's Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Allais' story Han Rybeck. A ground-breaking discussion of the quantitative distribution of humor in select texts is presented.

320 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a communicative approach can be used as a connection between the psychological and sociological studies of humor, and a new model is put forth as an area for future research in organizational communication that expands the humor process originally proposed in the sociological case study literature.
Abstract: Humor literature can be split into two broad categories: (a) why individuals use humor (motivationally/psychologically) and (b) the function humor has within a social setting on society (sociologically). This paper argues that a communicative approach can be used as a connection between the psychological and sociological studies of humor. A new model is put forth as an area for future research in organizational communication that expands the humor process originally proposed in the sociological case study literature.

307 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors provided a summary of extant research regarding humor in the classroom, with an emphasis on identifying and explaining inconsistencies in research findings and offering new directions for future studies in this area and providing advice for educators and suggesting potential future research directions for scholars.
Abstract: The primary goal of this project is to provide a summary of extant research regarding humor in the classroom, with an emphasis on identifying and explaining inconsistencies in research findings and offering new directions for future studies in this area. First, the definitions, functions, and main theories of humor are reviewed. Next, the paper explains types of humorous instructional communication. Third, the empirical findings of both the source and receiver perspectives are reviewed. Finally, this paper concludes with advice for educators and suggests potential future research directions for scholars.

280 citations


Cites background from "Taking laughter seriously"

  • ...Superiority theory, which dates back to the philosophical writings of Plato and Aristotle, argues that laughter arises out of the sense of superiority experienced from disparagement of others (Gruner, 1978, 1997; Martin, 2007; Morreall, 1987)....

    [...]