Laughter in Literature
Encyclopedia
Laughter in literature, although considered understudied by some, is a subject that has received attention in the written word for millennia. The use of humor and laughter
in literary
works has been studied and analyzed by many thinkers and writers, from the Ancient Greek philosophers
onward. Henri Bergson's
Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic (Le rire, 1901) is a notable 20th-century contribution.
Laughers can be distinguished into three types
According to Donald Lateiner Herodotus reports about laughter for valid literary and historiological reasons. "Herodotus believes either that both nature (better, the gods' direction of it) and human nature coincide sufficiently, or that the latter is but an aspect or analogue of the former, so that to the recipient the outcome is suggested."
When reporting laughter Herodotus does so in the conviction that it tells the reader something about the future and/or the character of the person laughing. It is also in this sense that it is not conicidental that in about eighty percent of the times when Herodotus speaks about Laughter it is followed by a retribution.
"Men whose laughter deserves report are marked, because laughter connotes scornful disdain, disdain feeling of superiority, and this feeling and the actions which stem from it attract the wrath of the gods."
understands the superiority of the laugher in a much wider sense than the aesthetic and quasi-moral sense of Aristotle, the seeds of the superiority theory are definitely Greek.
In Hobbes' own words: "The passion of laughter is nothing else but sudden glory arising from sudden conception of some eminency in ourselves, by comparison with the infirmity of others, or with our own formerly."
to laughter.
distinguishes two different purposes for the use of laughter. In a positive sense, "man uses the comical as a therapy against the restraining jacket of logic morality and reason. He needs from time to time a harmless demotion from reason and hardship and in this sense laughter has a positive character for Nietzsche." Laughter can, however, also have a negative connotation when it is used for the expression of social conflict. This is expressed, for instance, in The Gay Science
: "Laughter -- Laughter means to be schadenfroh, but with clear conscience."
"Possibly Nietzsche's works would have had a totally different effect, if the playful, ironical and joking in his writings would have been factored in better"
, renowned for his philosophical studies on materiality
, memory
, life
and consciousness
, tried to determine the laws of the comic and to understand the fundamental causes of comic situations. His method consists in determining the causes of comic instead of analyzing its effects. He also dealt with laughter in relation to human life
, collective imagination and art
, to have a better knowledge of society. One of the theories of the essay is that laughter, as a collective activity, has a social and moral role, it forces people to eliminate their vices. It is a factor of uniformity of behaviours, it condemns ludicrous and eccentric behaviours.
In this essay, Bergson also asserted that there is a central cause all comic situations are derived from: mechanism applied to life. The fundamental source of comic is the presence of inflexibility and rigidness in life. Indeed, for Bergson the essence of life is movement
, elasticity
and flexibility
, and every comic situation is due the presence of rigidness and inelasticity in life. Hence, for Bergson the source of the comic is not ugliness but rigidness. All the examples taken by Bergson (a man falling in the street, cartoons, imitation, the automatic application of conventions and rules, absent-mindedness, repetitive gestures of a speaker, the resemblance between two faces...) are comic situations because they give the impression that life is subject to rigidity, automatism and mechanism.
Bergson actually took this idea from Schopenhauer who explains how laugther emerges from the collision between intuition and reason.
Finally, Bergson noted that most comic situations are not laughable because they are part of collective habits. Thus he defined laughter as an intellectual activity that requires an immediate approach to a comic situation, totally detached from any form of emotion
or sensibility
. A situation is laughable when the attention and the imagination
are focused on the resistance and rigidity of the body. Thus somebody is laughable every time (s)he gives the impression of being a thing or a machine.
Laughter
Laughing is a reaction to certain stimuli, fundamentally stress, which serves as an emotional balancing mechanism. Traditionally, it is considered a visual expression of happiness, or an inward feeling of joy. It may ensue from hearing a joke, being tickled, or other stimuli...
in literary
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
works has been studied and analyzed by many thinkers and writers, from the Ancient Greek philosophers
Greek philosophy
Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BCE and continued through the Hellenistic period, at which point Ancient Greece was incorporated in the Roman Empire...
onward. Henri Bergson's
Henri Bergson
Henri-Louis Bergson was a major French philosopher, influential especially in the first half of the 20th century. Bergson convinced many thinkers that immediate experience and intuition are more significant than rationalism and science for understanding reality.He was awarded the 1927 Nobel Prize...
Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic (Le rire, 1901) is a notable 20th-century contribution.
Herodotus
for HerodotusHerodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
Laughers can be distinguished into three types
- Those who are innocent of wrong-doing, but ignorant of their own vulnerability.
- Those who are mad.
- Those who are over-confident.
According to Donald Lateiner Herodotus reports about laughter for valid literary and historiological reasons. "Herodotus believes either that both nature (better, the gods' direction of it) and human nature coincide sufficiently, or that the latter is but an aspect or analogue of the former, so that to the recipient the outcome is suggested."
When reporting laughter Herodotus does so in the conviction that it tells the reader something about the future and/or the character of the person laughing. It is also in this sense that it is not conicidental that in about eighty percent of the times when Herodotus speaks about Laughter it is followed by a retribution.
"Men whose laughter deserves report are marked, because laughter connotes scornful disdain, disdain feeling of superiority, and this feeling and the actions which stem from it attract the wrath of the gods."
Hobbes
HobbesThomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury , in some older texts Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury, was an English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy...
understands the superiority of the laugher in a much wider sense than the aesthetic and quasi-moral sense of Aristotle, the seeds of the superiority theory are definitely Greek.
In Hobbes' own words: "The passion of laughter is nothing else but sudden glory arising from sudden conception of some eminency in ourselves, by comparison with the infirmity of others, or with our own formerly."
Schopenhauer
Schopenhauer devotes the 13th chapter of the first part of his major work, The World as Will and RepresentationThe World as Will and Representation
The World as Will and Representation is the central work of the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. The first edition was published in December 1818, and the second expanded edition in 1844. In 1948, an abridged version was edited by Thomas Mann....
to laughter.
Nietzsche
NietzscheFriedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
distinguishes two different purposes for the use of laughter. In a positive sense, "man uses the comical as a therapy against the restraining jacket of logic morality and reason. He needs from time to time a harmless demotion from reason and hardship and in this sense laughter has a positive character for Nietzsche." Laughter can, however, also have a negative connotation when it is used for the expression of social conflict. This is expressed, for instance, in The Gay Science
The Gay Science
The Gay Science is a book written by Friedrich Nietzsche, first published in 1882 and followed by a second edition, which was published after the completion of Thus Spoke Zarathustra and Beyond Good and Evil, in 1887. This substantial expansion includes a fifth book and an appendix of songs...
: "Laughter -- Laughter means to be schadenfroh, but with clear conscience."
"Possibly Nietzsche's works would have had a totally different effect, if the playful, ironical and joking in his writings would have been factored in better"
Bergson
In Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic, French philosopher Henri BergsonHenri Bergson
Henri-Louis Bergson was a major French philosopher, influential especially in the first half of the 20th century. Bergson convinced many thinkers that immediate experience and intuition are more significant than rationalism and science for understanding reality.He was awarded the 1927 Nobel Prize...
, renowned for his philosophical studies on materiality
Materiality
Materiality is a concept or convention within auditing and accounting relating to the importance/significance of an amount, transaction, or discrepancy...
, memory
Memory
In psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of artificially enhancing memory....
, life
Life
Life is a characteristic that distinguishes objects that have signaling and self-sustaining processes from those that do not, either because such functions have ceased , or else because they lack such functions and are classified as inanimate...
and consciousness
Consciousness
Consciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...
, tried to determine the laws of the comic and to understand the fundamental causes of comic situations. His method consists in determining the causes of comic instead of analyzing its effects. He also dealt with laughter in relation to human life
Human life
Human life may refer to*in medicine or statistics, the human lifespan*in sociology, the everyday personal life*in philosophy**the conditio humana**discussion of the meaning of life*in jurisprudence, a value protected by human rights...
, collective imagination and art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, to have a better knowledge of society. One of the theories of the essay is that laughter, as a collective activity, has a social and moral role, it forces people to eliminate their vices. It is a factor of uniformity of behaviours, it condemns ludicrous and eccentric behaviours.
In this essay, Bergson also asserted that there is a central cause all comic situations are derived from: mechanism applied to life. The fundamental source of comic is the presence of inflexibility and rigidness in life. Indeed, for Bergson the essence of life is movement
Movement
-In society and the arts:* Social movement, a coordinated group action focused on a political or social issue* Political movement, a coordinated group action focused on a political issue* Art movement, a tendency or style in art followed by a group of artists...
, elasticity
Elasticity
Elasticity may refer to:*Elasticity , continuum mechanics of bodies that deform reversibly under stressNumerous uses are derived from this physical sense of the term, which is inherently mathematical, such as used in Engineering, Chemistry, Construction and variously in Economics:*Elasticity , the...
and flexibility
Flexibility (personality)
Flexibility is a personality trait — the extent to which a person can cope with changes in circumstances and think about problems and tasks in novel, creative ways....
, and every comic situation is due the presence of rigidness and inelasticity in life. Hence, for Bergson the source of the comic is not ugliness but rigidness. All the examples taken by Bergson (a man falling in the street, cartoons, imitation, the automatic application of conventions and rules, absent-mindedness, repetitive gestures of a speaker, the resemblance between two faces...) are comic situations because they give the impression that life is subject to rigidity, automatism and mechanism.
Bergson actually took this idea from Schopenhauer who explains how laugther emerges from the collision between intuition and reason.
Finally, Bergson noted that most comic situations are not laughable because they are part of collective habits. Thus he defined laughter as an intellectual activity that requires an immediate approach to a comic situation, totally detached from any form of emotion
Emotion
Emotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...
or sensibility
Sensibility
Sensibility refers to an acute perception of or responsiveness toward something, such as the emotions of another. This concept emerged in eighteenth-century Britain, and was closely associated with studies of sense perception as the means through which knowledge is gathered...
. A situation is laughable when the attention and the imagination
Imagination
Imagination, also called the faculty of imagining, is the ability of forming mental images, sensations and concepts, in a moment when they are not perceived through sight, hearing or other senses...
are focused on the resistance and rigidity of the body. Thus somebody is laughable every time (s)he gives the impression of being a thing or a machine.