World-Traveling, Double Consciousness, and Laughter

Israeli Journal for Humor Research 2 (6):93-119 (2017)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

In this paper I borrow from Maria Lugones’ work on playful “world-traveling” and W.E.B. Du Bois’ notion of “double consciousness” to make the case that humor can facilitate an openness and cooperative attitude among an otherwise closed, even adversarial audience. I focus on what I call “subversive” humor, that which is employed by or on behalf of those who have been continually marginalized. When effectively used, such humor can foster the inclination and even desire to listen to others and, if only for brief moments, adopt their point of view. To be able to see oneself as others see you can also be a desirable capacity, because along with such multidimensional seeing comes an epistemic advantage lacking in those who have no need nor desire to see as others do, especially if the vision of the others happens to be from below where one perceives that the promises of our explicit ideals are constantly being implicitly broken. Such humor is aesthetic, pleasurable in and of itself, and not amenable to scientific dissection. But it is also a skill that can be honed into a powerful tool of persuasion in circumstances where straightforward arguments are less effective. It can raise consciousness about the lived experiences of those suffering under systemic oppression and foster world travelling. Subversive humor encourages audiences, especially those who contribute to what Jean Harvey calls “civilized oppression”, to playfully travel across worlds and “tarry along” with the perspectives of the marginalized.

Links

PhilArchive

External links

  • This entry has no external links. Add one.
Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

An Existentialist account of the role of humor against oppression.Chris A. Kramer - 2013 - Humor: International Journal of Humor Research 26 (4).
Subversive Humor.Chris A. Kramer - 2015 - Dissertation, Marquette
Humor, Sublimity and Incongruity.John Marmysz - 2001 - Consciousness, Literature and the Arts 2 (3).
The Philosophy of Laughter and Humor. [REVIEW]Joseph Carpino - 1987 - Review of Metaphysics 41 (2):405-406.
Belief and the Basis of Humor.Niall Shanks & Hugh LaFollette - 1993 - American Philosophical Quarterly 30 (4):329-39.
The epistemic function of contempt and laughter in Nietzsche.Mark Alfano - 2018 - In Michelle Mason (ed.), The Moral Psychology of Contempt. Rowman & Littlefield International.
Political Implications of Humor.Dan Panaet - 2014 - Romanian Journal of Analytic Philosophy 8 (1):21-31.
Philosophy of humor.Joshua Shaw - 2010 - Philosophy Compass 5 (2):112-126.
The Philosophy of Laughter and Humor.John Morreall (ed.) - 1986 - State University of New York Press.

Analytics

Added to PP
2019-08-08

Downloads
975 (#12,745)

6 months
253 (#7,829)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Chris A. Kramer
Santa Barbara City College

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references