humor

Humorisauniversalphenomenonsharedbyallpeople.Peopleareabletolaughforsomethinginterestingnomatterhowdifferentoftheirsex,age,country,cultureandmanyotheraspects.Manyscholarsandresearchershavegivendefinitionofhumorfromdifferentperspectives,butscholarsstillcannotgiveacommonlysatisfactorydefinitionofit.Fromtheetymologicalperspective,theEnglishword“humor”camefromtheLatinwordinancienttimeswhichmeans“fluid”or“liquid”(Attardo,1994,p.6).Attardo,Salvatore.(1994).LinguisticTheoriesofHumor.Berlin&NewYork:MoutondeGruyter.McGhee(McGhee,1979)McGhee,PaulE.(1979).HumorandItsDevelopment.SanFrancisco:W.H.FreemanandCompany.emphasizeshumorisnotacharacteristicofsomeeventssuchascartoons,jokes,andclowningbehavior,norisitabehaviorsuchaslaughingandsmiling,hestatesthathumorissomethinginourmindandnotintherealworld.Psychologically,“humorisessentiallyamaskedaggression,whichgivesonethegratificationonedesperatelycraves(Freud.1976,p.299)”.Freud.(1976).JokesandTheirRelationtoUnconscious.Ed.AngelaRichards.London:PenguinBooks.AndPalmerthinksthat“humoriseverythingthatisactuallyorpotentiallyfunnyandtheprocessesbywhichthis“funniness”occurs.”(Palmer,1994,p.3)Palmer,J.(1994).TakingHumorSeriously.NewYork:Routledge.Eventhoughdefinitionsofhumorarevariousfromdifferentperspectives,wecanfindsomethingincommon:thebasicandessentialfactorsforhumoristhathumanparticipantsareabletoproduceandinterpretthefunnyandinterestingphenomenonandsomethinghappeningmustbeafunnystimuluswhichcanamuseorentertainpeople.Thestudyconcerningthehumorisamulti-disciplinaryfield.Peoplehavebeenworkingonhumorinmanyfieldsofresearchlikepsychology,philosophyandlinguistics,sociologyandliterature.Especiallyinthecontextofcomputerscience(orArtificialIntelligence)humorresearchaimsatmodelinghumorinacomputationallytractableway.Inourdailylife,therearemanysituationsinhuman-humaninteractionwherehumorplaysanimportantroleinkeepingtheconversationgoing.Therearethreemaintraditionsinthestudyofhumouracrossdisciplinesthatformabackgroundforallstudiesofhumour:therelief/releasetheory;theincongruitytheory;andthesuperiority/aggression/disparagementtheory(Attardo,1994)SuperiorityTheory\TheSuperiorityTheoryisbasedontheassumptionsthat,innature,allhumanhasawinnerandaloser,andwe,humanbeings,havethetendencytoridiculeraboutothers’misfortune.Throughhistoryhumanshaveusedhumorto“compete”withotherpersons,makingthemthetargetoftheirhumorouscomment.The“winner”istheonethatsuccessfullymakesfunofthe“loser”.Bydoingso,weestablishasenseofself-superiority.ThistheorycanbefoundintheworkofPlato,Aristotle,andHobbes[BAR92].Barnes,Clive.ComedyinDance.In:Sorrell,Walter(ed.)TheDanceHasManyFaces.3rded.Pennington:acappellabooks,pp87-95,1992Platosuggeststhathumorissomekindofmalicetowardspeoplethatarebeingconsideredrelativelypowerless.Hobbesfurtherexplainsthathumansareinaconstantcompetitionwitheachother,lookingfortheshortcomingsofotherpersons.Heconsiderslaughterasanexpressionofasuddenrealizationthatwearebetterthanothers,anexpressionof“suddenglory”.CharlesGrunerreformulatedthistheoryastheSuperiorityTheoryofHumor.Gruner,Charles.TheGameofHumor:AComprehensiveTheoryofWhyWeLaugh.NewBrunswick,NJ:TransactionPublishers,1997.Histheorycontainsathree-partthesis:“Everyhumoroussituationhasawinnerandaloser.Incongruityisalwayspresentinahumoroussituation.Humorrequiresanelementofsurprise”.1.3ReliefTheoryTheReliefTheoryhasaclearphysiologicalorpsycho-physiologicalnature[RUT97].Itviewshumorasareleasefromstressormentalpaincausedbysocialconstrains.Rutter,Jason.Stand-UpasInteraction:PerformanceandAudienceinComedyVenues.UniversityofSalford,1997,chapter2.thistheoryispopularamongthosewhobelievethatlaughterisbeneficialforone’shealth.Freud,themostleadingexponent,explainsthatourbodycontainsa“psychicenergy”whichisbuiltasanaidforsuppressingfeelingsintabooareas,likesexordeath.Freudclaimsthatourbraincreatesso-called“censors”inordertocreatebarriersthatpreventusfromthinking“naughty”or“forbidden”thoughts.Whenweareabletobreakthesebarriersbymeansofajoke,weexperienceasuddenreleaseof“psychicenergy”andthisenergyisreleasedintheformoflaughter.Thistheorycouldexplainwhywelaughaboutchildishjokeswithdoublemeaningsandwhywelaughaboutsexualandaggressivejokesingeneral.Whenthisenergyisreleasedweexperiencelaughter,notonlybecauseofthereleaseofthisenergy,butalsobecausethesetaboothoughtsarebeingentertained.AmoreconventionalversionoftheReliefTheoryisthatweexperienceapleasantsensationwhenhumorreplacesnegativefeelingslikepainorsadness.IwouldliketoendthischapterbyresortingremarksofStevenM.Sultanoff,Ph.D:“Mybeliefisthatwearegoingtoeventuallydiscoverthatthemostdramatichealthbenefitsofhumorarenotinlaughter,butinthecognitiveandemotionalmanagementthathumorousexperiencesprovide.Theexperienceofhumorrelievesemotionaldistressandassistsinchangingnegativethinkingpatterns.”Inbrief,therelieftheoryviewhumorasastrain-releaser.TheincongruitytheoryTothestudyofhumor,theincongruitytheoryisthemostinfluentialone.Literally,thistheorytellsthatthereisacontradictionbetweentheone’sexpectationandthereality.KantandSchopenhauerarethemo