In Part 1, Chapter 1 of the book "Humor and Society:Explorations in the Sociology of Humor",
Marvin R. Koller explores the nature of humor and its relationship with sociology.
The author firstly finds it hard to give "humor" an accurate definition, but he introduces four macrotheories of humor. These macrotheories help us to understand the nature of humor. The first one is Incongruity Theory. According to this theory, there are unrelated ideas being compared and contrasted in humor, and the humor involves the formula of "reductio ad absurdum"(Humor and Society:Explorations in the Sociology of Humor,1987,7),which means "reducing a logical argument to absurdity and hence holding it up to ridicule or laughter"(Humor and Society:Explorations in the Sociology of Humor,1987,7). The second one is Relief Theory, which explains that humor is a release of human from physiological, psychological or social restrictions. The third one is Ambivalance Theory. This theory views humor as "struggle between opposing emotions or feeling-states"(Humor and Society:Explorations in the Sociology of Humor,1987,8). The last one is Superiority Theory, whose main point is that people use humor to show the superiority of themselves.
Ater introduing the macrotheories, Marvin R. Koller explains the connection between humor and sociology. First, humor exists in a social context. People with different past associations, experiences, values and overall sociocultural backgrounds have different feelings of humor. Second, "To share a laugh together is a major social bond"(Humor and Society:Explorations in the Sociology of Humor,1987,11). Third, humor reflects both societal and cultural life, so it is an ideal area for sociologists to conduct significant sociological research.
To sum up, humor is not only funny, but also worth looking into it seriously.
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5 comments:
I think this article is all about what you said during our discussion: introducing "humor". And I agree with that "humor is not only funny, but also worth looking into it seriously". Humor is a natural thing which everyone knows what it is. But when we need to explore "humor" deeply. We would know that it is related to each country's culture and etc. For me, I think Humor is really a difficult thing to learn because every country has its own "humor". And yes I agree with you, maybe a chinese man won't understand what american's humor is and this is really interesting! I look forward to knowing more about your topic in our next discussion!=D
They say it's difficult to understand comedy in other countries. Humor plays an important role in our lives. I believe we need humor! To learn about humor in other culture seems very interesting.
Yumiko
Hello Zhou,
It is a pleasure for me to coment about yuor topic. First I want you to know that your topic is really intresting because all cultures interpret a joke differently.Second I think you were very prepared about your summary number 2. So go ahead.
Angel
Hello Zhu,
I want to let you know that the more I hear about your topic the more interested I am. It is all-important to see how high class people appreciate joke telling as a part of the behavior of low class, it seems to me that it is a mistake because jokes just try to cheer a moment. However, I also accept that some jokes far of cheering people just play a role to harm others. For instance jokes related to women they can cheer some men, but it is an outrage against women right because they reffer just to bad things. So go ahead.
Angel
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