An Existentialist account of the role of humor against oppression
Humor: International Journal of Humor Research 26 (4) (2013)
Abstract
I argue that the overt subjugation in the system of American slavery and
its subsequent effects offer a case study for an existentialist analysis of freedom,
oppression and humor. Concentrating on the writings and experiences of Frederick
Douglass and the existentialists Simone De Beauvoir and Lewis Gordon, I
investigate how the concepts of “spirit of seriousness”, “mystification”, and an
existentialist reading of “double consciousness” for example, can elucidate the
forms of explicit and concealed oppression. I then make the case that subversive
humor is an effective means to bring to consciousness the inconsistencies and incongruities
of the serious oppressors. I also illustrate how humor can act as a bulwark
against the rise and persistence of oppression by (non-violently) attacking
the absolutist stance on human nature maintained through the use of dominating
and “authoritative” language and action.
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2015-02-19
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638 ( #7,064 of 55,807 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
72 ( #9,293 of 55,807 )
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