Literature Review Of Humour : Literature Review Of Humor In The Classroom

The article goes on to say that, a lot of jokes do not translate very well, and sometimes, they do not translate at all, mainly due to the differences in social structure and cultural norms; what may be considered funny in one culture, may not be in another.” (Psychology Today, 2012)

Norman Cousins said, “Laughter is a powerful way to tap positive emotions" (Moss 1). Humor is studied by many researchers in sociology, psychology, art, literature, and medicine. When people wonder whether humor aids in areas other than health, a treasure trove of possible benefits to the learning or educational community is opened up. Humor can be used as a tool to promote learning.Research speaks to the many benefits of humor in healing, to its benefits in the classroom or boardroom, from reducing stress of students or employees, to boosting self-esteem and feelings of camaraderie. Additionally, studies show that those who use humor to convey a message are often more favorably perceived. Humor helps deliver the presenter's message to

“Humour is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement.” The term Humour has been derived from the Greek language, which teaches that humour is the balance of fluids in the human body. Humour is savoured by different taste-buds like: Anecdotal, Blue, Dark/Gallows/Morbid, Epigrammatic, Hyperbolic, Ironic, Satirical, Satirical, Situational and Slapstick. Franz Kafka, the author of the outright existential classic ‘The Metamorphosis’ uses depressing humour to deal with the bitter deathly truths of life.

Modern society allows humorists to touch upon offensive topics without receiving much criticism. As Alain de Botton claimed in his 2004 book, Status Anxiety, humorists’ role is not merely to entertain but “to convey with impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly.” De Botton’s argument proves legitimate. Many humorists, such as cartoonists and television hosts, decide to use their humor as a tool to prove an idea or express a belief that cannot be voiced candidly in public.

People always say that laughter alleviates tension. If this is the case, then it makes sense that the use of humor when discussing uncomfortable topics can make the conversation easier and more light-hearted. One of Mark Twain’s most frequently used devices in works such as “Advice to Youth”, “To the Person Sitting in Darkness”, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is satire, which can provide society a method to bond over uncomfortable topics, and facilitate the ability to sustain that bond through an easier way to create discussion.

“Theories of humor often suggest that humor requires a perceived violation, or something that disrupts people’s sense of how the world ought to be” (McGraw and Warren 2010).

Lei states that "humor is shared by people from every nation. However, different nations have different kinds of sense of humor, closely related to religion, ideology, society, politics and culture. Therefore, although humor has been studied for a very long time, most are from the perspective of literature, art, sociology, psychology, pragmatics or linguistics. Some scholars doubt that humor can be fully translated into another language because humor is language-specific and culture-specific. Only a few scholars study the translation of humor." (2010, p.7).

Historians and academics offer definitions which underlie today?s humor. In 1937, Walter Blair, whose 60-year study of humor focused on the nineteenth century development of the genre, stated that American humor was neither produced only in America nor contained characteristics privy only to Americans. He offered instead that American humor meant ?humor which is American in that it has an emphatic ?native quality??a quality imparted by its subject matter and its technique? (92). H. R. Haweis, half a century earlier in 1882, had defined the technique of American humor as the three shocks of contrast: business and piety, Aboriginal and Yankee, and the bigness of American nature versus the smallness of

Humor is viewed by some people as an important part of life. Most people enjoy amusement, and some turn to humorists as a source for that amusement. Some further view humorists as holding an important position in society because society allows humorists to say things that others can and will not say. Due to their unique position in society, humorists serve a role that is certainly unique and can be important, but not vital. Furthermore, humor can very well have a dangerous side, whether intentional or unintentional, so humorists should try to be careful with their powerful position.

Laughter can be an instinctive expression of lively amusement although we don’t usually realise the offence of the joke we are laughing at. Tamara discusses modern satire and its position in humanity.

First of all, an author must define and identify their audience in regard to their jokes. The essay, "Made You Laugh" by Marc Tyler Nobleman explains in thorough detail the analogy and concept of humor itself. For example, the article states, "Young children prefer slapstick, or silly physical humor" while adults enjoy satirical

Humour and satire are two concepts that are both wide ranging and diverse, from dark, to light hearted, with each producing a different effect. Humour in the main, is something that is used to please the audience, its function is to invoke laughter amongst its audience. Satire is used to create a comical critical view of the subject at hand, this can range from a light hearted comical way, to a judgemental way, with each style giving the text a different meaning, however this does not mean that satire cannot be humorous, which can evident in the use of parody and irony within texts. Within literature both concepts play an important role to how the text is viewed, humour can include word play, grammatical jokes, to even inside jokes with the author and reader, and with satire, including that of irony and parody, with each style and type delivering humour in its own unique way. These differing styles of humour can be found in a variety of forms including Jasper Forde’s The Eyre Affair (2001), with its silly atmosphere, word play and grammar jokes, and the use of light hearted satire and parody to brighten up the text, and Julian Barnes A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters (1989), where there is a more serious atmosphere, with a more critical, satirical eye on history and characters, as well as using irony to achieve its comical effect, and the position of the world. Each text is humorous and satirical in its own right, and with each author using different techniques to

According to the Oxford dictionary “Humor,” is defined as: The quality of being amustic or comic, especially as expressed in literature or speech, but what truly makes something funny? Comedy has been around for hundreds of years; as it is being examined four concrete theories have been developed to understand the idea of comedy: Superiority, Relief, incongruity, and Benign Violation theory.

As humans, laughing and joking is something that comes natural. This is something that we have been doing even before we knew how to walk or talk. As we start to grow up, we all develop personality traits and our humor styles follow. Before taking this course, I have never consider identifying what my humor styles are until now. I took the Humor Style Questionnaire (Martin et al. 2003) and calculated that my top humor style is self-enhancing and closely following is affiliative. Throughout this paper I am going to reflect on my top humor styles with personal examples, and how it relates to my mental health, with several methods I can use to make myself healthier and happier. I will also be considering the other two styles and how then do not relate to my humor style and mental health.

Content analysis is a research method for making replicable and valid inferences from data to their context, with the purpose of providing knowledge, new insights, a representation of facts, and a practical guide to action (Krippendorff, 1980). My aim will be to produce a condensed yet broad description of the humor phenomenon, including concepts or categories describing the humor phenomenon. Usually the purpose of those concepts or categories is to build up a model, conceptual system, conceptual map, or categories. I will make a choice between the terms ‘concept’ and ‘category’ and use one or the other. While content analysis has its critics in the quantitative field, who consider the method a simplistic technique, which does not lend itself to detailed statistical analysis; others claim no qualitative aspects adhere to the method at all. In the early days, the differentiation of content analysis was limited to classification as a qualitative vs. quantitative research method. According to Weber (1990), one can produce simplistic results by using any method whatsoever if one’s skills of analysis are lacking. The truth is, the method is as easy or as difficult as I decide (Neundorf, 2002).