“Inversione sessuale” e logiche del riso in due riviste francesi del primo Novecento: L’assiette au Beurre e Le Rire

Abstract

The irreverent wit is often based on overthrown rules. This paper aims to analyze the logic of laughter related to the representation of homosexuality in two early XIX century French illustrated magazines - «L’Assiette au beurre» and «Le Rire» – in which the satirical mechanism is built on the overthrowing of roles. The issue of two fundamental essays on the social function of laughter - Du Rire (Bergson, 1900) - and on its unconscious function - Der Witz und seine Beziehung zum Unbewusten (Freud, 1905) - deeply influences the representation of sexual inversion in comic strips. I will consider both cases and analyze them also through Arthur Koestler's idea of bisociation as main comical mechanism. In the proposed strips, I will show how male features in women and the female features in men create a political dynamics leading the reader to laugh.