Black Humor Research Articles

Do Dark Humour Users Have Dark Tendencies? Relationships between Dark Humour, the Dark Tetrad, and Online Trolling.

Humour and antisocial behaviour on the internet are under-researched. Online spaces have opened a gateway for new ways to express unrestrained humour (e.g., dark humour) and ways to behave antisocially (e.g., online trolling). The tendencies and motivations of those engaging with such humour and behaviour are yet to be clearly established and understood. The present study aimed to fill this gap by exploring the interplay between dark humour, online trolling, and dark personality traits. Participants (N = 160) completed an online survey consisting of trait scales to assess the Dark Tetrad, dark humour, and online trolling, as well as two online trolling tasks (enjoyment and ability) and two dark humour meme tasks (enjoyment and ability). The results confirmed relationships between the Dark Tetrad and the dark humour trait, and several Dark Tetrad traits were related to the enjoyment of and ability to produce dark humour. Furthermore, dark humour and online trolling were closely related. The findings also revealed that online trolls did not enjoy being trolled but did enjoy trolling, and this ability to troll is underpinned by sadism. These findings illustrate the potential dark psychological motivations for using dark humour, demonstrate that online trolling is infused with darker forms of humour, and provide deeper insights into online trolls.

Understanding humour as the catalyst to social reform: A study of Mahesh Dattani’s Where There Is a Will (1988)

Mahesh Dattani (b. 1958) is a reformist playwright of modern India whose works have been interpreted as texts of social critique. Academics such as Erin B. Mee and Asha Kuthari Chowdhari have attributed his works to the ‘invisible issues’ permeating India’s urban middle classes. They have highlighted how Dattani portrays topics such as gender inequality, homosexuality and communal violence to appeal to the public in pursuit of social reform. This article proposes that humour, in addition to these themes, is an equally essential aspect of Dattani’s reformist visions. It argues that Dattani’s humour resonates with what J. L. Styan calls the ‘dark comedy’. It explores the use of humour in Dattani’s play, Where There Is a Will (1988), through Henri Bergson’s concepts of comical inversion, rigidity and symmetrical repetition, to examine the comical elements of the events, dialogue and characters. This approach assists Dattani in posing reformative queries and, according to Styan, eliciting responses from the readers/audience.

A Restored Perspective

The recent retrospectives of Edward Yang’s cinematic oeuvre in Taiwan and North America have provided long-awaited access to his most overlooked works such as Du li shi dai (1994) and Ma jiang (1996). The last two films of his to undergo restoration, while seemingly uncharacteristic of Yang’s usual style, exhibit a remarkable consistency in his experimentation with various juxtapositions of sound, image, thought, and emotion. This essay explores how these satirical works yield fierce critiques of the pervasive materialism and the absence of independent thinking. In foregrounding dark comedy and ironic distance, these films offer timely ruminations on the difficult tensions and complex dynamics between individuals and society, and between tradition and modernity.

Reading Byeongangsoi-ga as a Black Comedy

Reading Byeongangsoi-ga as a Black Comedy

Slayers, rippers, and blitzes: dark humor and the justification of cruelty to possums in online media in New Zealand

Slayers, rippers, and blitzes: dark humor and the justification of cruelty to possums in online media in New Zealand

Dark Humour in Moving Frames: A Discourse Analysis of Bollywood Black Comedies

ABSTRACT The present study delves into the portrayal of dark humour in the Hindi films produced in Mumbai, popularly known as Bollywood films. The dark humour films of Bollywood mainly focus on prevalent social issues such as violence in the underworld, corruption, prostitution, and persistent poverty in India, while socially conscious Bollywood films have often sentimentalised these issues by depicting impoverished individuals as virtuous and hardworking. This study investigates the emerging trend of intermingling serious and comic elements in an attempt to create a more impactful narrative. While employing Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as a tool to dissect the dialogues and storylines and aiming to identify instances of humour, irony, satire, and social critique, the current study attempts to analyse two Bollywood films—Dev D (2009) and Lipstick Under My Burkha (2017). The findings highlight how these films utilise dark humour to unveil the double standards and hypocrisy prevalent in Indian society. By challenging established norms, the identity constructed through dark humour in these films seeks to provoke critical reflection and initiate social change. Through this examination, Bollywood’s evolving approach to addressing social issues becomes evident, providing insights into the power of dark humour in shaping the prevailing social context.

A brief analysis of Guy Ritchie’s postmodernist style in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

Black comedy is not a strictly critical concept of literary theory, but with the application of postmodernism in movies, the application of black humor in black comedy subverts the traditional way of humor. As early as the 5th century BC in Greece, comedian Aristophanes created literary works with humorous black color. In the 1960s, the publication of Friedman’s short story collection Black Humor marked the formal birth of black humor literature. (Thompson Bordwell 78) After the popularity of this school for several years, its influence penetrated the film field. Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels by Guy Ritchie is a typical representative of contemporary black comedy movies.

Stay Cool: Why Dark Comedy Matters in the Fight against Climate Change

Stay Cool: Why Dark Comedy Matters in the Fight against Climate Change

Neoliberalism and the Mutations of Social Realism in Contemporary European Cinema

Over the last couple of decades film scholars have begun building a critical vocabulary to theorize the new kinds of social relations depicted in the new European cinema of precarity, from “flexible solidarity” and “precarious intimacies” to “the gift economy” and “cruel optimism”. Although the European cinema of precarity continues the legacy of older film traditions like French poetic realism, Italian neorealism and British kitchen sink realism, thus inscribing itself within a well-established European tradition of social realism, the realism of precarity films is often refracted through specific genre tropes or filmic devices—e.g., allegory, experimental cinema techniques, black comedy, cinema verité cinematography etc.—as though social realism is no longer able to render visual the hidden pathologies of neoliberalism or to capture the complexity of Europe’s current political, economic, and moral crisis.

Adam Kaczanowski: zasada radykalnej zabawy

The purpose of the text is to present Adam Kaczanowski’s poetry from the perspective of comedy. The author refers to the traditions from which Kaczanowski draws – sarcasm, irony, and dark humor – and then describes the registers of poetry covered by the action of the comic principle. It is expressed in acts of destruction and violence, in metatextual remarks, and in the ontologically non-obvious boundary between humans and animals. Kaczanowski engages in clownery, but it is not an unrisky play: his comedy, supported by a critical approach to a lifestyle dependent on work and consumption, enables staged destructions of the world, which in turn are meant to enable the construction of a subjectivity ready for similar devastation. Key-words: comedy, poetry, destruction, clowning, criticism

Reading Humor in David Cronenberg's Crash

David Cronenberg’s statement that “The film is funny, the book is not very funny” (1997) presents a captivating paradox regarding his adaptation of J. G. Ballard’s Crash. This statement reveals Cronenberg as both an insightful and superficial reader of Ballard. His film adaptation chooses to remain faithful to many aspects of the source material and retains the subtle undercurrents of humor found in the book, often overlooked and unrecognized by both the director and audiences, as well critics. Paradoxically, the film’s reception has further obscured this aspect of his work. The paper delineates the mechanics of humor in Crash, applying Freudian and Bergsonian theories linking humor to anxiety relief and behavioral correction. It spotlights Ballard’s absurd character speculations and detached narrative voice juxtaposing poetic violence, while Cronenberg conveys humor via affectless performances, anti-climactic sex, and self-referential jokes exposing cinematic artifice. Further analysis explores Ballard’s satire through the parody of melodramatic tableaux versus Cronenberg’s meta-cinematic parody of Hollywood and the road movie genre, noting that the adaptation compresses the novel’s sociopolitical critique but expands its intertextuality. The article challenges assumptions that humor must be light or affirming, arguing that the unsettling, avant-garde laughter in Crash (1973, 1996) compels reflection on technology’s impacts on identity. Ultimately, recognizing the dark comedy in Crash and its adaptation illuminates their lingering cultural commentary on dehumanization rather than celebrating the pathology of the characters.

The Graphic Novel as Mediation of the Anthropocene

Abstract This article presents a comparative analysis of Henrik Ibsen's play En folkefiende [An Enemy of the People, 1882] and its adaptation into a graphic novel by Javi Rey (2022). The plot revolves around Dr Tomas Stockmann's discovery that the water of the touristic baths of his hometown is polluted and his futile attempt to convince his fellow citizens to take action. I argue that this can be read as an allegory of specific aspects of the Anthropocene. Moreover, while both works address the production of ignorance about human environmental change, the graphic novel possesses medium-specific ways of depicting the gap between knowledge and action. Finally, while the play is a black comedy, the graphic novel conveys a stronger faith in democratic pedagogy, adapted to twenty-first-century discourses on climate.

Exploring the Multifaceted Humor Function of Dark Humor in Trevor Noah’s Show “Son of Patricia”

The objective of this study was to gain insight into Trevor Noah's intention for employing dark humor through applying Attardo's humor function framework to his stand-up comedy performance "Son of Patricia. This qualitative research utilized a phenomenological methodology. The investigation aimed to explore the phenomenon of dark humor based on Trevor Noah's personal experiences as conveyed in his act. The study analyzed dark humor found in Trevor Noah's stand-up show "Son of Patricia" through the lens of Attardo's (1994) humor functions. The result showed that the frequent humor function found was defunctionalisation for amusement and the jokes often involve playing with the language followed with social management, decommitment and mediation. Exploring the multifaceted humor function of dark humor in Trevor Noah's show "Son of Patricia" revealed a nuanced and thought-provoking approach to comedy. Noah skillfully employed dark humor as a tool for social management, shedding light on sensitive issues such as race, politics, and societal norms. While dark humor can be polarizing, Trevor Noah demonstrates its potential to be a powerful vehicle for social commentary and awareness.

Re-exploring the relationships of humor styles with dark triad and self-esteem using structural equation modelling

Previous relationships between Dark Triad and Humor styles are theoretically difficult to interpret since Dark Triad traits present general and specific sources of variance. In the present study, we used structural equation modelling techniques to allow us to separate the two sources and detect which source of variance of Dark Triad plays the main role in the relationship observed with Humor styles. Similarly, it was tested if relationships among measures of Self-esteem and Humor styles are replicated at structural level. Moreover, the vast majority of previous studies have been conducted with university samples, which represents a limitation. Hence, a series of bi-factor models to test the relationship between Dark Triad and Humor styles and structural models for Self-esteem and Humor styles were fitted on a community sample of 987 Spanish people. Results suggest that the common variance of the Dark Triad traits was mainly responsible for the reported relationships with Humor styles. It is noteworthy that relations reported for Aggressive and Self-defeating humor styles were higher than those observed in previous studies. Similarly, a higher correlation between Self-esteem and Self-defeating was observed at the structural level. Futures studies are suggested to better establish the psychological reasons behind these relationships.

Use of Humour in Learning Anatomy in a Better Way in Lecture Theatre or Dissection Hall - A Questionnaire Based Study

Background: First year medical students normally experience a variety of emotional reactions and mixed feelings, when they encounter human cadavers for the first time. With changing curriculum, peer pressure, stressful work conditions, etc. it becomes tough or even difficult to relax our mind. Humour has been shown to boost motivation, improve problem-solving skills, and foster creativity and critical thinking. It also promotes a happy learning atmosphere and reduces examination anxiety. The purpose of this study was to assess opinions of medical students about using humour while learning Anatomy in acquiring excellence in clinical skills and knowledge. Material & Methods: 258 medical students participated in the study and responded to the paper-based questionnaire. The student questionnaire comprised of sixteen questions related to attitudes towards the use of humour in the subject of anatomy in lecture and dissection hall. The responses were collected and the data was then compiled and analysed. Results: 83.72% to 93.79% of students believed in the usefulness of humour in anatomy theory lectures in terms of increasing interest in learning Anatomy, making them less anxious in recalling the muscle attachment, concentrate better on the topic. All the students were of opinion that the use of humor created a comfortable classroom atmosphere that makes the learning experience more positive and helpful in improving rapport between student and teacher. A very low evaluation was observed that use of humour during teaching distracts attention of the students and wastage of time. Inappropriate humour related to sarcasm, mockery received 226(87.59%) evaluation. Students 203(78.68%) also emphasized the use of dark humour to cope with morbidity and stress during dissection. Ad-libbed humour was considered to be the most effective form of humour. Most students emphasized that humour worked best in a small amount i.e. 2-3 times of humorous remarks. Conclusion: Keeping in mind the effectiveness of the system of anatomy instruction it seems logical that the subject should be learned with humor. The present study confirms that most medical students support the use of humour in teaching anatomy topics.

‘Once you are in number 9 you are stuck in this space’: Constraint, Creativity and Inside No. 9

In this article, I will explore the ways in which the critically acclaimed British TV comedy anthology series Inside No. 9 (BBC Two, 2014–), created and written by Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, uses constraints to facilitate creativity. While the generative properties of constraint have been explored by a wide range of scholars, their application to understanding the creative process in film and television has been limited, with studies of pedagogical approaches at the National Film School of Denmark and their influence on Danish cinema and television being the key example. While frequently described as ‘dark comedy’, Inside No. 9 embraces a wide range of subject matter and genre conventions, ranging from gothic horror to naturalistic drama. But the primary distinguishing characteristic of the show is that the self-contained stories are confined entirely or predominantly to a single location – frequently the No. 9 in question – and feature a limited cast. In addition to this foundational premise, the series embraces the generative properties of constraints in a rich variety of ways – including spatial, temporal, narrative and intertextual. This article will explore how these have functioned to create one of the most innovative and critically successful British TV shows of the last decade.

Ценностные установки в дискурсе поколения Y (на материале стендап-выступлений)

The present article is carried out in the context of the modern communicative-discursive paradigm and is devoted to the identification and description of the value and attitudinal characteristics of the representatives of generation Y in relation to the Russian reality. The object of the study is the corpus of texts in the genre of stand-up performances of famous Russian performers of the age category from 26 to 33 years old, the subject is the axiosphere of the authors of the performance, as well as the system of factors influencing the ways of expressing value attitudes (socio-cultural background, the theme of concerts, the phenomenon of “black humour”).

Psychological aspects of satirical communication in contemporary Ukrainian military memetics Based on social media material

The investigation aims to study the psychological and emotional aspects of satirical communication over social media using memes, specific effects, and coping strategies. The object of the research is memes by the art portal “Mystetstvo Peremohy”, the Ukrainian startup Reface, the application “Memomet”, “Ukrainian Memes”, REDDIT UKRAINE, “Black Humor. In Ukrainian. #BH”, “GONI Memes”, “First Private Memery”, “MEMoirs of War Time”. The study utilizes cultural-historical, comparative, interpretative, and synchronic methods. The results of the research showed that memes reflected the worldview of Ukrainians in extreme conditions and fulfilled informational, emotional, and communicative functions, as well as mobilization and activation of society. The primary (basic) emotions felt by compatriots were anger, disgust, contempt for the enemy, and joy for the initial victories. The spread of memes with such emotions warned against social apathy and the emergence of fear, guilt, shame, anxiety, or wonder, while socializing Ukrainians through this genre contributed to the formation of secondary emotions: love (for relatives, homeland, land), optimism, trust, and prevented the emergence of shock states of anxiety-fear-perplexity, disappointment, sadness, and also cultivated interest-excitement, vigilance-expectation-interest. Alongside propagandistic and counter-propagandistic narratives, memes reflected and simultaneously programmed the behavior of Ukrainians, shaping the social behavior of the nation in times of threat, namely: basic coping strategies of “problem-solving” and “seeking social support”, which made the existence of the “avoidance” strategy impossible. It was established that in the aforementioned satirical communication strategies, predominantly two-component, creolized memes worked as coping resources for overcoming social stress, transforming it from high to low or moderate, demonstrating the cognitive development of Ukrainians, orientation in wartime situations, ability to take responsibility for their own actions and behavior, accumulation of individual emotional experience (empathy), and illustrated the value-motivational structure, which overall reflects the self-concept of Ukrainians, their mental characteristics, and character, which constitutes the novelty of the research.

ОБРАЗЫ ВТОРОЙ МИРОВОЙ ВОЙНЫ В СОВРЕМЕННОМ КИНО ЖАНРА ХОРРОР: КОДЫ КУЛЬТУРЫ

This article addresses the problem of contemporary European vision of the results of World War II through the prism of cinema, namely, a specific genre: horror. The images created in this genre by Norwegian and French directors are analyzed: Standartenführer, Germans, Soviet soldiers. The material is two relatively well-known films of the horror-comedy (black humor) subgenre («Operation "Dead Snow" (2009), «Operation "Dead Snow 2" (2014) (Norway) and the slasher «Underground Horror» (2022) (France, Belgium). The balance of power in these films, when the victory over zombies (German soldiers who have turned into the living dead) is won either by Europeans and Americans, or by representatives of national minorities, is, from the author’s point of view, the code of modern culture in the West, when the role of Soviet troops in the Victory over fascism is hushed up, when gays or representatives of national minorities act as heroes; when the Second World War becomes the subject of a comedy comprehension with an admixture of trash. Such a code differs significantly from the one that existed in literature and cinema of the immediate post-war period (in the second half of the 20th century), when living witnesses (war participants) were more numerous and moral values were somewhat different. This prism of artistic vision of the Second World War is justified by the nature of postmodern thinking and the demand for this kind of film production among Western viewers.

A Comparative Study of Black Humor as Seen in Catch-22 and A Good Man Is Hard to Find

The purpose of this thesis is to find the similarities and differences between Catch-22 and A Good Man Is Hard to Find in the direction of literary genre in black humor. Based on works in both Chinese and English and a lot of literary criticism, the systematical research will be done in aspects of art style, language, the writing technique, major character and theme to obtain a more profound understanding of these two novels. According the research, the thesis gets conclusions as following: Catch-22 and A Good Man Is Hard to Find are both tragedies, but because of the implicit and calm expression of the two authors, both the two works have the effect of comedy. The former subverts the traditional narrative mode by describing absurd plots in a spider web structure, and portrays a alienated major character - Yossarian, who wants to escape from combat, while the latter uses the traditional linear mode to depict a hypocritical character - Grandma. The two characters are both anti-heroes. Nevertheless, Catch-22 mostly uses repetition and symbolism to reveal the cruelty of reality and wars and show human alienation, while A Good Man Is Hard to Find tends to use the metaphor to express the theme of original sin, violence and redemption.