Categories Of Humor Research Articles

“And That’s Why You Always Leave a Note!”: Music as Comedic Element in the First Season of the Television Show Arrested Development

Abstract This article explores the underexamined role of music in the American situation comedy Arrested Development. Encompassing the entire first season, analysis concentrates on musical tropes contributing meaning to visual or dialogic elements to create a comedic whole. Music, whether newly composed or pre-existing, has a number of specific comedic functions in the show. It can portray funny characters, Orientalize places and concepts, lampoon serious situations, comment on action like a Greek chorus, allude to cultural phenomena, and even reach outside a scene to remark meta-comically. Discussion of cues is thus divided into six categories of musical humor: rendering characters’ musical personalities, comic Othering, comic seriousness, snarky commentary with pop-song lyrics, hidden cultural references, and ambiguity between diegetic and nondiegetic music. Categories presented here are not meant to seem exhaustive or mutually exclusive; another author would opt for a different taxonomy. Nevertheless, any other taxonomy would have to reflect multiple concrete comic functions beyond merely setting moods or providing scene transitions. The complexity of visual and textual humor is matched by an equally rich and textured musical world. The fact that this is a recorded television comedy that can be played over and over again allows for incredible subtlety and multivalence in the humor. As quirky, unpredictable, and fresh as the other modalities of humor, David Schwartz’s musical impulses, from the subliminal to the ridiculing, are essential to the totality of comedy in Arrested Development and its overall feel. Mitchell Hurwitz’s show would be inconceivable without Schwartz’s idiosyncratic work.

“+1 for Imgur”: A content analysis of SIDE theory and common voice effects on a hierarchical bidirectionally-voted commenting system

This research is among the first to attempt quantitative analysis of a site-bound digital subculture by identifying commenting regularities, using Imgur as a case study. A theoretical framework using SIDE theory and common voice informs a content analysis of 105 Imgur posts and 4404 comments in which the Imgur subculture is identified. Building on initial qualitative work, quantitative evidence is found for common voice, elucidating the Imgur subculture through identification of strategic commenting strategies. Findings indicate that post content affects commenting strategies, as the prevalence of common voice features varied according to post categorization. Additionally, post categories elicited different levels of common voice, with the community identification and humor categories eliciting the greatest concentration of common voice responses and information/mobilization and social support eliciting the least. Findings also suggest a preference for comments that approve of post content, as approving comments received a higher score and more responses than disapproving comments, while disapproving comments received more reprimanding responses. Results provide evidence that empirical study of site-bound digital subgroups is possible, informing future digital media research by providing a theoretical and methodological framework for examining digital subcultures.

But seriously: On conversational humour and (un)truthfulness

This paper addresses a thorny theoretical problem concerning the workings of conversational humour, which is frequently seen as a special mode/frame of communication but, simultaneously, as a vehicle for communicating meanings outside this frame. The first aim is to tease out the different terms prevalent in humour studies that attempt to capture this distinction (such as playfulness, jocularity, or non-seriousness). Second, a proposal is made in favour of the concept of (un)truthfulness, approached from a neo-Gricean perspective, as a notion that can help elucidate this twofold problem better, giving a full spectrum of humour manifestations without causing any terminological contradictions. Grice's first maxim of Quality is thus invoked to account for the main categories of humour distinguished here: autotelic humour (which resides in opting out of this maxim) and speaker-meaning-telic humour (which communicates truthful or covertly untruthful speaker meaning by means of fulfilment, flouting or violation of this maxim and the other ones as well). Speaker meaning may arise as what is said (as a result of maxim fulfilment) and/or implicature (as a consequence of maxim flouting), and both levels of meaning may recruit maxim violations, which lead to deception. This article contributes to the debate on the position of humour in the Gricean framework.

The Effects of Pranks in Social Media on Brands

ABSTRACTPractical jokes belong to the category of disparagement humor and they have been extensively investigated by social scientists for decades. Nevertheless, the available empirical results pertain mostly to human-to-human situations and little is known on the effects of pranks in the computer-mediated environment (CME). As CME encourages different patterns of reactions and behaviors than non-CME, the present study provides an experimental evaluation of consumer responses to brands that use practical jokes in their social media communication. The results reveal that high-disparagement pranks may significantly hurt brand perceptions and decrease brand affect. This effect is better predicted by prior brand attitudes than usage (i.e., the more favorable predisposition to a brand, the higher probability that a high-disparagement prank will produce a lower brand affect). No significant impact of low-disparagement pranks was found on subsequent brand responses. The findings will help scholars and practitioners in understanding this new phenomenon and in maximizing returns from humor online.

The Quantum Paradox of Truthiness: Satire, Activism, and the Postmodern Condition

The Quantum Paradox of Truthiness: Satire, Activism, and the Postmodern Condition

With or without intentions: Accountability and (un)intentional humour in film talk

Drawing on pragmatic and cognitive philosophical theory, this paper discusses the nature of contrived (un)intentional humour in film talk. The paramount goal is to theoretically depict the processes of intention attribution with regard to humour arising from fictional interactions, as viewed by the recipient. Thus, one blanket category of intentional humour and three categories of unintentional humour in film talk are distinguished and compared with their real-life counterparts. To meet this objective, the author expands on the notion of accountability, which is argued to hold not only for real but also fictional interactions, and the recipient's immersion in the fictional reality with a view to teasing out the central theoretical problems concerning the study of characters’ (non)humorous intentions in film talk.

Tourists’ responses to humour

Building on the existing tourism–humour literature, the study investigated tourists’ views of the categories of humour used by Australian tour guides. The researchers also evaluated tourists’ responses to the experimental manipulation of humour levels. The tourists’ commentary on the settings revealed that guides in one business emphasised predominantly funny stories and self-deprecatory humour, while in the second context the visitor experience was facilitated relatively more often through amusing exaggerations. In a quasi-experiment implemented within existing tourism businesses, the guides were encouraged to add more humour to their presentations. The manipulation did not enhance perceived levels of amusement but the prevailing levels of humour contributed significantly to the tourists’ comfort, concentration and connection levels.

The Hungarian joke and its environs

Hungarian humour went through significant changes in the 20th century. Though the urban middle-class way of living and culture had developed by the early 20th century, they had to coexist all over the country as well as in ethnic Hungarian territories abroad with the traditions of rural culture and folklore until the middle of the century (and, in locked-up areas, till the end of the century). Consequently, Hungarian humour is made up of two important layers of folklore: popular funny stories that have been developing among the peasantry for centuries, and jokes, a genre that emerged from urban oral culture in the last third of the 20th century. The dualism of folk-based and urban culture has been a decisive feature of Hungarian culture during the entire 20th century. Thus the question arises: more than a hundred years later, are there still any fundamental differences between the two types of humour in terms of their ways of thinking or their subject matter, or can we regard Hungarian humour as a unity? In this paper, we compare the thematic categories of popular and urban humour based on the analysis of two large collections. Next, we examine the popularity of major joke categories in Internet sources. Finally, we offer a brief introduction to the contemporary stock of Hungarian jokes by thematic groups.

Tragédia sem redenção: o pessimismo absoluto de Julius Bahnsen

Trata-se neste texto de apresentar a filosofia de Julius Bahnsen (1830-1881), cuja teoria é uma tentativa de conciliar a filosofia da vontade de Schopenhauer com a dialética de Hegel, o que resultou na elaboração de uma dialética real (Realdialektik), uma espécie de pessimismo absoluto. Para essa apresentação será enfatizada a concepção do trágico como uma categoria não apenas restrita à reflexão estética, mas como própria da manifestação da contradição inerente à vontade, a qual ao mesmo tempo quer e não quer. Ao invés de propor alguma saída redentora para o círculo autocontraditório da vontade, Bahnsen afirmará o caráter irreconciliável dessa cisão e rejeitará a perspectiva soteriológica da filosofia schopenhaueriana defendida por Eduard von Hartmann e Philipp Mainländer. O resultado será um decidido niilismo que encontrará apenas na categoria do humor uma possibilidade de alívio.

Assessing and enhancing humour in the tourism setting

Assessing and enhancing humour in the tourism setting

Using Instagram as a Modified Application of Photovoice for Storytelling and Sharing in Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes

Photovoice is a research method developed to help communities share images as a tool for discussion of key issues. Although this may be useful to promote healthy behavior, using Photovoice in adolescents has been logistically challenging. Given adolescents' engagement in social media, our study explored the feasibility of using a photo-sharing mobile phone application, Instagram, to accomplish the principles of Photovoice. Twenty adolescents 14 to 18 years old with type 1 diabetes were asked to use Instagram to post any diabetes-related photo for 3 weeks. Individual interviews and a focus group were also offered, and recruitment and retention statistics were tracked. Of those approached (n = 47), 43% agreed to participate. Twelve were actively engaged. Shared photos were most likely to fall into the categories of diabetes care, humor, or food. Engaged participants universally reported the project to be a positive experience; however, there were technological and personal factors to consider for widespread implementation.

A Linguistic and Cultural Analysis of Pun Expressions in Journalistic Articles in Jordan

This study is a linguistic and cultural analysis of some pun expressions published recently in two Jordanian daily newspapers in Arabic. The study responds to calls by Delabatista (1997) and Ritchie (2004) to carry out studies on pun that deal with analysis of its practical uses rather than dwell on categorization issues and theoretical backgrounds. The survey finds numerous cases of wordplay in these articles, some of which fall under the category of humor, but many, contrary to what was stated before, cannot be categorized under humor because they refer to recent bloody infighting in the Arab World, especially Syria, and they actually call for tears rather than laughter. Types of wordplay used include the homographic, homonymic, onomastic, and other types discussed in the literature. The new thing in this study is the case of playing on similarities between two words in two different languages like Arabic and English to produce a respectable pun.

Relações entre proeminência facial nas fotos do Orkut e o perfil dos usuários

. Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo verificar a existência de relação entre o índice de proeminência facial (IPF) e o perfil de 600 usuários do Orkut. Os resultados mostraram que, em todos os segmentos avaliados, a média do IPF masculino foi superior ao feminino; as mulheres aumentam a proeminência enquanto os homens diminuem com a idade e mulheres com ensino superior apresentam maior proeminência do que as de ensino médio. Diferenças significativas também foram encontradas nas categorias de humor ao comparar o IPF entre os sexos e entre pessoas de mesmo sexo. Em síntese, os resultados indicam que fatores determinantes do IPF apresentado no Orkut provavelmente estão relacionados tanto a aspectos biológicos como culturais.Palavras-chave: percepção facial; comunicação não verbal; internet; diferenças sexuais.

Personality impressions associated with four distinct humor styles

This study examined how personality impressions about another person are influenced by the style of humor that person displays. Four distinct styles were examined, with two of these being adaptive (affiliative and self-enhancing humor), and two being maladaptive (aggressive and self-defeating humor). Participants read descriptions of an individual displaying each humor style, and then rated that individual on several other personality attributes (e.g., friendly, complaining). The adaptive humor styles enhanced personality impressions of another individual, whereas the maladaptive styles had strong detrimental effects. Furthermore, participants provided clearly differentiated personality impressions within both the adaptive and maladaptive humor categories. Affiliative humor led to more positive impressions of another than self-enhancing humor; whereas aggressive humor resulted in more negative personality impressions than self-defeating humor. These findings were discussed in terms of approaches to humor that acknowledge the multifaceted nature of this construct and the resulting impact on social relationships.

Humor in Counseling: Leader Perspectives

This article explores the existence of humor in counseling from the perspectives of several leaders in the field. Specifically, the last 5 authors describe some of their thoughts and experiences regarding the emergence of humor in counseling.

I-Get-It as a Type of Bonding Humor: The Secret Handshake

The primary function of what the authors call bonding humor appears to be the creation of a feeling of belongingness and togetherness. This category of humor covers a wide variety of comic endeavors, including the humor of various ethnic groups, racial groups, religions, professions, scientific disciplines and, indeed, any group of individuals who share a body of knowledge, rituals, experience, lore and, of, course, a sense of humor. A special kind of bonding humor is I-get-it humor, which is hermetic, that is, the listener must bring some kind of specialized knowledge to the joke-telling enterprise or the joke is meaningless, or, at least, not funny. The authors show that bonding humor, along with the narrower sub-category of I-get-it humor, is a powerful tool for producing and/or strengthening a shared social bond, and can serve many purposes.

Appropriate and Inappropriate Uses of Humor by Teachers

The use of humor in teaching has been linked to learning in several studies, although the research has been equivocal. The various types of humor used by teachers have also been investigated but not in terms of what students view as appropriate and inappropriate uses of humor. Participants in this study were asked to generate examples of appropriate and inappropriate uses of humor by teachers. Responses were unitized and content analyzed, resulting in the identification of four appropriate humor categories and four inappropriate humor categories. Each category is defined, and the implications of using different types of humor in the classroom are discussed.

Young Children’s Explanation of Pictorial Humor

This study aimed to investigate the explanations of 80 kindergarten children on pictorial humor. The children were asked to observe and describe a specific visual stimulus, and say whether they considered it as funny providing their rationale. The study was developed on the basis of humor being an incongruity thus the data were examined against McGhee’s stages of humor development and Brown’s categories of Visual Humor. Findings suggest that kindergartners are capable of recognizing the main and/or minor incongruities in a funny picture and providing reasoning for it. Moreover, there are no gender differences in reference to these variables. These findings come to broaden the specific developmental approaches provided by McGhee and Brown, and suggest a new category to frame children’s responses to pictorial humor, the Multiple Conceptual Visual Incongruities category. It is also suggested that the use of visual stimuli with multiple incongruities provides an excellent forum for investigating children’s conceptual abilities.

"The Initial Plunge," "The Soused Period," and "Contrition"?: Moving Towards a Style of Peter Schickele's Funny Music in His P.D.Q. Bach Works

After nearly forty years of "discovery" it truly is no secret that Peter Schickele is still composing the works of the fictional composer P.D.Q. Bach. By composing this humorous music, he carves his own niche as a musical comedian while also maintaining the other part of his career as a "serious" composer. An interview of 1974 with Peter Schickele provides a historical snapshot of his techniques of composing the music of P.D.Q. Bach.1 We learn that he prefers to parody music of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries because of the form and pattern of the pieces. He blends well-known motives, like "Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits," with baroque and classical sounding phrases, and adds familiar classical and popular themes as quotations. Schickele composes music to make the performer seem lost in a complicated passage, and to be playing wrong notes and strange sounds. Another technique he uses is to create instruments out of unusual items and materials such as bicycles and music stands. The jokes present in the P.D.Q. Bach music may be written for a musically sophisticated audience, but they have a wide appeal. The musical jokes can range from witty—with tricks played on an established form or style—to slapstick, and from popular to obscure. A couple of questions come to mind: "Has Peter Schickele always told similar jokes in his P.D.Q. Bach music?" And, "Does P.D.Q. Bach's musical comedy have early, middle, and late periods?"2 [End Page 322] The goal of this article is to introduce a different way of thinking about the P.D.Q. Bach music, and to intimate that it could, indeed, have early, middle, and late periods. This will be accomplished using the following methods: reviewing existing literature on humor in music for types and categories of musical humor, applying these categories to the P.D.Q. Bach music in a brief taxonomical discussion using a wide chronological range of representative works, and using this discussion to closely analyze and compare two vocal and two instrumental pieces. This approach will demonstrate how the musical jokes are treated, and will establish a framework for more comprehensive examination of comic stylistic trends of the P.D.Q. Bach music over time. For the sake of brevity and clarity, this article will not address certain aspects related to this topic. As is well recognized, P.D.Q. Bach is not simply a pen name under which Peter Schickele writes comic music. P.D.Q. Bach can also be defined as an institution in a sense that Schickele has created a theatrical and performing tradition with the P.D.Q. Bach concerts, as well as his alter ego "Professor Peter Schickele," member of the fictional Department of Music Pathology, University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople. Because this study is devoted particularly to the style of jokes found in music, it will focus on the music of P.D.Q. Bach and not the theatrical elements of a P.D.Q. Bach concert, except as they are prescribed in a score. Nor will this study delve into descriptions of humor in music, or explain why a joke in a P.D.Q. Bach piece is funny. Existing literature on the psychology of musical humor explains this quite well.3 Furthermore, one does not need to understand the causes of psychological and emotional effects that music may have for a listener in order to understand its purely technical aspects. Doing so quickly becomes an exercise in pedantry, as the reader will become lost in tangential discussions in an attempt to see the comic forms and structures inherent within the music.4 What will be addressed here is how the P.D.Q. Bach music can...

Comments on Abrahamsen's (2004) “Linguistic Humor Comprehension in Children with Articulation Impairments”

This commentary expresses concerns about the validity of the results of Abrahamsen's study of "Linguistic humor comprehension in children with articulation impairments" (2004). Some of the problems noted included overlapping of lexical and phonological humor categories, the nature and placement of several of the stimulus items, lack of demonstrated equivalent difficulty of the stimuli presented to each group, and limited analysis of other factors that may have affected children's responses.