Laughter and Ridicule: Towards a Social Critique of Humour (Published in association with Theory, Culture & Society)

272 Pages·2005·0.96 MB·english

by  Michael Billig

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Original and insightful, the book will be of interest to readers in
Sociology, Social Theory, Cultural Studies, Social Psychology and
Media and Communication Studies.
Michael Billigis Professor of Social Sciences at
Loughborough University.
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Towards a Social Critique of Humour
London .Thousand Oaks .New Delhi
in association with Theory, Culture & Society
www.sagepublications.com
Cover design byHybert Design •www.hybertdesign.com
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Laughter and Ridicule
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Theory, Culture & Society
Theory, Culture & Society caters for the resurgence of interest in culture
within contemporary social science and the humanities.Building on the her-
itage of classical social theory,the book series examines ways in which this
tradition has been reshaped by a new generation of theorists. It also pub-
lishes theoretically informed analyses of everyday life,popular culture,and
new intellectual movements.
EDITOR:Mike Featherstone,Nottingham Trent University
SERIES EDITORIAL BOARD
Roy Boyne,University of Durham
Mike Hepworth,University of Aberdeen
Scott Lash,Goldsmiths College,University of London
Roland Robertson,University of Aberdeen
Bryan S.Turner,University of Singapore
THE TCS CENTRE
The Theory, Culture & Society book series, the journals Theory, Culture &
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Centre Administrator
The TCS Centre,Room 175
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e-mail:[email protected]
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Recent volumes include:
Sex and Manners
Cas Wouters
The Body in Culture,Technology and Society
Chris Shilling
Globalization and Belonging
Mike Savage,Gaynor Bagnall and Brian Longhurst
Bootlegging
Lee Marshall
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Laughter and Ridicule
Towards a Social Critique of Humour
Michael Billig
SAGE Publicati ons
London • Thousand Oaks (cid:127) New Delhi
iii
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© 2005 Michael Billig
First published 2005
Published in association with Theory,Culture & Society,Nottingham Trent University
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study,or criticism or review,
as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may be
reproduced,stored or transmitted in any form,or by any means,only with the prior permission
in writing of the publishers,or in the case of reprographic reproduction,in accordance with the
terms of licenses issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.Inquiries concerning reproduction
outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.
SAGE Publications Ltd
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication data
A catalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library
ISBN 1 4129 0250 9
ISBN 1 4129 1143 5
Library of Congress Control Number:2004099514
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Athenaeum Press,Gateshead
Printed on paper from sustainable resources
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Contents
Acknowledgements vii
1 Introduction 1
2 A Critique of Positive Humour 10
Part I Historical Aspects 35
3 Superiority Theories: Hobbes and
Other Misogelasts 37
4 Incongruity Theories and Gentlemanly
Laughter 57
5 Victorian Relief Theory 86
6 Bergson and the Function of Humour 111
7 Freud and the Hidden Secrets of Jokes 139
Part II Theoretical Aspects 173
8 Laughter and Unlaughter 175
9 Embarrassment, Humour and
the Social Order 200
10 Final Remarks 236
References 244
Name Index 256
Subject Index 261
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Acknowledgements
A book on humour should have been enjoyable to write. For some rea-
son, it did not turn out that way. In fact, there have been many days
when I wished I’d undertaken a less ostensibly pleasant task. So, I am
grateful for friends and colleagues who have given encouragement.I am
particularly grateful to those who have read drafts of chapters: Steve
Brown,Mike Gane,Dave Middleton,Yair Neuman,Thomas Scheff,and
John Shotter.And thanks too to Susan Dunsmore for making the copy-
editing such fun.
I feel particularly fortunate to work in the Department of Social
Sciences at Loughborough University.It has provided a happy home for
me,being surrounded by colleagues who are willing to discuss ideas and
to laugh at the world.Once again,I should pay tribute to Peter Golding
who has unselfishly managed to protect the department against the
demoralizing pressures undermining so much British academic life.
Finally,of course,I would like to thank my family – to Sheila and to
our children Daniel,Becky,Rachel and Benjamin.A conventional sense
of humour often calls for an element of malice. Certainly the children
and I have teased, mocked and laughed at each other in the ways that
families do. But over the years, Sheila, like her mother before her, has
demonstrated that there are far more important, far more serious
virtues than the ability to make jokes. So this book is dedicated to
Sheila and to the memory of her mother.
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1
Introduction
The idea of a critical approach to humour sounds somewhat sinister. It
suggests bossiness or craziness. Either way, the prospect is not pleasant.
Bossy critics would dictate what we should and should not be laughing at.
The image of the crazy critic is more disturbing.Fierce-eyed and serious to
the point of derangement,the crazy critic would be warning us against the
dangers of laughing at all.An admission must be made right at the outset.
In terms of these two possibilities, the present investigation tends towards
craziness rather than bossiness.
Of course,the temptations of bossiness will not be resisted.One of the
compensatory pleasures of being an academic is to act as a bossy know-all
in front of minuscule audiences. Nevertheless, the present inquiry sets out
on the way to craziness.To be more precise, the aim is to go beyond the
partial critique of humour that the bossy critic provides.Critical bossiness is
a familiar characteristic of the high-minded writer.A seriousness of purpose
demands judgements. If comedy is the topic, then the bossy critic aims to
raise the level of laughter. There is a left-wing version of such bossiness,
telling us that we should not laugh at jokes suspected of national,ethnic or
sexist prejudices.Bossy critics may also disparage the comedies that the big
entertainment companies offer and that many of their readers might read-
ily enjoy.The message is that we should smarten up the quality of our laugh-
ter.We will be told to look elsewhere for our humour: maybe to obscure
alternative comedians, or to the great comic literature of the past, such as
Don Quixote or Tristam Shandy, that is little read today;or perhaps we will
be recommended the unsuspected wit of difficult critics.
Bossy critics, whatever might be their particular recommendations,
accept the common-sense dictum that laughter is good.Their mission is
to improve that goodness. There is another critical direction. Rather
than criticizing some types of humour as inappropriate, and commend-
ing others for meeting the requisite standards, it is possible to call into
question laughter’s assumed goodness.This is the path to craziness.How
in all sanity can one criticize the precious gift of humour? Everybody
knows that laughter is better than misery.To be anti-laughter, surely, is
just plain ridiculous.
The social critic should not worry too much about the accusation of
craziness or ridiculousness.One of the tasks of social critique is to question
what passes for common sense. In so doing, the social critic may well fall
foul of common sense’s own criteria for what is sensible and what is not.
This was well recognized by those sceptical Marxist philosophers of the
Frankfurt School, who in the 1930s created the idea of the critical social
theory. They were aware that social critique must attempt to get beyond