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Chapter 7. Constructing inferiority through comic characterisation

Self-deprecating humour and cringe comedy in High Fidelity and Bridget Jones’s Diary
  • Agnes Marszalek
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Experiencing Fictional Worlds
This chapter is in the book Experiencing Fictional Worlds

Abstract

This chapter draws on cognitive stylistics and psychology to explore those characterisation techniques in humorous novels which can shape readers’ responses to comic protagonists. I focus on those instances in Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity (1995) and Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary (1996) in which the main characters make a comparison between their own physical appearance and that of someone else’s, presenting themselves as either superior or inferior to others. While comic protagonists can be created as generally equal to the reader and more attractive than other characters so as to inspire our identification and empathy, they can also occasionally be placed in a position of inferiority where the comparison between them and others is not as favourable. It is the construction of this inferiority which, I suggest, informs the self-deprecating humour and embarrassment-induced cringe comedy in Hornby’s and Fielding’s novels.

Abstract

This chapter draws on cognitive stylistics and psychology to explore those characterisation techniques in humorous novels which can shape readers’ responses to comic protagonists. I focus on those instances in Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity (1995) and Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary (1996) in which the main characters make a comparison between their own physical appearance and that of someone else’s, presenting themselves as either superior or inferior to others. While comic protagonists can be created as generally equal to the reader and more attractive than other characters so as to inspire our identification and empathy, they can also occasionally be placed in a position of inferiority where the comparison between them and others is not as favourable. It is the construction of this inferiority which, I suggest, informs the self-deprecating humour and embarrassment-induced cringe comedy in Hornby’s and Fielding’s novels.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. List of contributors vii
  4. Preface xi
  5. Acknowledgments xiii
  6. Chapter 1. Introduction 1
  7. Part 1. Foundations of fictional worlds
  8. Chapter 2. Immersion and emergence in children’s literature 15
  9. Chapter 3. A predictive coding approach to Text World Theory 33
  10. Chapter 4. World-building as cognitive feedback loop 53
  11. Part 2. Forming fictional worlds
  12. Chapter 5. Experiencing horrible worlds 75
  13. Chapter 6. Framing the narrative 97
  14. Chapter 7. Constructing inferiority through comic characterisation 119
  15. Chapter 8. Cognitive grammar and reconstrual 135
  16. Part 3. Fictional worlds in context
  17. Chapter 9. Immersive reading and the unnatural text-worlds of “Dead Fish” 157
  18. Chapter 10. Experiencing literature in the poetry classroom 177
  19. Chapter 11. Sharing fiction 199
  20. Chapter 12. Afterword 219
  21. Subject index 225
https://doi.org/10.1075/lal.32.07mar

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. List of contributors vii
  4. Preface xi
  5. Acknowledgments xiii
  6. Chapter 1. Introduction 1
  7. Part 1. Foundations of fictional worlds
  8. Chapter 2. Immersion and emergence in children’s literature 15
  9. Chapter 3. A predictive coding approach to Text World Theory 33
  10. Chapter 4. World-building as cognitive feedback loop 53
  11. Part 2. Forming fictional worlds
  12. Chapter 5. Experiencing horrible worlds 75
  13. Chapter 6. Framing the narrative 97
  14. Chapter 7. Constructing inferiority through comic characterisation 119
  15. Chapter 8. Cognitive grammar and reconstrual 135
  16. Part 3. Fictional worlds in context
  17. Chapter 9. Immersive reading and the unnatural text-worlds of “Dead Fish” 157
  18. Chapter 10. Experiencing literature in the poetry classroom 177
  19. Chapter 11. Sharing fiction 199
  20. Chapter 12. Afterword 219
  21. Subject index 225
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