An existentialist account of the role of humor against oppression

Chris A. Kramer

doi:10.1515/humor-2013-0045

Article

An existentialist account of the role of humor against oppression

Chris A. Kramer
Chris A. Kramer received his M.A., focusing on the philosophy of the mind and consciousness, from San Diego State University. In San Diego, he supplemented his income by playing in a rock band – he was not well paid. He then taught at Rock Valley College, in Rockford, Illinois, and is currently pursuing a PhD at Marquette University, where he is studying the intersections between humor, oppression, philosophy of mind, existentialism, and phenomenology. He also enjoys studying his two-year-old son Milo, and his response to incongruities in his environment: usually, Milo laughs.

Published/Copyright: October 19, 2013

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From the journal Humor Volume 26 Issue 4

Abstract

I argue that the overt subjugation in the system of American slavery and its subsequent effects offer a case study for an existentialist analysis of freedom, oppression and humor. Concentrating on the writings and experiences of Frederick Douglass and the existentialists Simone De Beauvoir and Lewis Gordon, I investigate how the concepts of “spirit of seriousness”, “mystification”, and an existentialist reading of “double consciousness” for example, can elucidate the forms of explicit and concealed oppression. I then make the case that subversive humor is an effective means to bring to consciousness the inconsistencies and incongruities of the serious oppressors. I also illustrate how humor can act as a bulwark against the rise and persistence of oppression by (non-violently) attacking the absolutist stance on human nature maintained through the use of dominating and “authoritative” language and action.

Keywords: oppression; freedom; existentialism; humor; incongruity; human nature

About the author

Chris A. Kramer

Chris A. Kramer received his M.A., focusing on the philosophy of the mind and consciousness, from San Diego State University. In San Diego, he supplemented his income by playing in a rock band – he was not well paid. He then taught at Rock Valley College, in Rockford, Illinois, and is currently pursuing a PhD at Marquette University, where he is studying the intersections between humor, oppression, philosophy of mind, existentialism, and phenomenology. He also enjoys studying his two-year-old son Milo, and his response to incongruities in his environment: usually, Milo laughs.

Published Online: 2013-10-19

Published in Print: 2013-10-25

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/humor-2013-0045

Keywords for this article

oppression; freedom; existentialism; humor; incongruity; human nature