Volume 21, Issue 1

At the 2006 conference of the International Society for Humor Studies (Danish University of Education, Copenhagen), several panels addressed issues raised by the Muhammad cartoon story. Among these, a colloquium organized by Paul Lewis and decorously titled “Transnational Ridicule and Response” focused on the implications for humor research of the events surrounding the publication of the cartoons. Along with other materials, panelists were encouraged to review summaries of and timelines for the story available from the BBC and Wikipedia. Of the questions considered by panelists, the following drew interesting and, at times, provocative responses: Were the cartoons humorous; if so, did they represent a distinct or new kind of humor? Were the modes of global transmission of the cartoons new? Does the story have implications for ongoing humor research and advocacy? The goal was to approach the controversy not as partisans with particular political outlooks but as students of humor. The brief essays collected here were written following the conference by members of the panel (Christie Davies, Giselinde Kuipers, Paul Lewis, and Victor Raskin) and by two others who attended the colloquium (Elliott Oring and Rod A. Martin). After reviewing the essays, HUMOR editor Salvatore Attardo suggested that each of the participants be invited to read what the others had written and submit a brief response. Responses included here were received from Davies, Kuipers, Lewis, Oring, and Raskin.

Single case studies led to the discovery and phenomenological description of Gelotophobia and its definition as the pathological fear of appearing to social partners as a ridiculous object (Titze 1995, 1996, 1997). The aim of the present study is to empirically examine the core assumptions about the fear of being laughed at in a sample comprising a total of 863 clinical and non-clinical participants. Discriminant function analysis yielded that gelotophobes can be separated from other shame-based neurotics, non-shame-based neurotics, and controls. Separation was best for statements specifically describing the gelotophobic symptomatology and less potent for more general questions describing socially avoidant behaviors. Factor analysis demonstrates that while Gelotophobia is composed of a set of correlated elements in homogenous samples, overall the concept is best conceptualized as unidimensional. Predicted and actual group membership converged well in a cross-classification (approximately 69% of correctly classified cases). Overall, it can be concluded that the fear of being laughed at varies tremendously among adults and might hold a key to understanding certain forms of humorlessness.

Although political satire can be considered a significant part of humor studies and cultural studies, it has been systematically neglected by theorists of both disciplines. This article looks critically at the role of political humor expressed in early Italian satirical journals in the period 1919–1924, which was central to the rise of fascism. Freud's techniques of condensation and displacement and Gramsci's account of hegemony will be the analytical tools for the satirical discourse and its counter-hegemonic project to the fascist ideological ascendance. Both tools will facilitate my analysis of political satire as a discourse expressing revolutionary sentiments and occupying a middle space between the dominant ideology and the discourse that resists it. In order to understand this space, which is not anti-hegemonic but counter-hegemonic, we should look at the language of the dominant discourse and how this is used by political satire. Having in mind the particular role of censorship and the constraints it poses to the satirical discourse, I will discuss three empirical sections in relation to the ascent of Fascism: the role of power, the political consensus and the political practices.

Cy Eberhart (ed.): In the Presence of Humor: A Guide to the Humorous Life (new edition). Bangor, ME: Booklocker, 2006. 120 pp. $12.95. (Peter Derks) Pierre Rainville: Les Humeurs du Droit Pénal. Au Sujet de l'Humour et du Rire . Quebec City: Collection Dikè, Les Presses de l'Université de Laval, 2005. 168 pp. C$20.00. (Lorene M. Birden)