Volume 33, Issue 1 -

Using participants’ reactions to puns (words or phrases with two or more possible meanings) embedded in hypothetical scenarios, we investigated how perceptions of punning are influenced by characteristics of both the social situation and the punster. Consistent with the reversal theory of humor, Study 1 ( N =185) showed that puns are considered funnier and more appropriate in playful than serious situations and less appropriate when they interrupt conversation than when they complete a conversation sequence without causing an interruption. Consistent with age-based developmental expectations of punsters, Study 2 ( N =333) indicated that obvious puns told by children are perceived more favorably than those told by adults of varying ages and levels of expertise in the subject area of the pun. Future research might benefit from using more naturalistic settings and examining the extent to which various contemporary humor frameworks (e.g. benign violations theory) apply more specifically to punning in context.

This paper aims to explore subversive humor in Spanish stand-up comedy by analyzing the work of two well-known Spanish female comedians, Eva Hache and Patricia Sornosa. In order to reach this goal, a corpus of these comedians’ performances has been collected, comprising a total of 25 monologues, which have been divided into humorous sequences, which come to a total of 76 in the corpus of Eva Hache and 37 for Patricia Sornosa. The qualitative and quantitative analysis has focused on subversive humorous sequences, which has shown that only 22.38% of the sequences from Eva Hache’s comic monologues are mainly built around subverting the status quo, whereas Patricia Sornosa challenges the heteronormative discourse in most of her sequences (87.93%). Further, in this case study, we have examined the main linguistic techniques they use when challenging the heteronormative standards, namely the topics, targets, discourse strategies and linguistic cues used to generate a subversive effect. Findings show that both comics use subversive humor but in different ways because of contextual constraints. Whilst Patricia Sornosa offers an overt critique, Eva Hache disparages in a subtler manner even when teasing and undermining male power.

This study undertakes a contrastive lexical-semantic analysis of a set of related verbs in English and French (English to joke and to kid , French rigoler and plaisanter ), using the Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) approach to semantic analysis. We show that the semantic and conceptual differences between French and English are greater than commonly assumed. These differences, we argue, have significant implications for humor studies: first, they shed light on different cultural orientations towards “laughter talk” in Anglo and French linguacultures; second; they highlight the danger of conceptual Anglocentrism in relying on English-specific words as a theoretical vocabulary for humor studies.

The aim of this paper is to examine how the image of Josef Stalin is presented on the Russian internet. The main focus of our study will be the macro images and memes published on social media. This article examines how memes were used to articulate an attitude towards Stalin and his time in modern day Russia. The article touches upon three groups of memes: the comparison of Stalin and Putin, Stalin as a victor in the Great Patriotic war and Stalin as a dictator. It is stated that memes are closely connected with the tradition of soviet anecdotes in form and in themes. It is concluded that three groups of memes analyzed are the new ways to express the political satire. The most direct is the first one, yet the last one is the most striking.

We explore the idea that humor focused on social group disparities can be a viable tool to reduce some of the negative outcomes associated with interracial interactions. These interactions are crucial in promoting common understanding about the causes of social, educational, and economic disparities and crafting solutions to redress them. However, investigations have demonstrated that interracial interactions can be emotionally and cognitively taxing, and for these reasons are often avoided. When not avoided, these interactions often result in negative outcomes. Anxiety has been identified as a key factor in these outcomes as majority group members cope with concerns over appearing biased and minority group members cope with concerns over being discriminated against. Humor may be able to alleviate anxiety that contributes to negative outcomes associated with intergroup dialogue. To explore this claim, we first review the literature on interracial interactions and the role of anxiety in shaping them. We then discuss investigations exploring the impact of group-related humor, specifically disparagement humor, on intergroup perceptions. Finally, we draw from both literatures to consider factors that might determine race-related humor’s potential to facilitate positive interracial dialogue through anxiety reduction. We conclude with some possible areas for further research.

Building on affect-as-information theory, this study empirically tested a conceptual model of how and under what conditions a leader’s use of humor influenced employees’ adaptability using a sample of 209 subordinates and their supervisors in China. The results reveal the important mediating effect of pleasant feelings and the moderating effect of a need for humor. The impact of leader humor transmitted through pleasant feelings is effective only when an employee’s need for humor is high. The theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

Despite increasing interest in healthcare clowning, especially to evaluate its effectiveness in a large variety of settings, no investigations have been oriented toward exploring the potential risks associated with burnout in clown doctors. This paper aims to investigate the relationship between personality traits, emotional intelligence, and burnout and to predict the burnout levels of 160 Italian clown doctors. The multiple linear regression findings showed that the best predictor for emotional exhaustion was neuroticism and for personal accomplishment were consciousness and emotional intelligence, while no correlations were found between the variables taken into account and depersonalization. These findings highlighted how specific personality traits are linked to different dimensions of job burnout and were discussed in the context of clown doctors’ burnout.