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Chapter 1 Laughing when it hurts: A theory of humour for visual culture Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious. Peter Ustinov Humour is a topic that has interested scholars from diverse disciplines for centuries. From Aristotle and his legendary book on comedy (that apparently was destroyed centuries ago and inspired Umberto Eco’s best seller The Name of the Rose (1980)), to classic and contemporary philosophers, psychologists, linguists and sociologists, the publications on humour are innumerable. To review every perspective and theory would be a book in itself, and it is not my intention to do so. Instead I will present those which are useful to an understanding of humorous films and comic books, because they can help us gain an insight into contemporary political and social concerns in a given society. Theories from a variety of disciplines are explored in this chapter, and from them, certain ideas have been selected which help achieve the aim of a better understanding of Mexico. In the following pages I discuss ideas which will help us understand the use of humour in selected comics and films in Mexico from 1969 to 1976, why and how humour was used as a means of expression, and what this tells us about the history of Mexico and the mood of society. In other words, what Mexicans laughed at helps us understand who they were. There is no ‘final word’ on humour, nor any single scholar who has settled the argument on its meaning. Research tends to be located within a given discipline. Psychologists try to understand why we laugh and how this affects our psyche. For sociologists and anthropologists, humour explains who we are and the community we belong to. Linguists approach humour as a language, thus exploring what it communicates. Philosophers reflect on its transcendence as a condition of the human
spirit. Thus, their perspectives and ideas will help us construct an understanding of humour, its relevance to society, and why it represents non-conformity, a means of resistance against a political system. First, it is important to recognise that, because there are many studies of humour, the terminology among them differ. Umberto Eco suggests that the idea of the comical is an ‘umbrella concept’ 1 joining different phenomena, and it is impossible to give it a single, clear definition. What some scholars call comedy, others call humour; jokes and ‘true jokes’ (discussed later), are also part of this terminology as well as innocent and hostile jokes. While some refer to laughter as a physical act, others consider it a mental process. And we cannot deny the difference between parody, irony and sarcasm. 2 Victor Raskin noted this lack of terminological agreement among scholars, pointing out that there is a ‘terminological chaos created by an abundance and competition of such similar and adjacent terms’. 3 In accordance with these ideas, we group together insights which refer to humour, laughter, hilarity, jokes, comedy, wit, etc., when they can be understood as having the same aim: to introduce the audience into a ‘comedy environment’. However, I will also discuss ideas that help us understand how humour expresses thoughts that we would not dare express in a serious situation. In so doing, we will gain an insight into the concerns of the people. I will not discuss the difference 1 Umberto Eco, ‘Los marcos de la “libertad” cómica’, in Umberto Eco, V.V. Ivanov and Monica Rector, ¡Carnaval!, trans. by Mónica Mansour (Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1984; repr. 1998), pp. 9- 20 (p. 9). 2 Aristotle uses comedy and comical to refer to the same phenomenon: representing faults, ‘the ugly’ in someone/something. William Hazlitt differentiates between terms such as laughter, comedy, ludic, wit, irony, humour. Sigmund Freud differentiates between jokes and humour, and classifies jokes according to their content and who they are addressing. Henri Bergson uses the term ‘comic’ to correspond to Freud’s use of humour, and he also refers to laughter as humour in the same way as Mikhail Bakhtin. Luigi Pirandello and Umberto Eco consider comedy to be the perception of the opposite and humour as the ‘feeling’ of it, although both terms describe a broken frame. The philosophers Alenka Zupancic and Robert Pfaller use the term comedy for acts of humour with no social or political aim, and true comedy for those which create their own universality. Susan Purdie considers jokes as part of the comedy narrative. Simon Critchley discusses humour and sometimes uses the term comedy for the same concept. Paul McGhee also discusses humour, while Gregor Benton and George E.C. Paton view jokes and humour as similar terms. The relevant titles that inform this discussion can be found in the bibliography. 3 Victor Raskin. Semantic Mechanisms of humor (Dordrecht, Boston, Lancaster: D. Reidel Publishing Company. 1985), p. 8. 12
Page 1 and 2: HUMOUR AS POLITICAL RESISTANCE AND
Page 4 and 5: Abstract This research focuses on t
Page 6 and 7: Table of Contents Acknowledgments
Page 8 and 9: The breaking of the rule ………
Page 10 and 11: Acknowledgments After so many years
Page 12 and 13: fantastic friends who are now part
Page 14 and 15: Introduction Dime de qué te ríes,
Page 16 and 17: And what about comics? Comics take
Page 18 and 19: helps us to understand a specific c
Page 20 and 21: were expecting a funny story. In ad
Page 22 and 23: Román Gubern’s ideas of visual a
Page 26 and 27: etween varieties of terminology in
Page 28 and 29: than just disjunctions in the narra
Page 30 and 31: serve as the basic vehicle for the
Page 32 and 33: so that there are parts which are n
Page 34 and 35: her body, she has a large round red
Page 36 and 37: classified jokes and humour and des
Page 38 and 39: case of Excélsior showed. 50 So, p
Page 40 and 41: We might find this joke funny becau
Page 42 and 43: absentmindedness in men and in even
Page 44 and 45: oken the rule of being respectful w
Page 46 and 47: Even though humour can work as a so
Page 48 and 49: sentiments, develop and perpetuate
Page 50 and 51: jokes are ‘a useful means of diss
Page 52 and 53: Other authors consider that in fact
Page 54 and 55: neutralise our feelings because lau
Page 56 and 57: power for thirty-five uninterrupted
Page 58 and 59: -and in the subsequent years- did n
Page 60 and 61: numbers of businessmen, workers and
Page 62 and 63: undermining the image of a dictator
Page 64 and 65: people’. 50 It aimed for an appar
Page 66 and 67: cambio (exclusivamente verbal), por
Page 68 and 69: university. In the film El Águila
Page 70 and 71: gave money in secret to Scherer to
Page 72 and 73: men appeared and beat many of the s
Page 74 and 75:
Thus they decided to fight against
Page 76 and 77:
PDLP, 115 captured those they thoug
Page 78 and 79:
money without working because they
Page 80 and 81:
information on antagonistic groups,
Page 82 and 83:
Although the violent methods were o
Page 84 and 85:
those who appeared to be hippies, h
Page 86 and 87:
ock and roll and read the writers o
Page 88 and 89:
Chapter 3 Laughter and reflection,
Page 90 and 91:
are richer and carry more informati
Page 92 and 93:
two years later the formula was rep
Page 94 and 95:
magic will punish those who are hur
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time: Regino Burrón and his demand
Page 98 and 99:
around them, in La Familia Burrón
Page 100 and 101:
In 2008 Gabriel Vargas said: ‘el
Page 102 and 103:
story, such as the Licenciado askin
Page 104 and 105:
were discussed. In that chapter we
Page 106 and 107:
the flat roof of the vecindad 49 or
Page 108 and 109:
True humour: humour as social compl
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those in power for citizens in trou
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puro macanazo me convenció! Yo ni
Page 114 and 115:
Machismo is another topic which eme
Page 116 and 117:
dibujaba Rius en los sesenta como u
Page 118 and 119:
One last example from Los Agachados
Page 120 and 121:
collect a large amount of money to
Page 122 and 123:
In the same episode in which Borola
Page 124 and 125:
As we may remember, Freud also sugg
Page 126 and 127:
alleges. 102 So, through the misfor
Page 128 and 129:
apart and the reader enjoys the pol
Page 130 and 131:
Superiority and antithesis In the f
Page 132 and 133:
gaining a sense of victory over the
Page 134 and 135:
are in better position than us, at
Page 136 and 137:
Differences between groups of youth
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eaction is no more compassionate. T
Page 140 and 141:
the actions of their antithesis, su
Page 142 and 143:
controlling our fear. We could argu
Page 144 and 145:
democracy, even if the official Par
Page 146 and 147:
policeman is not acting in the way
Page 148 and 149:
sistema de valores, pero por lo men
Page 150 and 151:
‘Pues sí: siendo rojos, tienen q
Page 152 and 153:
of the joke we are too wise to beli
Page 154 and 155:
allows us to discuss the existence
Page 156 and 157:
campo.’ 187 But this does not mea
Page 158 and 159:
Police As seen above, the police ap
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The police talk openly and unashame
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Nicanor was a victim of police brut
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speaks openly about the paramilitar
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demanded land reform: ‘consiguier
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point of view. This group makes ref
Page 170 and 171:
we think about them. However, if we
Page 172 and 173:
would be mere entertainment. Yet th
Page 174 and 175:
claridades’. 228 That is what hum
Page 176 and 177:
industry finally blossomed. 1 This
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make their own statements’. 13 In
Page 180 and 181:
with Corona that Arau became politi
Page 182 and 183:
The film was shot in 1971 and the p
Page 184 and 185:
Echeverría sexenio he continued wo
Page 186 and 187:
around the world. 45 It is consider
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eceived by the critics 53 but the p
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evident in some films than in other
Page 192 and 193:
eal inspector has arrived, there is
Page 194 and 195:
indicio) 67 which set the audience
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es una pura y celestial chiripada
Page 198 and 199:
artists are in a coffee shop discus
Page 200 and 201:
However, after this demonstration o
Page 202 and 203:
the milk in a metal pot, which make
Page 204 and 205:
‘¡pelos, pelos!’ 92 Tiliches a
Page 206 and 207:
más favorable de la que, no obstan
Page 208 and 209:
liberating us from their control an
Page 210 and 211:
for the way he is dressed. They arg
Page 212 and 213:
Superiority We have seen that humou
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or with that what which is prohibit
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world and change the situation in w
Page 218 and 219:
During another event, the journalis
Page 220 and 221:
antipathy or resentment toward disp
Page 222 and 223:
Peasant: Ya va pa’treinta años d
Page 224 and 225:
211 DA: Raza de majaderos, eso es l
Page 226 and 227:
elationship between conquerors and
Page 228 and 229:
marked limp and when Eufemio sees h
Page 230 and 231:
light side’), we are presumably b
Page 232 and 233:
no se va a poder [cheat on him]. Po
Page 234 and 235:
un disfraz inimaginable’. Don Per
Page 236 and 237:
Policeman: La lengua Poncho: De ham
Page 238 and 239:
sombreros, indicating that they are
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we may feel consolation in Critchle
Page 242 and 243:
criticises the abuse and dishonesty
Page 244 and 245:
young one whose job is to carry the
Page 246 and 247:
population. They were made in diffe
Page 248 and 249:
elaxed or to break the tension afte
Page 250 and 251:
In the section Speaking the Unspeak
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Conclusion This research has shown
Page 254 and 255:
We also saw how films and comics co
Page 256 and 257:
negatively depicted in films. The e
Page 258 and 259:
the army in an unfavourable light.
Page 260 and 261:
Tlatelolco in 1968, and the Halcona
Page 262 and 263:
message. This kind of analysis, acc
Page 264 and 265:
story. They were identified by high
Page 266 and 267:
deep thought, etc. 21 ‘Even the s
Page 268 and 269:
distinguished the concern of his gi
Page 270 and 271:
Appendix 2 Tables The following cha
Page 272 and 273:
Mechanisms of humour Los Agachados
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Mechanisms of humour Films Calzonzi
Page 276 and 277:
Mechanisms of humour Mecánica Naci
Page 278 and 279:
Bibliography Agnew, Bob, ‘¡Viva
Page 280 and 281:
Brewster, Keith, ed., Reflections o
Page 282 and 283:
----------, The Role of the Reader.
Page 284 and 285:
Jardón, Raúl, 1968, el fuego de l
Page 286 and 287:
Oikión Solano, Verónica, Marta Eu
Page 288 and 289:
Zolov, Eric, Rebeldes con causa. La
Page 290 and 291:
Bracho, Diana, ‘El cine mexicano:
Page 292 and 293:
[accessed 28 February 2010] Monsiv
Page 294:
Films Ahí está el detalle, dir. b
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