Leticia Neria PhD thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText ...

etween varieties of terminology in humour, such as jokes and parodies. Scholars
differentiate between them, but it is not my intention to distract readers in a sea of
different terminology. Thus, we will understand all these concepts as ‘acts of humour’
since they are actions expressed through the language of humour, which benefit from
being within this language. The meaning of all these ideas will be drawn out in the
following pages.
Not all acts of humour make us roar with laughter, but recognising when we are
inside the language of humour helps us understand ‘facts’ in a certain way. The
important point to note here is that the terms studied refer to acts or moments which turn
the environment into a less solemn one, and one in which chaos does not worry us. In
fact, it entertains us.
Things that make us laugh…
So I went to the psychiatrist yesterday, and he told me “You’re crazy”. I said I wanted a
second opinion. He said, “OK, you’re ugly too!”
When we read this joke, we recognise that we are witnessing an act of humour.
Something intellectual has happened, which may bring at least a hint of a smile. This act
is a comic one, and that is why we are allowed to laugh. Even when it is not proper to
laugh, we recognise the humour in a statement. But, what are the indications in the text
that help us understand that something belongs to the universe of humour? And
afterwards, what do we laugh at?
Humour is directly related to social context. Different social groups laugh at
different things. Humour is a universal human activity, and there is no society without
humour, but each expresses it differently. 4 ‘Our laughter is always the laughter of a
4 Simon Critchley. On Humour (Oxon: Routledge, 2002; repr. 2010), pp. 18, 28.
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