Humor Theories

1
Humor Theories

• by Don L. F. Nilsen
• and Alleen Pace Nilsen

2
Victor Raskins Tripartite Classification
INCONGRUITY Contrast Incongruity Resolution HOSTILITY Aggression Superiority Triumph Derision Disparagement RELEASE Sublimation Liberation Economy (Attardo 2007, 103)
3
Script-Model Grammar

• Raskins 1985 Semantic-Script Theory of Humor
  (SSTH) sees humor as a violation of Grices
  cooperative principle.
• A joke consists of two overlapping scripts.
• The two scripts are in opposition (bona-fide vs.
  scatalogical)
• The punch line changes the joke from the
  bona-fide to the scatalogical script.
• (Attardo 2007 108)

4
Overlapping Scripts

• Overlapping scripts occur not only in jokes, but
  also in the allegory, the oxymoron, the conceit,
  the simile, and perhaps in all allusion,
  symbolism, double entendre and intertextuality.
• Overlapping scripts also occur in the master
  tropes--metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, and
  irony.
• And for all of these literary forms, there is the
  bona-fide (or literal) script, and the
  non-bona-fide (or figurative) script.
• (Triezenberg 2008 536)

5
Humor Enhancers

• Katrina Triezenberg notes that humorous discourse
  also has humor enhancers.
• A humor enhancer is a narrative technique that
  is not necessarily funny in and of itself, but
  that helps the audience to understand that the
  text is supposed to be funny, that warms them up
  to the author and to the text so that they will
  be more receptive to humor, and that magnifies
  their experience of humor in the text.
• (Triezenberg 2008 537-538)

6

• These humor enhancers allow a piece of humor to
  be instantaneous and epiphinal. They include
• Shared stereotypes,
• Cultural factors (prejudices, hang-ups, taboos,
  etc.),
• Familiarity (as with a good impersonation, or as
  with something that is spot-on), and
• Repetition and variation
• (Triezenberg 2008 539)

7
Why Mysteries Are Not Funny

• Jokes and lies both violate Grices
  Conversational Implicatures. They are both
  examples of non-bona-fide communication.
• In murder mysteries, the reader is often led down
  the garden path, and given false clues.
• To solve the mystery, the reader has to consider
  script oppositions to determine if scripts are
  not compatible with each other, and if not, why
  not.
• (Triezenberg 2008 540)

8
General Theory of Verbal Humor (GTVH)

• Script Opposition
• Incongruity Resolution
• Situation (including props)
• Target (butt of the joke)
• Genre (joke, riddle, etc.)
• Language (compatible with both scripts)
• (Attardo 2007 108)

9
Jab Lines vs. Punch Lines

• Jab lines are tendentious, but punch lines are
  not.
• Whereas punch lines are disruptive of the
  narrative they close, jab lines are not, and in
  fact often contribute to the development of the
  text.
• (Attardo 2007 110).

10
Salvatore Attardos Hierarchy

• Lines that are related form a strand.
• A bunch of related strands is called a stack.
• A bridge is the occurrence of two related lines
  far from each other.
• A comb is the occurrence of several related lines
  in close proximity.
• (Attardo 2007 111)

11
Attardos Defining Moment

• Each story that is not a picaresque story has a
  central defining event in the plot that sets the
  wheels in motion
• Madame Bovarys adultery
• Raskolnikoffs homicide
• Lolitas seduction, etc.
• (Attardo 2007 113)

12
Sigmund Freud

• Sigmund Freud distinguishes between innocent and
  tendentious jokes.
• (Attardo 2007, 104).
• RIDDLE What do you get when you cross a mafioso
  with a postmodern theorist?
• ANSWER Someone who will make you an offer you
  cannot understand.
• (Attardo 2007 109)

13
Humor Sophistication

• Victor Raskin notes that sophistication in humor
  is similar to sophistication more generally, and
  that it entails
• Rarity, expensiveness, availability, complexity,
  exoticness, subtlety, refinement, obscurity,
  prestigiousness, desirability, unexpectedness,
  etc.
• (Raskin 2008) 12)

14
Sophistication via Innuendo

• When I was young I helped a good fairy in
  distress, so she offered me a choice, an
  excellent memory or a large penis.
• I do not recall what I chose.
• NOTE Fewer and fewer people get the jokes as
  sophistication increases.
• Perhaps sophistication correlates with the
  number of missing links in inferencing.
• (Raskin 2008 13)

15
Ranking of Humor Sophistication

• 1. He was a man of letters. He worked at the
  Post Office.
• 2. I am very unhappy. I have two girlfriends,
  and both are cheating on me.
• 3-9. No Examples Given
• 10. Whats the difference between the sparrow?
  No difference whatsoever. Both halves are
  identical, especially the left one.
• (Raskin 2008 13)

16
Superiority Theory HumorNeither a Necessary
nor a Sufficient Condition

• When we see a Charlie Chaplin movie, do we feel
  superior to Charlie Chaplin.
• John Morreall feels that we laugh at the clever
  and acrobatic way Charlie Chaplin gets out of a
  tough situation.
• Morreall also notes that if we win a race, we
  feel superior to the losers, but humor does not
  automatically result from winning.
• (Morreall 2008 233)

17
Discuss the following
Humor is hostile Humor diminishes self-control. Humor is irresponsible
18
Discuss the following

• Humor is hostile
• Humor diminishes self-control.
• Humor is irresponsible.
• Humor is insincere.
• Humor is idle.
• Humor is hedonistic.
• Humor fosters sexual license.
• Humor fosters anarchy.
• Humor is foolish.
• (Morreall 2008 237-238)

19
HUMOR THEORIES

• THE EVOLUTION THEORIES as proposed by Charles
  Darwin, and by the I. A. H. B.
• THE HUMOR-IS-GOOD-FOR-YOU THEORIES as proposed by
  Norman Cousins, et. al.
• THE SUPERIORITY THEORIES as proposed by
  Aristotle, Plato, Thomas Hobbes, Henri Bergson,
  and Charles Gruner
• THE INCONGRUITY THEORIES as proposed by Immanuel
  Kant, Arthur Shopenhauer, Paul McGhee and John
  Morreall
• THE SURPRISE THEORIES as proposed by René
  Descartes

20

• THE AMBIVALENCE THEORIES (FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS)
  as proposed by Socrates
• THE CONFIGURATIONAL THEORIES (GESTALT RECOGNITION
  AND SUDDEN INSIGHT) as proposed by G. W. F. Hegel
• THE PSYCHOANALYTIC THEORIES as proposed by
  Sigmund Freud
• THE RELEASE AND RELIEF THEORIES as proposed by
  Harvey Mindess and William Fry

21
A NEW WAY OF LOOKING AT HUMOR THEORIES

• FEATURES
• FUNCTIONS
• SUBJECTS

22
FEATURES OF HUMOR INCONGRUITY AND INCONGRUITY
RESULUTION
Unresolved Resolved
23
FEATURES OF HUMORSURPRISE AND TENSION

• Surprise
• Garden Path
• Epiphany
• Tension and Relief

24
ALLEEN NILSENS FEATURES OF HUMOR

• Ambiguity
• Exaggeration
• Understatement
• Hostility
• Incongruity or Irony
• Situation-Insight
• Sudden Insight
• Superiority
• Surprise or Shock
• A Trick or Twist
• Word Play
• (A. Nilsen Living Language 202-203)

25
EXPLAIN THE FEATURES IN THE FOLLOWING JOKES

• David Lettermans first job in broadcasting was
  at Ball State Universitys classical music radio
  station, WBST. He was a constant trial to Tom
  Watson, the manager, who in exasperation fired
  him after he introduced the song Clair de Lune
  with You know the de Lune sisters there was
  Claire there was Mabel.
• Word Play
• (A. Nilsen Living Language 204)

26

• Left to our own devices, we Wobegonians go
  straight for the small potatoes.
• Majestic doesnt appeal to us we like the Grand
  Canyon better with Clarence and Arlene parked in
  front of it smiling.
• Understatement
• (Nilsen Nilsen Encyclopedia 301)

27

• Will Rogers solemnly declared, They have an
  unwritten law in the Senate that a new member is
  not allowed to say anything when he first gets
  in, and another unwritten law that whatever he
  says afterward is not to amount to anything.
• Superiority
• (A. Nilsen Living Language 205)

28

• A good man dies and goes to heaven. When St.
  Peter asks him if theres anything he can do for
  him, the man explains that he would love to talk
  to Mary, the mother of Jesus. St. Peter is happy
  to set up such a meeting. After a few polite
  formalities, the man tells Mary the purpose of
  his request. He has always wanted to ask her
  something.
• When she encourages him to go ahead, he says,
  Ive wondered why in all your pictures you look
  so sad. Please tell me what it is. Mary sighs
  and then with a little wistful smile confesses,
  I always wanted a daughter.
• Incongruity and Surprise
• (A. Nilsen Living Language 205)

29

• In one of her routines, eleven-year-old Claire
  Friedman told about a classmate she calls
  Tiffany During lunch, Tiffany was staring at
  her carton of orange juice. I asked why. She
  said, The box says concentrate.
• Claire said, Tiffany is so dumb shed get fired
  from an MM factory for throwing away all the Ws.
• Superiority, Hostility, Wordplay
• (A. Nilsen Living Language 204)

30

• During the 1960s, there was talk of nominating
  Senator Margaret Chase Smith for President of the
  United States. One reporter stuck a microphone
  in her face and asked, Mrs. Smith, what would
  you do if you should wake up some morning and
  find yourself in the White House?
• Without batting an eye she responded, I would go
  to the presidents wife, apologize, and leave
  immediately.
• Situation, Surprise,etc.
• (A. Nilsen Living Language 204)

31

• A four-year-old was brought to the emergency room
  of a hospital with a bad cough.
• The child kept up a nonstop conversation while
  the nurse was trying to assess her lung sounds.
  Finally, the nurse said, Shhh, I have to see if
  Barney is in there. The child looked at her and
  calmly stated, I have Jesus in my heart. Barney
  is on my underwear.
• Surprise, Incongruity, etc.
• (A. Nilsen Living Language 204)

32

• At the opening of a new play, George Bernard Shaw
  sent two tickets to Winston Churchill. Shaw
  wrote on the letter, Here is a ticket for you
  and your friendif you have one.
• Churchill sent back the tickets with a message
  for Shaw. I cant attend on the opening night,
  but I would love to go to the second
  performanceif you have one.
• Hostility, Exaggeration, Word Play, etc.
• (A. Nilsen Living Language 204)

33

• In Alice in Wonderland, the Mock Turtle explains
  to Alice that he only took the regular course.
  What was that? inquired Alice. Reeling and
  Writhing, of course, to begin with, and then the
  different branches of ArithmeticAmbition,
  Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.
• Word Play, etc.
• (A. Nilsen Living Language 205)

34
Literary Functions of HumorScripts and Double
Entendre

• The text of a joke is always fully or in part
  compatible with two distinct scripts and the two
  scripts are opposed to each other in a special
  way.
• The punchline triggers the switch from the one
  script to the other by making the hearer
  backtrack and realize that a different
  interpretation of the joke was possible from
  the very beginning.
• (Attardo and Raskin 1991 308)

35
PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS OF HUMOR

• Arousal
• Social Control
• Establishment of Superiority
• Relief, and Release
• Ego Defense, Coping, and Saving Face
• Gaining Status
• Healing
• Testing Limits

36
SELF-DISPARAGEMENT

• Self-disparagement humor is actually intended to
  empower the user. Here are some effective ads
  using self-disparagement
• Terminix Pest Control When you think of pests,
  think of us.
• Twist Lemon-Menthol Cigarettes Our new menthol
  is a lemon.

37

• Champion International Trend Carpet Eight
  million people walked all over us. And they
  dont even know our name.
• Quaker Oats as a diet food Quaker Oats
  Breakfast of losers.
• Simmons bunk beds Simmons beds are a lot of
  bunk.
• (Nilsen Nilsen 273)

38
EDUCATIONAL FUNCTIONS OF HUMOR

• Teaching and Learning
• Arguing and Persuading

39
SOCIAL FUNCTIONS OF HUMOR

• In-Bonding and Out-Bonding
• Promoting Social Stability and Control
• Promoting Social Change

40
SUPERIORITY VS. INCONGRUITY

• In Reflections upon Laughter, Frances Hutcheson
  argued against Thomas Hobbess century-old
  superiority theory.
• He pointed out that people dont go to asylums to
  laugh at the inferior beings, nor do we laugh
  at animals unless they resemble human beings.
• We laugh at someone who slips on a banana peel
  not because we feel superior, but because of the
  incongruity between our expectations and the
  sudden insight.
• (Nilsen Nilsen 163)

41
!SUBJECTS OF HUMOR

• Ethnic Identification
• Politics
• Sexual Roles and Scatology
• Occupations
• Religion and Belief Systems

42

• !!OLD TABOOS AND CENSORSHIP
• These are the taboo areas in American English.
  Theyre the subjects that we cant talk about,
  but we must talk about.
• But these taboos are changing. Most of our
  censorship used to come from the right, but now
  our censorship is coming from both the right and
  the left. Censorship from the left is called
  political correctness.

43

• !!!NEW TABOOS AND CENSORSHIP
• TABOO AND CENSORSHIP FROM THE RIGHT INCLUDES
• Sex, Religion, Body Parts, Swear Words,
  Obscenities and Vulgarities
• TABOO AND CENSORSHIP FROM THE LEFT (POLITICAL
  CORRECTNESS) INCLUDES
• Women, Gays, Disabled People, Ethnic Minorities
  and Old People

44
HUMOR WEB SITES

• AMERICAN COMEDY ARCHIVES (JENNI MATZ)
• www.emerson.edu/comedy
• THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF PLAY
• http//www.tasplay.org
• COMEDY ARCHIVES (JENNI MATZ)
• http//www.greaterboston.tv/features/gb_20060509_c
  omedy.html
• COMEDY USA (BARRY WEINTRAUB)
• www.comedyusa.com
• THE HUMOR COLLECTION (RUTH HAMILTON)
• www.thehumorcollection.org

45

• HUMOR MATTERS (STEVE SULTANOFF)
• http//www.humormatters.com
• THE HUMOR PROJECT (JOEL GOODMAN)
• www.HumorProject.com
• INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF HUMOR STUDIES (MARTIN
  LAMPERT)
• www.humorstudies.org
• ISHS HISTORICAL SITE (DON NILSEN)
• http//www.uni-duesseldorf.de/WWW/MathNat/Ruch/Sec
  retaryPage.html

46

• LAUGHING JAPAN (TILL WEINGAERTNER)
• http//www.tillchan.typepad.com/laughing
• MIRTH HUMOR AND LAUGHTER IN TEACHING (RON BERK)
• www.mirthium.com
• PARENTING HUMOR (TIM BETE)
• http//www.TimBete.com
• A PLAYFUL PATH TO WHOLENESS (BERNIE DEKOVEN)
• http//www.deepfun.com
• SNIGLETS (RICH HALL)
• http//www.ziplink.net/users/wood/funny/snigglets.
  html

47

• References
• Apter, Michael J. Humour and Reversal Theory.
  Chapter 8 in Michael Apters The Experience of
  Motivation The Theory of Psychological
  Reversals. New York, NY Academic Press, 1982.
• Apter, Michael J., and Kenneth C. P. Smith.
  Humour and the Theory of Psychological
  Reversals. in Chapman and Foot (1977) 95-100.
• Attardo, Salvatore. The General Theory of Verbal
  Humor, Twenty Years After. HUMOR International
  Journal of Humor Research 24-2 (2011) 123.
• Attardo, Salvatore. Linguistic Theories of Humor.
  Berlin, Germany Walter de Gruyter, 1994.
• Attardo, Salvatore. A Multiple-Level Analysis of
  Jokes. HUMOR International Journal of Humor
  Research 2.4 (438-439).

48

• Attardo, Salvatore. A Primer for the Linguistics
  of Humor in Raskin 2007, 101-156.
• Attardo, Salvatore, and Lucy Pickering. Timing
  in the Performance of Jokes. HUMOR
  International Journal of Humor Research 24.2
  (2011) 233-250.
• Attardo, Salvatore, and Victor Raskin. Script
  Theory Revis(it)ed Joke Similarity and Joke
  Representation Model. HUMOR International
  Journal of Humor Research 4.3-4 (1991) 293-347.
• Beeman, William O. Humor. Journal of Linguistic
  Anthropology 9.2 (2000) 1-4.
• Bell, Nancy D., Scott Crossley, and Christian F.
  Hempelmann. Wordplay in Church Marquees. HUMOR
  International Journal of Humor Research 24.2
  (2011) 187-202.

49

• Berger, Arthur Asa. An Anatomy of Humor.
  Paperback Edison, NJ Transaction Publishers,
  1999.
• Berger, Arthur Asa. Blind Men and Elephants
  Perspectives on Humor. Paperback Edison, NJ
  Transaction Publishers, 2010.
• Berger, Arthur Asa. Humor An Introduction.
  American Behavioral Scientist 30.3 (1987) 6-16.
• Boskin, Joseph. Humor and Social Change in 20th
  Century America. Boston, MA Boston Public
  Library, 1979.

50

• Boskin, Joeph, ed. The Humor Prism in
  20th-Century America. Detroit, MI Wayne State
  University Press, 1997.
• Cann, Arnie, and Katherine C. Etzel. Remembering
  and Anticipating Stressors Positive Personality
  Mediates the Relationship with Sense of Humor.
  HUMOR 21.2 (2008) 157-178.
• Chafe, Wallace L. The Importance of Not Being
  Earnest The Feeling Behind Laughter and Humor.
  Amsterdam, Netherlands John Benjamins, 2007.
• Chapman, Anthony, and Hugh Foot, eds. Its a
  Funny Thing, Humour. Oxford, England Pergamon
  Press, 1977.
• Chapman, Anthony, and Hugh Foot, eds. Humor and
  Laughter Theory, Research, and Applications.
  Paperback Edison, NJ Transaction Publishers,
  1995.

51

• Davies, Christie. Logical Mechanisms A
  Critique. HUMOR International Journal of Humor
  Research 24.2 (2011) 159-166.
• Deckers, Lambert. On the Validity of a
  Weight-Judging Paradigm for the Study of Humor.
  HUMOR International Journal of Humor Research
  6.1 (1993) 43-56.
• Doloff, Steven. Racism and the Risks of Ethnic
  Humor (Eschholz 273-275).
• Eckardt, A. Roy. How to Tell God from the Devil.
  Edison, NJ Transaction, 1995.
• Eckardt, A. Roy. On the Way to Death Essays
  Toward a Comic Vision. Edison, NJ Transaction,
  1995.
• Eckardt, A. Roy. Sitting in the Earth and
  Laughing A Handbook of Humor. Edison, NJ
  Transaction, 1991.
• Eschholz, Paul, Alfred Rosa, and Virginia Clark.
  The Power of the Mass Media. Language
  Awareness Readings for College Writers, 10th
  Edition. Boston, MA Bedford/St. Martins, 2009.

52

• Farb, Peter. Speaking Seriously about Humor.
  The Massachusetts Review 22.4 (1981) 760-776.
• Ferguson, Mark A., and Thomas E. Ford.
  Disparagement Humor A Theoretical and Empirical
  review of Psychoanalytic, Superiority, and Social
  Identity Theories. HUMOR 21.3 (2008) 283-312.
• Fleet, F. R. A Theory of Wit and Humour. Port
  Washington, NY Kennikat Press, 1970.
• Frewen, Paul A., Jaylene Brinker, Rod A. Martin,
  and David J. A. Dozois. Humor Styles and
  Personality-Vulnerability to Depression. HUMOR
  21.2 (2008) 179-196.

53

• Fry, William F. Sweet Madness A Study of Humor.
  Palo Alto, CA Pacific Books, 1963.
• Fry, William F., and Waleed Salameh, eds.
  Advances in Humor and Psychotherapy. Sarasota,
  FL Professional Resource Press, 1993.
• Fry, William F., and Waleed Salameh. Handbook of
  Humor and Psychotherapy. Sarasota, FL
  Professional Resources Exchange, 1987.
• Galloway, Graeme. Humor and Ad Liking Evidence
  that Sensation Seeking Moderates the Effects of
  Incongruity-Resolution Humor. Psychology and
  Marketing 26.9 (2009) 779-792.

54

• Galloway, Graeme and Danielle Chirico.
  Personality and Humor Appreciation Evidence of
  an Association between Trait Neuroticism and
  Preferences for Structural Features of Humor.
  HUMOR 21.2 (2008) 129-142.
• Grotjahn, Martin. Beyond Laughter. New York, NY
  McGraw Hill, 1957.
• Gruner, Charles R. The Game of Humor A
  Comprehensive Theory of Why We Laugh. Paperback
  Edison, NJ Transaction Publishers, 1999.
• Gruner, Charles. Understanding Laughter The
  Workings of Wit and Humor. Chicago, IL
  Nelson-Hall, 1978.
• Hartz, Glenn A., and Ralph Hunt. Humor The
  Beauty and the Beast. American Philosophical
  Quarterly 28.4 (1991) 299-309.

55

• Hempelmann, Christian F., and Salvatore Attardo.
  Resolutions and Their Incongruities Further
  Thoughts on Logical Mechanisms. HUMOR
  International Journal of Humor Research 24-2
  (2011)
• Hirt, Michael, and Judy Genshaft. The Effects of
  Incongruity and Complexity on the Perception of
  Humor. Personality and Individual Differences 3
  (1982) 453-455.
• Jones, James M. Cognitive Factors in the
  Appreciation of Humor A Theoretical and
  Experimental Analysis. Unpublished Ph.D.
  Dissertation, New Haven, CT Yale University,
  1970.
• Kerr, Walter. Tragedy and Comedy New York, NY
  Simon and Schuster, 1967.

56

• Kilbourne, Edwin D. Humor in Science.
  Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society
  140-3 (1996) 338-349.
• LaFave, Lawrence. Humor Judgments as a Function
  of Reference Groups and Identification Classes.
  in Goldstein and McGhee (1972) 195-210.
• LaFave, Lawrence. Superiority, Enhanced
  Self-Esteem and Perceived Incongruity Humor
  Theory. in Chapman and Foot (1976) 63-92.
• Lauter, Paul, ed. Theories of Comedy. New York,
  NY Doubleday Anchor, 1969.
• McGhee, Paul E., and Jeffrey Goldstein, eds.
  Handbook of Humor Research. New York, NY
  Springer-Verlag, 1983.

57

• MacHovec, Frank J. Humor Theory, History,
  Applications. Springfield, IL C. C. Thomas,
  1988.
• Martin, G. Neil, Sharon J. Sadler, Clare E.
  Barrett, and Alison Beaven. Measuring Responses
  to Humor How the Testing Context Affects
  Individuals Reaction to Comedy. HUMOR 21.2
  (2008) 143-156.
• Martin, Rod A. The Psychology of Humor An
  Integrative Approach. London, England Elsevier,
  2007.
• Mauldin, R. Kirk. Alienation A Laughing
  Matter. HUMOR 21.3 (2008) 313-346.
• Mey, Jacob L. Pragmatics An Introduction. New
  York, NY Blackwell, 2001.
• Meyer, John C. Humor as a Double-Edged Sword
  Four Functions of Humor in Communication.
  Communication Theory 10 (2000) 310-331.

58

• Mintz, Lawrence E., ed. Humor in America A
  Research Guide to Genres and Topics. Westport,
  CT Greenwood Press, 1988.
• Morreall, John. Comedy, Tragedy, and Religion.
  Albany, NY State University of New York Press,
  1999.
• Morreall, John. Enjoying Incongruity. HUMOR
  International Journal of Humor Research 2.1
  (1989) 1-18.
• Morreall, John. Funny Ha-Ha, Funny Strange, and
  Other Reactions to Incongruity. in Morreal
  (1987) 188-207.
• Morreall, John. Philosophy and Religion in
  Raskin 2008, 233.
• Morreall, John, ed. The Philosophy of Laughter
  and Humor. Albany, NY State University of New
  York Press, 1987.

59

• Morreall, John. Taking Laughter Seriously.
  Albany, NY State University of New York Press,
  1983.
• Morteinson, Peter. Thoughts on the Current State
  of Humor Theory. Comedy Studies 1.2 (2010)
  173-180.
• Nerhardt, Göran. Incongruity and Funniness
  Towards a New Descriptive Model. in Chapman and
  Foot (1976) 55-62.
• Nilsen, Alleen Pace. Living Language. Boston, MA
  Allyn and Bacon, 1999.
• Nilsen, Alleen Pace, and Don L. F. Encyclopedia
  of 20th Century American Humor. Phoenix, AZ
  Oryx, 2000.
• Nilsen, Alleen Pace, and Don L. F. Nilsen.
  Humor. The New Dictionary of the History of
  Ideas Volume 3. Ed. Maryanne Cline Horowitz.
  New York, NY Charles Scribners Sons, 2005,
  1061-1064.

60

• Nilsen, Don L. F. Humor in British Literature
  from the Middle Ages to the Restoration A
  Reference Guide. Westport, CT Greenwood, 1997.
• Nilsen, Don L. F. "Humor in the Earliest English
  Literature." Kansas English 79-1 (1993) 36-47.
• Nilsen, Don L. F. Humor Scholarship A Research
  Bibliography. Westport, CT Greenwood, 1993,
  175-185.
• Nilsen, Don L. F. Humor in Eighteenth- and
  Nineteenth-Century British Literature A
  Reference Guide. Westport, CT Greenwood, 1998.
• Nilsen, Don L. F. Humor Scholarship A Research
  Bibliography. Westport, CT Greenwood, 1993.

61

• Nilsen, Don L. F., and Alleen Pace Nilsen.
  Language Play. Rowley, MA Newbury House, 1978.
• Oring, Elliott. Jokes and Their Relations New
  Brunswick, NJ Transaction Publishers, 1992
  (reissued, 2010).
• Oring, Elliott. Engaging Humor. Urbana, IL
  University of Illinois Press, 2003.
• Oring, Elliott. Parsing the Joke The General
  Theory of Verbal Humor and Appropriate
  Incongruity. HUMOR International Journal of
  Humor Research 24.2 (2011) 203-222.
• Oring, Elliott. Still Further Thoughts on
  Logical Mechanisms A Response to Christian F.
  Hempelmann and Salvatore Attardo. HUMOR
  International Journal of Humor Research. 24.2
  (2011) 151-158.
• Palmer, Jerry. Taking Humour Seriously. London,
  England Routledge, 1994.

62

• Payne, David A. Superiority vs. Incongruity
  Theories of Humor A Critical Test Conducted in
  the Context of Friendships. Unpublished Masters
  Thesis, Honolulu, HI University of Hawaii, 2001.
• Petrenko, Maxim S. Narrative Joke Conceptual
  Structure and Linguistic Manifestations.
  Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, West Lafayette,
  IN Purdue University, 2008.
• Popa, Diana, and Salvatore Attardo. New
  Approaches to the Linguistics of Humour. Galati,
  Romania Dunarea de Jos University Press, 2007.
• Raskin, Victor, ed. Primer of Humor Research. New
  York, NY Mouton de Gruyter, 2008.
• Raskin, Victor. On Oring on GTVH. HUMOR
  International Journal of Humor Research 24.2
  (2011) 223-232.
• Raskin, Victor. Semantic Mechanisms of Humor.
  Dordrecht, Netherlands D. Reidel, 1985.

63

• Raskin, Victor. Theory of Humor and Practice of
  Humor Research Editors Notes and Thoughts in
  Raskin (2008) 1-16.
• Rawlings, David. Relating Humor Preference to
  Schizotypy and Autism Scores in a Student
  Sample. HUMOR 21.2 (2008) 197-220.
• Ross, Alison. The Language of Humour. London,
  England Routledge, 1998.
• Samson, Andrea C., and Christian F. Hempelmann.
  Humor with Backgrounded Incongruity Does More
  Required Suspension of Disbelief Affect Humor
  Perception? HUMOR International Journal of Humor
  Research 24.2 (2011) 167-186.
• Schiffrin, Deborah. Approaches to Discourse.
  Malden, MA Blackwell, 1994.
• Svebak, Sven, and Michael J. Apter. Laughter An
  Empirical Test of Some Reversal Theory
  Hypotheses. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology
  28 (1987) 189-198.

64

• Trachtenberg, Stanley. American Humorists
  1800-1950. Detroit, MI Gale Press, 1982.
• Triezenberg, Katrina. Humor in Literature in
  Raskin 2008 523-542.
• Veale, Tony. Incongruity in Humor Root Cause or
  Epiphenomenon? HUMOR International Journal of
  Humor Research 17.4 (2004) 419-428.
• Viana, Amadeu. Asymmetry in Script Opposition.
  HUMOR International Journal of Humor Research
  23.4 (2010) 505-526.
• Wimer, David J., and Bernard C. Beins.
  Expectations and Perceived Humor. HUMOR 21.3
  (2008) 347-364.
• Zillman, Dolf. Disparagement Humor. in McGhee
  and Goldstein (1983) 85-108.
• Zillman, Dolf. Putdown Humor. Journal of
  Communication 26.3 (1976) 154-163.