Page 73 - The Language of Humour

60 ‘MY MOTHER-IN-LAW…’
objectification of our own bodies? Friend: You’re in a
funny mood. (Jackie Fleming cartoon)

Commentary

There is an allusion to stereotypes of women in general, feminists and
various ethnic groups in these examples, yet it forms a humorous
critical comment on the accepted stereotypes, given the teller’s
membership of those groups. Examples 3 and 5 add an attack on the
oppressing group. Example 4 has some classic features of humour,
creating an incongruously soft version of mugging and leading up to the
punchline which equates a lawyer’s activities with robbery.

Extension

It has been said that language is like a badge. Much language serves as a
way of establishing bonds with others, of working out who is with you
and who is outside the group. Something similar is true of humour as
well. Lundberg noted that, in a workplace, joking ‘def ines and re-def
ines the differentiated social groupings, reinforces the ranking of group
members both within and between groups, and clarifies the status of one
group to another’ (Lundberg 1969 in Purdie 1993:129). The impact of
some humour comes from the fact that it is an ‘in-joke’. This shows that
it is just as important to understand the social relationships between the
status of the teller, the tellee and the butt of the humour, as it is to
understand other language devices used to construct the humour.
Collect examples of humour with a butt. Comment on the stance of
the teller and the tellee to the butt. What is the purpose or effect of the
humour?