Associative context and joke visualization
Article Abstract:
The impact jokes have on listeners depends on the social context in which the joke is told and visual images the joke creates in the listener's mind. Joke telling is not simply a verbal and auditory art. A joke can immediately conjure up memories from the listener's life, perhaps even a time when the listener first heard the joke. Humor may then have multiple layers. The visual images may be different for different listeners, which demonstrates how comedy depends on an individual's makeup and the culture to which the individual belongs. Humorous principles are at once universal and individualistic.
Publication Name: Western Folklore
Subject: Regional focus/area studies
ISSN: 0043-373X
Year: 1997
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The practical joke in 'Huckleberry Finn.'
Article Abstract:
Mark Twain uses practical jokes in 'Huckleberry Finn' to explore racism in the middle-class white society of the 19th century. Jim is the victim of practical jokes by both Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. Tom's jokes are successful, malevolent and represent the white middle-class attitude of superiority over blacks. Huck's jokes backfire, revealing Huck's social marginality as well as the cruelty and prejudice underlying the practical jokes. Huck's remorse changes his relationship to Jim and depicts the development of a conscience lacking in the larger society.
Publication Name: Western Folklore
Subject: Regional focus/area studies
ISSN: 0043-373X
Year: 1992
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Embodying and transgressing race in the novels of John Gregory Brown
Article Abstract:
New Orleans novelist, John Gregory Brown's work on his constant shift between different racial positions and racial purity in his first two novels "Decorations in a Ruined Cemetery" and "The Wrecked, Blessed Body of Shelton Lafleur" is discussed. Both novels offer new insights into the interaction between corporeal representation and racial identity, contributing to the tradition of American and particularly southern literature.
Publication Name: Journal of American Studies
Subject: Regional focus/area studies
ISSN: 0021-8758
Year: 2006
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