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Dark humor: the story on HearLore | HearLore
Dark humor
Christian martyr Saint Lawrence became the patron saint of comedians because he made a dark joke during his own execution. He was sentenced to death via being burned alive on a rotisserie, during which he is said to have quipped, Turn me over. I'm done on this side. He is also the patron saint of chefs because of this. This ancient story established a precedent for finding comedy in the face of absolute mortality, a tradition that would echo through centuries of human expression. The act of making light of one's own impending death transformed a moment of terror into a legendary display of wit, setting the stage for what would eventually be recognized as a distinct genre of humor. The story of Saint Lawrence serves as the foundational myth for a style of comedy that thrives on the edge of the grave, proving that laughter can be a form of resistance even when the outcome is fatal.
Breton's Surrealist Invention
The term black humor from the French humour noir was coined by the Surrealist theorist André Breton in 1935 while interpreting the writings of Jonathan Swift. Breton's preference was to identify some of Swift's writings as a subgenre of comedy and satire in which laughter arises from cynicism and skepticism, often relying on topics such as death. Breton coined the term for his 1940 book Anthology of Black Humor, in which he credited Jonathan Swift as the originator of black humor and gallows humor, particularly in his pieces Directions to Servants, A Modest Proposal, and Meditation Upon a Broomstick. In his book, Breton included excerpts from 45 other writers, including both examples in which the wit arises from a victim with which the audience empathizes, as is more typical in the tradition of gallows humor, and examples in which the comedy is used to mock the victim. In the last cases, the victim's suffering is trivialized, which leads to sympathizing with the victimizer, as analogously found in the social commentary and social criticism of the writings of, for instance, the Marquis de Sade. This theoretical framework elevated dark comedy from a mere collection of jokes to a recognized literary movement with deep philosophical roots.
The American Black Humorists
Among the first American writers who employed black comedy in their works were Nathanael West and Vladimir Nabokov. The concept of black humor first came to nationwide attention after the publication of a 1965 mass-market paperback titled Black Humor, edited by Bruce Jay Friedman. The paperback was one of the first American anthologies devoted to the concept of black humor as a literary genre. With the paperback, Friedman labeled as black humorists a variety of authors, such as J. P. Donleavy, Edward Albee, Joseph Heller, Thomas Pynchon, John Barth, Vladimir Nabokov, Bruce Jay Friedman himself, and Louis-Ferdinand Céline. Among the recent writers suggested as black humorists by journalists and literary critics are Roald Dahl, Kurt Vonnegut, Warren Zevon, Christopher Durang, Philip Roth, and Veikko Huovinen. Evelyn Waugh has been called the first contemporary writer to produce the sustained black comic novel. The motive for applying the label black humorist to the writers cited above is that they have written novels, poems, stories, plays, and songs in which profound or horrific events were portrayed in a comic manner. Comedians like Lenny Bruce, who since the late 1950s have been labeled as using sick comedy by mainstream journalists, have also been labeled with black comedy. These figures transformed the genre from a European theoretical concept into a vibrant, controversial force in American culture.
Christian martyr Saint Lawrence became the patron saint of comedians because he made a dark joke during his own execution. He was sentenced to death via being burned alive on a rotisserie, during which he is said to have quipped, Turn me over. I'm done on this side.
When was the term black humor coined and by whom?
The term black humor from the French humour noir was coined by the Surrealist theorist André Breton in 1935 while interpreting the writings of Jonathan Swift. Breton coined the term for his 1940 book Anthology of Black Humor, in which he credited Jonathan Swift as the originator of black humor and gallows humor.
What is the significance of the 1965 Black Humor paperback edited by Bruce Jay Friedman?
The concept of black humor first came to nationwide attention after the publication of a 1965 mass-market paperback titled Black Humor, edited by Bruce Jay Friedman. The paperback was one of the first American anthologies devoted to the concept of black humor as a literary genre and labeled authors such as J. P. Donleavy, Edward Albee, and Joseph Heller as black humorists.
How does dark humor function psychologically for workers in high-stress professions?
Black comedy has the social effect of strengthening the morale of the oppressed and undermines the morale of the oppressors. A 2017 study published in the journal Cognitive Processing concludes that people who appreciate dark humor may have higher IQs, show lower aggression, and resist negative feelings more effectively than people who turn up their noses at it.
What is the difference between gallows humor and blue comedy?
Dark humor differs from blue comedy, which focuses more on topics such as nudity, sex, and body fluids, and from obscenity. Additionally, whereas the term dark humor is a relatively broad term covering humor relating to many serious subjects, gallows humor tends to be used more specifically in relation to death, or situations that are reminiscent of dying.
Sigmund Freud, in his 1927 essay Humor, although not mentioning black humor specifically, cites a literal instance of gallows humor before writing: The ego refuses to be distressed by the provocations of reality, to let itself be compelled to suffer. It insists that it cannot be affected by the traumas of the external world; it shows, in fact, that such traumas are no more than occasions for it to gain pleasure. Some other sociologists elaborated this concept further. Paul Lewis warns that this relieving aspect of gallows jokes depends on the context of the joke: whether the joke is being told by the threatened person themselves or by someone else. Black comedy has the social effect of strengthening the morale of the oppressed and undermines the morale of the oppressors. According to Wylie Sypher, to be able to laugh at evil and error means we have surmounted them. Black comedy is a natural human instinct and examples of it can be found in stories from antiquity. Its use was widespread in middle Europe, from where it was imported to the United States. It is rendered with the German expression Galgenhumor, which translates to cynical last words before getting hanged. The concept of gallows humor is comparable to the French expression rire jaune, which also has a Germanic equivalent in the Belgian Dutch expression groen lachen. These linguistic variations highlight a universal human need to find humor in the darkest corners of existence.
Professions of the Macabre
Black comedy is common in professions and environments where workers routinely have to deal with dark subject matter. This includes police officers, firefighters, ambulance crews, military personnel, journalists, lawyers, and funeral directors, where it is an acknowledged coping mechanism. It has been encouraged within these professions to make note of the context in which these jokes are told, as outsiders may not react the way that those with mutual knowledge do. A 2017 study published in the journal Cognitive Processing concludes that people who appreciate dark humor may have higher IQs, show lower aggression, and resist negative feelings more effectively than people who turn up their noses at it. This professional adoption of dark comedy suggests that the genre serves a vital psychological function beyond mere entertainment. The ability to laugh at death and disaster allows these workers to maintain their sanity in the face of constant exposure to tragedy. The jokes become a shield, a way to process the unprocessable, and a method of bonding among those who share the burden of witnessing the worst of humanity.
The Grotesque and the Green Laugh
Italian comedian Daniele Luttazzi discussed gallows humor focusing on the particular type of laughter that it arouses, risata verde or groen lachen, and said that grotesque satire, as opposed to ironic satire, is the one that most often arouses this kind of laughter. In the Weimar era Kabaretts, this genre was particularly common, and according to Luttazzi, Karl Valentin and Karl Kraus were the major masters of it. An 1825 New York newspaper used a gallows humor story of a criminal whose last wish before being beheaded was to go nine-pin bowling, using his own severed head on his final roll, and taking delight in having achieved a strike. Bowl means ball in modern parlance. Nine-pin bowling preceded modern ten-pin bowling. This historical example illustrates how the genre has long been used to mock the very act of dying. The grotesque nature of the joke, where the criminal finds joy in his own execution, highlights the absurdity of the situation. The laughter it provokes is not the light, carefree kind, but a deeper, more complex response that acknowledges the horror while simultaneously rejecting it. This form of humor challenges the audience to confront the boundaries between life and death, sanity and madness.
Distinctions and Definitions
Dark humor, also known as dark comedy, black comedy, black humor, bleak comedy, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discuss, aiming to provoke discomfort, serious thought, and amusement for their audience. Dark humor differs from blue comedy, which focuses more on topics such as nudity, sex, and body fluids, and from obscenity. Additionally, whereas the term dark humor is a relatively broad term covering humor relating to many serious subjects, gallows humor tends to be used more specifically in relation to death, or situations that are reminiscent of dying. Dark humor can occasionally be related to the grotesque genre. Literary critics have associated black comedy and black humor with authors as early as the ancient Greeks with Aristophanes. The distinction between these forms of comedy is crucial for understanding the genre's evolution. While blue comedy relies on the physical and the explicit, dark humor operates on the psychological and the existential. The genre's ability to navigate the fine line between offense and insight is what makes it so enduring and controversial. It forces the audience to question their own reactions and the societal norms that dictate what is acceptable to laugh about.