Catlin Castan
Dr. Ellis
EN 409: Humor
Studies
23 September
2014
Laugher
as a Release
As with many of the other
philosophers we have studied so far, Freud, Decartes and Spencer all link
laughter back to a bodily sensation or physiological phenomenon. While Decartes
and Spencer rely heavily on their findings that closely relate to our bodily
interactions that take place on an anatomic level, Freud delves a bit deeper as
he centers his thesis around the idea of laughter serves as an “outlet” for our
pent up psychic or nervous energy. Freud
further explains that in “laughter situations”, there is a “saving of psychic
energy which is summoned for a particular task, but then seen not to be needed
for that purpose”(111). Similar to Kierkegaard’s philosophy—laughter as a way
of coping with failed expectations-- Freud also makes this same point; Freud
says that laughter occurs at a point where our expectations fail to meet our
perception of reality: where our psychic energy is reassigned to a different
“task”.
Interestingly, Spencer also
attributes laughter to this mental gap or element of confusion. Specifically,
Spencer explains that we laugh during moments when we encounter
“incongruity”(99): when we are faced with an “unexpected contrast of
ideas”(100). As a result of this
incongruity—according to Freud and Spencer—we experience a build up of what
Freud refers to as “superfluous energy”(111)—a nervous energy that our bodies
eagerly seek to get rid of. Thus, we find that we are able to accomplish a
release of this repressed “energy” through the act of laughing—we are given the
chance to express the otherwise inhibited emotions or feelings within us under
the guise of laugher.
After reading Voltaire’s Candide (now for the third time) I
still find it difficult to identify blatant elements of humor throughout the
text, however; after reading Freud and Spencer, it became quite evident that Voltaire’s
authorial tone is wildly consistent with their “Relief Theory”—a theory that
identifies laughter as an “outlet for psychic or nervous energy”(111). While we
may not find Candide to be “laugh out
loud” funny, we do find ourselves engaging in Voltaire’s sense of humor. As we
witness Candide endure what seems to be a never-ending series of unfortunate
events, we can’t help but question the plausibility of this occurrence within
our own reality; we struggle to make sense of the narrative being casted before
our eyes. We find it utterly absurd that Candide accepts Pangloss’s warped
philosophy and perception of the world, and that he even goes so far as to use
this ill- advice to guide and facilitate both his thoughts and his actions.
Here, I felt that Voltaire’s use of the absurd resonates with Decartes’
philosophy, the notion that laughter is derived “from the fact that we find
ourselves surprised by the novelty or by the unexpected encountering of such
evil”(23). In this sense, then, we laugh in response to the presence of evil.
This reminded me of an episode from
one of my favorite shows: Grey’s Anatomy. In one of the scenes, the four main
characters are at one of their closest friend’s funeral—who has just tragically
died in a car accident. During the funeral, one of the characters (Izzie) is
shown with her hands over her face (as if she is sobbing), and soon after she
is shown walking away from the ceremony to a more secluded area. Worried about
her, Izzie’s closest friends also leave the funeral ceremony to follow her.
However, as her friends attempt to console her, they quickly realize that she
isn’t crying at all, but rather, she is hysterically laughing. Izzie’s laughter
soon proves to be contagious as all of her friends follow suit and break out
into uncontrollable laughter.
Just as Izzie and her friends laugh
as a way of coping with the tragic death of their friend, we laugh as a way of
coping with the tragedy we witness in Candide.
Humor in this sense, then, becomes a “liberating element”(113); we laugh as a
way of “discharging” negative energy—our saddest emotions. We also notice the
function of form and content in both of these works. Namely, we laugh along
with Izzie and her friends because we, too, are caught off guard-- not by the
death of their friend, but, rather, by their reaction to that death. Similarly,
as we read Candide, our laughter
occurs at moments where Voltaire presents us with serious subject matter, but
in a surprisingly nonchalant way. We, then, feel caught off guard by the
casualness of Voltaire’s tone and engage in his humor. In both cases, we
encounter humor as we experience a situation that plays out differently than we
had initially expected.
Voltaire’s use of the absurd creates
a sense of disruption for us as readers, on both a psychological and physical
level. As we experience disorientation in our thoughts in tandem with the onset
of our audible laughter, we are forced to confront the underlying motive behind
our rather strange reaction to such great misfortune. Thus, laughter—once
again—serves as a buffer when addressing tragedy, while also serving as a tool
to bring about awareness through a fresh perspective.
(We
also see this moment of awareness amongst the characters in Grey’s Anatomy at
the closing of the “funeral scene”—at the
conclusion of the characters’ laughter, we see that they are finally
starting to come to terms with the loss of their friend.)
Grey’s
Anatomy Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1SlbCxQjxY
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