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Masculinity and Comedy in Contemporary American Narratives Peter C Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2012 The Tears of a Clown: Masculinity and Comedy in Contemporary American Narratives Peter C. (Peter Christopher) Kunze Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES THE TEARS OF A CLOWN: MASCULINITY AND COMEDY IN CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN NARRATIVES By PETER C. KUNZE A Disser a ion submi ed o he Depar men of English in par ial fulfillmen of he re-uiremen s for he degree of Do. or of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Summer Semes er0 1011 Pe er C. Kun4e defended his disser a ion on April 300 1011. The members of he supervisory .ommi ee were: Andrew Eps ein Professor Dire. ing Disser a ion Lisa Ryo7o Wa7amiya Universi y Represen a ive Leigh Edwards Commi ee Member David I7ard Commi ee Member David I7ard Commi ee Member The Gradua e S.hool has verified and approved he above8named .ommi ee members0 and .er ifies ha he disser a ion has been approved in a..ordan.e wi h universi y re-uiremen s. ii 9Inser poignan dedi.a ion here.: iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firs and foremos 0 I wish o han7 Dr. Andrew Eps ein for his .on inued men orship over he pas six years. His professionalism and .ongeniali y have made my gradua e s uden experien.e a pleasurable and enri.hing experien.e. I only hope I .an bring his erudi ion0 diligen.e0 and amiabili y o my wor7 and .lassroom. I han7 Dr. Leigh Edwards0 Dr. David I7ard0 Dr. Timo hy Parrish0 and Dr. Lisa Wa7amiya for serving on my .ommi ee. I am espe.ially gra eful for Dr. Parrish<s feedba.7 on he Ralph Ellison .hap er as well as Dr. Wa7amiya<s .on inued suppor and assis an.e in draf ing he Vladimir Nabo7ov .hap er. I am gra eful o he many friends who I<ve made during my ime a Florida S a e Universi y; my experien.e was all he be er for having 7nown you. I would be remiss if I did no han7 a sele. few–Kilby Allen0 Paul Ardoin0 Jared Champion0 Ma Davis0 Fiona M.William0 Taylor Murphy–for heir ongoing suppor 0 empa hy0 and humor. I remain gra eful o Dr. Timo hy Via or of Rowan Universi y for his guidan.e0 friendship0 and sense of humor. He remains my a.ademi. hero0 and I aspire o be held in he same regard he is by his s uden s and .olleagues. And0 as always0 my paren s0 Ja.7 and Su4anne0 for reasons oo many o name here. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abs ra. .......................................................................................................................................... vi 1. CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION…@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@..1 1. CHAPTER TWO: EATRAVAGANT LAUGHTER IN INVISIBLE MAN ......................... 11 3. CHAPTER THREE: BHUNK OF MOVIELAND MANHOODC: LOLITA AND 1DE0S AMERICAN MASCULINITY ............................................................................................ 41 4. CHAPTER FOUR: FOR THE BOY: MASCULINITY0 BLACK COMEDY0 AND THE VIETNAM WAR .................................................................................................................. 6E E. CHAPTER FIVE: DRAPETOMANIA REDUA: BLACK MALE SATIRISTS AT MILLENNIUM<S END ...................................................................................................... 100 6. CHAPTER SIA: BIF YOU AIN<T FIRST0 YOU<RE LASTHC: TALLADEGA NIGHTS, GEORGE W. BUSH0 AND POST8DI11 MASCULINITY ................................................ 137 7. CHAPTER SEVEN: EPILOGUE ....................................................................................... 1ED 8. REFERENCES ................................................................................................................... 161 D. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .............................................................................................. 177 v ABSTRACT The Tears of a Clown -ues ions he pervasive narra ive ha men have begun only re.en ly o reali4e he limi a ions so.ie y pla.es on hem as men. Feminis s.holars of mas.ulini y .on end men now are s ar ing o see mas.ulini y as an una ainable ideal ha res ri. s0 oppresses0 and frus ra es hem. This -ues ionable .laim fun. ions as a rhe ori.al move o .rea e simul aneously a spa.e for male voi.es in feminis dis.ourse and o valida e mas.ulini y s udies as a field of in-uiry0 whi.h seemingly needs no legi imi4a ion when one .onsiders he populari y of gender s udies in he a.ademy and he value su.h wor7 .an bring o our unders anding of poli i.s0 his ory0 .ul ure0 and so.ie y. My s udy uses an analysis of .omi. ex s o glean informa ion abou he flu. ua ing ideologi.al s.rip of pos war Ameri.an mas.ulini ies. My .on en ion is ha he .omi.–.omedy0 humor0 and laugh er–fun. ions as a viable way for men o redire. and sublima e he fear0 anxie y0 and anger hey experien.e as men. Sin.e many asso.ia e his s ra egy for dealing wi h emo ion as B7idding around0C few people0 even wi hin he a.ademy0 a7e humor and laugh er seriously. Therefore0 i does no be ray mas.ulini y<s re-uiremen ha men remain s oi. and ins ead serves a vi al so.ial fun. ion. By .lose reading .omi. ex s0 I reveal he diverse ways male pro agonis s employ his s ra egy0 and in he pro.ess0 I reveal he impor an.e of he .omi. in unders anding he rela ionship be ween he male subLe. and so.ie y. vi CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Now if I appear o be .arefree I Ms only o .amouflage my sadness And honey o shield my pride I ry To .over his hur wi h a show of gladness – Smo7ey Robinson and he Mira.les0 BThe Tears of a Clown0C 1D67 The January 1007 issue of Vanity Fair fea ured a Bprovo.a ionC by perennial gadfly Chris opher Hi .hens en i led0 BWhy Women Aren< Funny.C A .oy Hi .hens poses he -ues ion0 BWhy are women0 who have he whole male world a heir mer.y0 no funnyNC Despi e he i le<s underlying misogyny0 he essay argues ha women ul ima ely wield power in he eroso.ial in era. ions0 whi.h Hi .hens also presumes are impli.i ly he erosexual; hen.e0 humor is less vi al o women<s everyday .ondu. han men<s: If I am .orre. abou his0 whi.h I am0 hen he explana ion for he superior funniness of men is mu.h he same as for he inferior funniness of women. Men have o pre end0 o hemselves as well as o women0 ha hey are no he servan s and suppli.an s. Women0 .unning minxes ha hey are0 have o affe. no o be he po en a es. OBWhyCP Hi .hens sugges s ha men need o develop senses of humor as a so.iali4ing s ra egy o woo women0 while women hemselves have no pra. i.al need for su.h s ra egies0 sin.e hey are Ludged primarily on heir physi.al appearan.e OBWhyCP. Despi e he he eronorma ivi y and sly essen ialism of hese remar7s0 Hi .hens may be on o some hing regarding humor and gender. True0 he does perpe ua e he widespread .onfla ion of biologi.al BsexC wi h so.io.ul ural Bgender0C bu his .ommen s on men<s in.reased produ. ion of humor may insinua e ha his form of verbal play is a popular and a..ep able form of so.ial behavior for men0 hough .er ainly no uni-ue o hem. One may even argue Hi .hens<s .omi. one is i self eviden.e of inse.uri y regarding he power women allegedly possess in so.ial si ua ions. So.ial s.ien.e resear.h suppor s0 o a degree0 his gender divide regarding humor. Psy.hologis Rober R. Provine0 .elebra ed on he ba.7 .over of his boo7 Laughter: A Scientific Investigation as he Bworld<s leading s.ien ifi. exper on laugh er0C reviews resear.h in o gender and humor. I .on.ludes women laugh regardless of heir audien.e0 bu men demons ra e res rain 0 feeling more .omfor able laughing in homoso.ial si ua ions O18P. When spea7ing wi h 1 women0 men limi ed heir laugh er0 hough no ne.essarily heir use of humor. BIn summary0C Provine no es0 Bfemales are the leading laughers, but males are the best laugh gettersC O180 Provine<s emphasisP. Fur hermore0 a s udy of how .hildren used humor in Belgium0 he Uni ed S a es0 and Hong Kong found–a.ross all hree .ul ures–males were B he prin.ipal ins iga ors of humor0 and his enden.y was already presen by six years of age0 when Lo7ing firs appearsC O1DP. Though Provine does no .larify su.h a poin 0 one may presume ha he abili y o provo7e laugh er is a s7ill one a.-uires hrough so.ial in era. ions and mimi.ry0 espe.ially .onsidering he delayed developmen of humor8produ.ing .apabili ies un il around he age of six. One should s eer .lear of essen ialis no ions of he rela ionship be ween gender and humor when in erpre ing his resear.h. A more pre.ise version may be0 BS udies have shown subLe. s iden ifying as mas.uline end o provo7e laugh er be er han heir feminine .oun erpar s0 while hose same .oun erpar s laugh more han he mas.uline subLe. s who end o provo7e he laugh er in he firs pla.e.C Generally spea7ing0 in hese he eroso.ial in era.
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