Subversive Humor Chris A
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette Dissertations (2009 -) Dissertations, Theses, and Professional Projects Subversive Humor Chris A. Kramer Marquette University Recommended Citation Kramer, Chris A., "Subversive Humor" (2015). Dissertations (2009 -). Paper 424. http://epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations_mu/424 SUBVERSIVE HUMOR By Chris A. Kramer, B.A., M.A. A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School, Marquette University, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Milwaukee, Wisconsin May 2015 ABSTRACT SUBVERSIVE HUMOR Chris A. Kramer, B.A., M.A. Marquette University, 2015 Oppression is easily recognized. That is, at least, when oppression results from overt, consciously professed racism, for example, in which violence, explicit exclusion from economic opportunities, denial of adequate legal access, and open discrimination perpetuate the subjugation of a group of people. There are relatively clear legal remedies to such oppression. But this is not the case with covert oppression where the psychological harms and resulting legal and economic exclusion are every bit as real, but caused by concealed mechanisms subtly and systematically employed. In many cases, those with power and privilege use cultural stereotypes in order to sustain an unjust status quo. This is so even if the biases are implicit, automatic, and contrary to the consciously professed beliefs of the stereotyper. Furthermore, since many of these biases are not consciously reasoned into one’s system of beliefs, and since they are notoriously difficult to bring to consciousness and dislodge via direct, logical confrontation, some other creative means of resistance is needed. I argue that an indirect and imaginative route through subversive humor offers a means to raise consciousness about covert oppression and the mechanisms underlying it, reveal the errors of those with power who complacently sustain systematic oppression, and even open those people up to changing their minds. Subversive humor confronts serious matters, but in a playful manner that fosters creative and critical thinking, and cultivates a desire and skill for recognizing incongruities between our professed ideals and a reality that does not meet those standards. Successful subversive wits create fictional scenarios that highlight such moral incongruities, but, like philosophical thought experiments, they reveal a moral truth that also holds in the real world. Such humor offers opportunities for “border crossing” where the audience is encouraged to see from the perspectives of marginalized people who, because they inhabit ambiguous spaces in between the dominant and subordinate spheres, are in an epistemically privileged position with respect to matters of oppression. Subversive humorists open their audiences to the lived experiences of others, uncover the absurdities of otherwise covert oppression, and appeal to our desire to be truthful and just. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Chris A. Kramer, B.A., M.A. I am greatly indebted to my dissertation committee for all of their time, insight, and wit. Each member offered critical advice without which this dissertation could not have succeeded. Specifically, I want to thank Professor Anthony Peressini for his suggestion to read Tamar Gendler’s influential work, and Professor Theresa Tobin for introducing me to the ‘world’- expanding thought of Maria Lugones. Thank you to Professor Nancy Snow who helped immensely with my philosophical writing starting with my very first paper written in the Marquette Philosophy department, for her own work in moral psychology, and for her constantly reminding me that brevity is the soul of wit. Special thanks to Professor Michael Monahan for his work on matters concerning racism and oppression, and for his Political Philosophy class that provided the fertile ground to cultivate a connection between my interests in humor with issues of freedom and oppression. I am grateful for the Independent Study with Dr. Monahan that helped to erect the “scaffolding” for this dissertation, and for his innumerable comments on so many iterations of this work. I am extraordinarily thankful to Lynne Kramer who refrained from seeking the legal counsel of Hupy and/or Abraham to divorce me through the seemingly interminable process that is a PhD program. Her patience, continued love, and her laughter, are surely supererogatory. Relatedly, I would like to thank my son Milo who has helped by offering me an example or two for this dissertation, and for his inclination to ask philosophical questions-- over and over. To my daughter Lola, thank you for being so cute as to be positively chewable. Thank you to Valerie and Doug Rescho for all of your play with Milo and Lola. To my mom, Susie, thank you for having me. Also, thank you for your contagious gregariousness and for instilling in me a desire to learn, to be open, and confident without pretentiousness. To my sister Gretchen and her husband Sparky, I could not have finished this degree without all of your constant and diligent care for our father over the past few years. To my dad, Alan, thank you for ii so many of our deep and meaningful conversations over the years, and thank you for the quotidian ones too. Thank you for your indirect approach to teaching, your analytical mind, your poetic mind, and especially your sense of humor. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................... i INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 1. HUMOR AND THE HARMS OF OPPRESSION ..................................................... 5 I. Essentializing Self and Other in Overt Oppression .......................................... 6 II. Oppression “in the Context of the Quotidian”................................................. 15 III. Problems with an Individualist Approach to Oppression ................................ 20 IV. Socially Constructed Ignorance ....................................................................... 23 V. Oppressive Laughter “in the Context of the Quotidian” ................................. 37 VI. Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 42 2. STEREOTYPES, SPIRIT OF SERIOUSNESS, AND ONTOLOGICAL EXPANSIVENESS ................................................................................................... 44 I. “Stereotypes are a real time-saver” ................................................................. 44 II. Implicit (Unendorsed) Cultural Stereotyping .................................................. 53 III. The Harms of Implicit, Cultural, Essentializing Stereotypes .......................... 61 IV. Responsibility and Blameworthiness for Implicit, Unendorsed, Cultural Stereotyping ..................................................................................................... 67 3. INCONGRUITY, SERIOUSNESS, AND PLAYFULNESS IN HUMOR .............. 82 I. Incongruity and Humor ................................................................................... 84 II. Incongruity and Seriousness ............................................................................ 91 III. Incongruity and Playfulness ............................................................................ 98 IV. The Ambiguities of Seriousness and Playfulness .......................................... 105 V. Serious Play in Subversive Humor ................................................................ 113 4. HUMOR, HUBRIS, AND HEURISTIC ERROR DETECTION ........................... 122 I. If Philosophy is to serve a positive purpose it is to dissipate certainty ......... 123 II. Detection of Heuristic Error Through Humor ............................................... 129 iv III. Collaborative Heuristic Error Detection Through Subversive Humor .......... 135 i. An Overview of the Potential of Subversive Humor ................. 135 ii. Detection of Committed Stereotypical Beliefs in Active Mental Spaces ........................................................................................ 137 iii. Motivating Appropriate Emotions ............................................. 139 iv. Collaboratively Flouting Conventions ....................................... 144 v. Finding Meaning Collaboratively .............................................. 149 vi. Subversive Humor as Imaginative Thought Experiment ........... 152 IV. Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 156 5. THE ART OF SUBVERSIVE HUMOR ................................................................. 159 I. Potential Problems ......................................................................................... 160 II. It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was not reasoned into ................................................................................................................. 162 i. Louis CK on White Privilege ..................................................... 163 1. Detection of Committed Stereotypical Beliefs ................. 164 2. Playing with our Mirth Addiction .................................... 168 3. Collaborative Flouting of Conventions and Finding Meaning............................................................................ 170 4. Playing with Thought ......................................................