Humor and crisis

  1. Marder, Michael
Livre:
Saber reírse: el humor desde la Antigüedad hasta nuestros días
  1. Mamolar Sánchez, Idoia (coord.)

Éditorial: Liceus, Servicios de Gestión y Comunicación

ISBN: 978-84-9714-044-7

Année de publication: 2014

Pages: 251-261

Type: Chapitre d'ouvrage

Résumé

This chapter explores the relation between situations of crisis and humor, which besides helping us cope with adversity has a revelatory function when it comes to the ontology of human beings and their tempora lity. I argue that the fissure that a crisis represents brings into sharper relief our distance vis-a-vis ourselves and that it is from this distance that we are finally able to laugh at ourselves. The function of humor at its best is thus to contribute to the development of self-consciousness, to our knowledge of ourselves, which becomes problematized at times of crisis.