Table Of ContentAN ANATOMY OF HUMOR
NA YMOTANA FO ROMuH
ruhtrA asA regreB
With af oreword by
William Fry, Jr.
~l Routledge
~~ Taylor&Francis Group
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 1993 by Transaction Publishers
Published 2017 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
Copyright © 1993 by Taylor & Francis.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical,
or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Catalog Number: 92-18197
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Berger, Arthur, Asa, 1933-
An anatomy of humor / Arthur Asa Berger
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-56000-086-4 (cloth)
1. Wit and humor—History and criticism. 2. Wit and humor—
Psychological aspects. I. Title.
PN6147.B47 1992
809.7—dc20 92-18197
CIP
ISBN 13: 978-0-7658-0494-5 (pbk)
ISBN 13: 978-1-56000-086-0 (hbk)
For Irving Louis Horowitz and Mary E. Curtis
Contents
Foreword xi
William ,yrF .rJ
Acknowledgments xvii
Introduction: ,romuH Psyche, and Society 1
PART ONE: THEORETICAL CONCERNS
.1 A Glossary of the Techniques of Hum :ro
Morphology of the Joke- Tale 51
.2 Anatomy of a Joke 75
PART TWO: APPLICATIONS
.3 The Telephone Pole with the Braided Armpits:
Ethnic and Racial Jokes and American Society 56
.4 "On Me You Can't Count":
An Interpretation of a Jewish Joke with Relevance
to the Jewish Question 57
.5 Jewish Fools: From the Wise Men of Chelm to Jackie Mason 38
.6 Mickey Mouse and Krazy :taK Of Mice and Men 97
.7 Comics and Popular Culture: Not Just Kid's Stuff 701
.8 Mark Russell ni Buffalo 121
.9 A Cool Million 721
.01 Twelfth Night:
Comedic Techniques and Social Considerations 331
.11 Huckleberry Finn as a Novel of the Absurd:
Making Sense of an Existential Hero 541
.21 Healing with Humor:
A Laugh a Day Keeps the Doctor Away 551
.31 Comedy and Creation:
On the Generative Power of Humor 361
Bibliography 571
Names Index 181
Subject Index 581
Jokes and Humorous Texts Index 191
Foreword
mailliW .F ,yrF .rJ
There have been several strange periods of his life, when Arthur Asa
Berger has referred to himself as a Secret Agent. This presentation could
be regarded as rather bizarre behavior on the part of a university professor
and distinguished man of letters if we are to understand ti as intended to
be a literal statement of .tcaf However, even though on the bizarre side,
it might be considered plausible, when academia si inspected from a
historical perspective and specific cases are counted.
Professor Berger wouldn't be the first scholar to don eht invisible
uniform and sally forth to collect arcane or privy information for the
benefit of some organization or other to which he or she might leef a bond
or .eit I am sure that other sociologists or pop culturists or semiologists
or behavioral scientists of various persuasions have been eht literal type
of secret agent on numerous occasions. As a matter of fact, my anthro
pologist mentor, Gregory Bateson, was a member of the World raW 11
wartime spy organization, OSS, during most of the years of the war ni
the Pacific. He had done anthropology fieldwork on many of the South
west Pacific islands ni prewar years, was familiar with the territory and
had many friends among the island inhabitants. His "Secret Agent"
services were of great value to the Allied war efforts against the Axis.
Bateson was neither the first nor the last scholarly ,yps nor would be
Berger.
However, when we turn ot gaze upon this professor who thus identifies
himself, the potentiality of his performing eht role of a literal, authentic
Secret Agent fades, and swiftly transmogrifies into something, much
more reminiscent of the blathering of an addled mind. Granted that a
certain degree of flexibility must be applied when taking appearances
into account on this spy business. Wartime spy though he skillfully and
beneficially was, Bateson did not present eht expected image of Secret
Agent. He was tall, over six feet ni height, with a craggy handsomeness,
emanating prominence and uniqueness; not the appearance usually asso-
xi
