Abstract
AbstractPeople often take offence at jokes or other humour. Yet the fact that a remark or act was intended as a joke or as humorous is often offered as a reason not to take offence. So, the next time that you cause offence, would “but I was joking” be a good response to offer and a reason for others to take less offence? Conversely, is there something that explains why humour so often offends? This chapter resolves this tension, examining the role of humour in sustaining unequal social standing. Jokes and other humorous remarks often do present more serious affronts to standing than would equivalent but nonhumorous utterances, on all three of the main theories of humour. But the chapter argues that taking offence can be an effective remedy to an offensive joke.
Publisher
Oxford University PressNew York
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