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CONTENTS Acknowledgments...............................................................................................................5 Introduction: The hazards and joys of racial, ethnic and gender humor......................6 Why should anyone care about such humor, is it really harmful, and how I came to spend years studying it. 1. The sword and shield metaphor and other perspectives .............................................11 Common mis-perceptions of stereotype humor and a corrective overview. 2. What makes us laugh: humor theory and research from Plato and Aristotle to Sigmund Freud ...............................................................................................................24 The perennial questions and answers about why we laugh; modern research showing the social, psychological and physiological benefits of humor. 3. Prejudice, pride and play in ethnic comedy................................................................47 Theories, research, and the wide range of positive social functions served by humor within minority groups. 4. The origins and psychology of stereotypes and slurs..................................................63 Reflections on the unique vocabulary of disparagement, its surprising sources, connections with obscenities, and multiple meanings. 5. The dominant role of Jews and Afro-Americans: Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, and the culture of irony .............................................................................................86 The rise of irony in American culture and how the major targets of social prejudice became the major creators of contemporary ironic humor. 6. Jewish and Afro-American roots humor: saving grace in the face of oppression....106 The origins, growth and characteristic features of traditional Jewish and Afro-American humor. 7. Males vs. females, gays vs. straights, and the varieties of gender humor.................130 Stereotypes reflecting sexual tensions and social power differences; the rise of women comedians and their struggle against sexist prejudice. 8. The "new breed" comedians and transformation of ethnicity...................................150 Disparaging humor is not what it used to be; multi-cultural awareness and the impact of 9/11; why false stereotypes can be funny. 9. Becoming a comedian: minority status helps but is not enough..............................163 On heredity, patterns of childhood experience, and the benefits of a minority background; learning the craft of comedy is harder than it looks. 10. In defense of stereotype humor and its role in our multi-cultural society................189 Comedy in the face of prejudice is no sin. The funny-serious benefits of laughter amid the endless dilemmas of diversity. Sources cited and consulted ...............................................................................205
Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication:
Ethnic wit and humor -- History and criticism.
Wit and humor -- Social aspects.