The seriousness of humour throughout the centuries: a rhetoric of political power or counterpower?

Abstract

Although Plato was the first theorist of humor, it was Cicero who first attempted a categorization of humoristic discourse which has subsequently been adapted by many authors who have claimed the superiority of humor as a strategy of social correction and regulation. Ridendo castigat mores, stated Voltaire, following Horace: ridentem dicere verum. European humanists have reassessed risus, viewing it not only as an intrinsic attribute of humanitas, but also recognizing its social function in equating the complexities of the homo ludens. Contemporary theories have formulated maxims of humoristic interlocution by exploring the semantic and pragmatic communication strategies, including “la mécanique de l’absurde” and “le jeu sémantique”.