What is dark humour?-and why are we drawn to it in fiction?
Humour is a situation, words or actions that make us laugh; when humour is dark, it is related to things that are serious or unpleasant. From Monty python to Dorothy Parker, and even Shakespeare, dark humour and satire has entertained the best of us. But given that darker humour teeters on the edge of social acceptability, why do we find it so irresistible?
Psychologists and academics alike have pondered this enigma. They generally agree that it has something to do with coping strategies. Take this quote by Sigmund Freud:
‘’The ego refuses to be distressed by the provocations of reality, to let itself be compelled to suffer. It insists that it cannot be affected by the traumas of the external world; it shows, in fact, that such traumas are no more than occasions for it to gain pleasure’’-Sigmund Freud
-Or in layman’s terms ‘If I didn’t laugh I would cry!’
The idea of surmounting evil with humour, in some way dissipates the awfulness and pain of a situation. That although we may be pushed this way and that by circumstance, we are still hanging on in the face of hopelessness-a case in point being the plethora of Coronavirus jokes on social media…..
In fact, a study published in the 2017 journal ‘Cognitive Processing’ suggests that not only are those who appreciate dark humour able to cope with negative emotions more effectively, but they also have a higher IQ. (The Guardian, 28th Jan, Jamie Doward). Furthermore, there seems to be a link between dark humour and low aggression. The suggestion is that appreciating dark humour is a complex information-processing task, in which high aggression levels and negative mood could cloud an individual’s ability to get the joke. This is contrary to previous implication that only grumpy people enjoy darker humour.
It does indeed seem that dark humour is good for us. So dismiss your doubts, stop feeling guilty, and dive in head first with a dark humour read!
With its acerbic narrative perspective, dark humour, and even its absurdity it’s hard to deny the ever-present element of plausibility in Tales of American Idiocy that makes it quite terrifying and at the very least a damning indictment of America’s political players and society itself.
We work with both traditionally published and “indie” authors who have self or independently published books and our mission is simple. It’s to discover new and talented authors and help them give their work the attention and awareness it deserves. We do this by providing professional and credible reviews which are respected by our readers. Our primary focus is on fiction across all genres, non – fiction with broad appeal and selected poetry.
When Jim meets Sophie, a fellow member of the liberation movement ‘The Underground’, his life begins to take on even more meaning. After a failed attempt at infiltrating the Elite leaders ends in tragedy, Jim turns to his scientific studies, specifically a porthole into other dimensions, to right the wrong.
An eye-opening look at creation versus evolution, ‘From Goo to God’ tracks many of the blindly accepted evolutionary theories, picking each apart to examine whether they deserve the widely established promotion throughout the whole educational experience of young people.
Kathleen. W . Franks has managed to capture; the kind that transports its young reader into the realms of their own imagination, complete with secret tunnels, magical creatures and a good old baddie or two!
Right from the off the mystery begins as Franks firmly hooks her readers with strong relatable characters and a gripping plot, with the shape of the novel growing and shifting naturally from her protagonist’s very first experience at his new home.
We are constantly and enduringly fascinated with fictional accounts of parallel existence, alternative realities and genetic engineering. Films such as ‘The Fountain’ present immortality as attainable, whilst books such as ‘The Book Thief’ (Markus Zusak) explore the nature of death, in this case by death himself acting as narrator.
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