Use of Humor in Erdrich's Tracks An old adage claims that laughter is the best medicine to cure human ailments. Although this treatment might sound somewhat unorthodox, its value as a remedy can be traced back to ancient times when Hypocrites, in his medical treatise, stressed the importance of “a gay and cheerful mood on the part of the physician and patient fighting disease” (Bakhtin 67). Aristotle viewed laughter as man’s quintessential privilege: “Of all living creatures only man is endowed with laughter” (Bakhtin 68). In the Middle Ages, laughter was an integral part of folk culture. “Carnival festivities and the comic spectacles and ritual connected with them had an important place in the life of medieval man” (Bakhtin 5). During the trauma and devastation of German bombing raids on London during World War II, the stubborn resilience of British humor emerged to sustain the spirit of the people and the courage of the nation. To laugh, even in the face of death, is a compelling force in the human condition. Humor, then, has a profound impact on the way human beings experience life. In Louise Erdrich’s novel Tracks, humor provides powerful medicine as the Chippewa tribe struggles for their physical, spiritual, and cultural survival at the beginning of the twentieth century. While the ability to approach life with a sense of humor is not unique to any one society, it is an intrinsic quality of Native American life. “There is, and always has been, humor among Indians . . . ” (Lincoln 22). In deference to their history, this can best be described as survival humor, one which “transcends the void, questions fatalism, and outlasts suffering” (Lincoln 45). Through their capacity to draw common... ... middle of paper ... ...emain the contrary powers of Indian humor” (Lincoln 5). For the Chippewa, this humor provides powerful medicine for the physical, cultural, and spiritual preservation of their tribe. Works Cited Bakhtin, Mikhail. Rabelais and His World. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1984. Erdrich Louise. Tracks. New York: Harper Collins, 1988. Ghezzi, Ridie Wilson. “Nanabush Stories from the Ojibwe.” Coming to Light. Ed. Brian Swann. 1st ed. New York: Random House, 1994. Lincoln, Kenneth. Indi’n Humor. New York: Oxford UP, 1993. Sergi, Jennifer. “Storytelling: Tradition and Preservation in Louise Erdrich’s Tracks.” World Literature Today 66 (Spring 1992): 279-282. Towers, Margie. “Continuity and Connection: Characters in Louise Erdrich’s Fiction.” American Indian Culture and Research Journal 16 (1992): 99-115.
Shoemaker, Nancy. “ Native-American Women in History.” OAH Magazine of History , Vol. 9, No. 4, Native Americans (Summer, 1995), pp. 10-14. 17 Nov. 2013
Rebecca Krefting (2014), “an Associate Professor of American Studies, affiliate faculty to Gender Studies, and Director of the Media and Film Studies Program” (Skidmore), wrote an article called “Making Connections.” Krefting (2014) explains the connections between comedy and people, listing the reasons the world can build “Cultural Citizenship” through “charged humor” (p. 17-18)
Psychologists, sociologists and anthropologists study humor because it is a fundamental culture value, but they still can’t determine why certain things make some people laugh and others not. There are “humor quotient” tests that are designed to measure an individual’s sense of humor, but these tests are questionable. These tests aren’t accurate because almost all humor depends on cultural background knowledge and language skills. Not every person in the whole world, or even in one country share the same background knowledge and skills, therefore they cannot have the same type of humor. “The fact remains that individuals vary in their appreciation of humor” (Rappoport 9). Since humor varies from individual to individual, humor lies in the individual. How successful or funny a joke is depends on how the person receives the joke, humor cannot be measured by a statistical
Steve Almond’s “Funny is the New Deep” talks of the role that comedy has in our current society, and most certainly, it plays a huge role here. Namely, through what Almond [Aristotle?] calls the “comic impulse”, we as a people can speak of topics that would otherwise make many of uncomfortable. Almond deems the comic impulse as the most surefire way to keep heavy situations from becoming too foreboding. The comic impulse itself stems from our ability and unconscious need to defend and thus contend with the feeling of tragedy. As such, instead of rather forcing out humor, he implies that humor is something that is not consciously forced out from an author, but instead is more of a subconscious entity, coming out on its own. Almond emphasizes
Kugel, Rebecca, and Lucy Eldersveld Murphy. Native women's history in eastern North America before 1900: a guide to research and writing. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2007.
Unfortunately for the Whiteman, the assimilation program didn’t work quite as they planned, “most Western Apache remain on the fringe of national American society (Basso pg. 26).” The increased relations between Whiteman and American Indians only served the purpose of giving the Western Apache fodder for their jokes. Whitemen became a cultural symbol that “define and characterize what the Indian is not (Basso pg.4).” So even though Whitemen are one of the American Indian’s biggest problems, they also became one of their biggest sources of laughter.
Charlie Hill, was a stand up comedian who, unfortunately passed away December, 2013. Hill, was an Oneida-Mohawk-Cree and he based his stand-up on his heritage. On The Comedy Network, Hill, ends his set with a message that resonated to the majority of the audience. The joke starts off with an ad he came up with selling “Generakees,” for those who aren’t, but want to be Native American. He sells the idea and ends with a disclaimer. The disclaimer brought up issues that are still occurring amongst the Native American community. “Caution side effects; may include suicide, poverty, disease, religious persecution, and general lose of land” (4:15-5:18). Hill, used the opportunity from his stand-up to spread awareness and inform many throughout, about issues that’s still occurring in modern day
Humor is more than just amusing entertainment to pass the time. Though jokes and witty banter can be shallow, humor can go deeper than surface level to convey messages to audiences who would otherwise be close-minded about certain ideas. Humor is a great tool to get audiences to change the way they think, feel, and act. In “Saying Goodbye to Yang,” Alexander Weinstein uses humor to criticize some of society’s faults such as the way it has become heavily reliant on technology, racially insensitive, and judgmental.
Green, Daniel. "A World Worth Laughing At: Catch-22 and the Humor of Black Humor." Studies
Modeling from Pavlov’s paradigm, the neutral stimulus in the ad is the brand Covergirl. The sensuality and beauty of Katy Perry— famous singer and face of Covergirl serve as the unconditioned stimulus (US). By pairing the brand with Katy Perry’s sensuality and beauty Sarah would want to buy the mascara, which Pavlov called the unconditioned response (UR).The concept of beauty will naturally evoke an unconditioned response (UR) with an urge to buy the product. Who doesn’t want to look beautiful? Every time a Sarah stumbles across this advertisement, she will associate the brand— Covergirl with beauty. After several pairings, Sarah would buy the mascara when exposed to the brand. As soon as Covergirl starts triggering the purchase of the mascara, the brand switches from the neutral stimulus to the conditioned stimulus producing a conditioned
Best known for his poems and short fiction, Edgar Allan Poe deserves more credit than any other writer for the transformation of the short story into a respected literary work. He virtually created the detective story and perfected the psychological thriller. He also produced some of the most influential literary criticism of his time. Although he contributed so much to the writing world, little is known about the Poe himself. Historians have been trying for years to piece together the life of this literary genius. In almost every biographical publication Poe’s life is divided into three sections: his early life, his career, and his death.
Every text is an argument to the audience and every argument is influenced by a text and the audience surrounding the author. The Importance of Being Earnest is a play written by Oscar Wilde which was first performed in 1895. The plot centers around the proposal of marriage between Jack Worthing and Gwendolen Bracknell and also the proposal from Jack’s friend and Gwendolen 's cousin Algernon Moncrieff extended towards Jack’s ward, Cecily Cardew. In The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde uses the ideas of his time period, his own background, and absurd comedy to argue that the views of marriage and gender held by those in Victorian Era England are wrong and hypocritical.
Police had reason to believe that an arsonist was to be blamed, though a thorough investigation was conducted, no suspect was found. When news of the destruction had reached Gein, he simply had said, "Just as well" (7). Gein would spend ten years in the mental institution before the courts decided that Gein was competent to withstand trial. The outcome of the trial found Gein guilty of first degree murder, but because he was found to be insane during his escapades, Gein was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Soon, after being acquitted, Gein was taken back to Central State Hospital for the criminally insane. It was here, at the mental institution, where "...he spent his days happily and comfortably" (8). Ed behaved strangely, strange meaning that he was completely docile and amiable. Aside from the, "disconcerting way he would stare fixedly at nurses or any other female staff members...", he acted quite friendly. Gein would happily live here, until the age of 78, after cancer finally claimed him. Gein's final resting place was right next to his mother's in Plainfield Cemetery. Which, ironically, was not too far from the graves he had defiled in the earlier
Edgar Allan Poe was a literary genius of his time. His works may seem eccentric but beneath the words and stories lies a solemn, alone boy whose only way of comfort and relief was through his pen. Of the critical reviews I have studied pertaining to Poe, never has such a varied difference of opinions been presented or suggested towards a writer. It is thought that his life had a major influence on his writing and by reading many of his pieces I agree with that statement.