The origin and meaning of black humor

Black humor

An important literary genre in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1940, the French surrealist writer Breton published the book "Anthology of Black Humor", but the term did not become popular until the 1960s. In March 1965, Friedman compiled a collection of short stories, including the works of 12 writers, titled "Black Humor", which is where the term "black humor" comes from. It is one of the most representative genres in American novel creation in the 1960s. After entering the 1970s, the momentum of "black humor" has greatly diminished, but new works still appear from time to time. It still has a profound influence in American literature. Its main writers include Joseph Heller, Kurt Voynig, Thomas Pinchin, John Bass, James Purdy, Bruce Jay Friedman, Donald Barthelme, etc. .

The "black humor" novelist highlights the absurdity of the world around the characters and the oppression of the individual by society, and expresses the mutual discord between the environment and the individual (i.e. "self") with a helpless and ironic attitude. Coordinate, and amplify, distort, and deform this incoordinated phenomenon, making them appear more absurd, comical, and at the same time heavy and depressing. Therefore, some critics call "black humor" "humor under the gallows" or "humor in times of disaster." "Black humor" writers often create some eccentric "anti-hero" characters, using their ridiculous words and deeds to allude to social reality and express the writer's views on social issues. In terms of description techniques, "black humor" writers also break with tradition. The plots of their novels lack logical connections. They often mix narratives of real life with fantasy and memories, and mix serious philosophy with gags. For example, Heller's "Catch-22", Pinchin's "Gravity's Rainbow", and Voynig the Younger's "A First-Class Breakfast". Some "black humor" novels mock the spiritual crisis of mankind, such as Bass's "The Tobacco Broker" and Purdy's "Capital Wright Begins."

As an aesthetic form, "black humor" belongs to the category of comedy, but it is also a perverted comedy with a tragic color. The emergence of "black humor" is related to the turmoil in the United States in the 1960s. The ridiculous things and "comedy" contradictions in contemporary capitalist society are not created by writers' subjective will; they are reflections of that social life. Although this kind of reflection has certain social significance and cognitive value, and although the writers also criticized all authorities, including the ruling class, they emphasized that the social environment is difficult to change, so their works often reveal a pessimistic and despairing mood.

What makes black humor different from ordinary humor is that its absurdity, cynicism, and cynicism contain heaviness and anguish, tears and pain, melancholy and cruelty. Therefore, in its bitter laughter The voice contained tears and even anger. Later, people usually used the term "black humor" in this sense.

A cold humor understood by the common people:

The word "dry humor" does not come from "The Analects", "The Book of Songs", "Shangshu", nor does it come from Marx, Bacon, or Pushkin What I invented is not a modern and popular new term, but something I coined on a whim.

"Cold humor" is actually no different from what people often call humor and fun. It’s just, that’s what I’d like to call it. I really hate it when some people, in order to please others, deliberately say a bunch of ridiculous things that they think are of a high level repeated countless times, and then they get what they want and watch the people around them fall forward and backward with laughter. I also laughed along with "haha". This was the case with one of my physics teachers when I was in the second grade of junior high school. At first, I admired his humor very much because of its sophistication; later, when I heard that he repeated that "classic dialogue" exactly as it was in other classes, I couldn't help but feel disgusted because of its pretentiousness. Artificial.

I thought about it for a long time and still couldn’t figure it out. There was no need for that teacher to please the students! So why did he do this? Is it to show that you are approachable? Or is it to show your own level? Or is it to embody one's own "becoming a teacher by example"?

"Cold humor" is the kind of humor that is light and appears naturally inadvertently. It is humor that makes people stunned, confused, thoughtful, enlightened, and laughing. It is humor that makes people have endless aftertaste. The reason why it is called "cold humor" is that it must not only be humorous, but also "cold". Having said this, it reminds me of a person - our new Chinese teacher Mr. Chen. Look, his hair is swung arrogantly to both sides, his eyes are shining through thick lenses, and his lips are slightly pursed with a slight smile. He is 100% "cold humor" material! Sure enough, he spoke, and the atmosphere in the class became lively at some point, with smiles on everyone's faces. I laughed too, I didn't know why other people laughed, and I didn't know why I laughed either. I actually don't want to laugh at all. But I smiled, maybe because I saw Mr. Zhong’s smile. It wasn't a wide grin, it was a smile, a cold smile, a slightly sarcastic smile. By the way, this is the "cold humor" I like!

Sending humor:

Cold humor:

Wrong dressing:

In the dining room, an unusually humble person timidly touched I met another customer who was wearing a coat.

"Excuse me, are you Mr. Pierre?"

"No, I am not." The man replied.

"Ah," he breathed a sigh of relief, "then I'm not mistaken, I am him, and you are wearing his coat."

Sad story:

Three people went to New York for vacation. They booked a suite on the 45th floor of a high-rise hotel.

One night, the elevator in the building broke down, and the attendant arranged for them to spend the night in the lobby.

After discussion, they decided to walk back to the room and agreed to take turns telling jokes, singing and telling stories to reduce the fatigue of climbing the stairs.

The jokes were told and the songs were sung. After finally climbing to the 34th floor, everyone felt exhausted.

"Okay, Peter, tell me a humorous story."

Peter said: "The story is not long, but it is extremely sad: I gave the key to the room Forgot it in the hall?"

Black humor:

Our family was very poor that year.

The poor have nothing to eat.

But, I have a ham at home.

Every time we eat, the family will watch the ham being eaten. In this way, the rice will not feel bland. Take a look at the ham

Take a bite of rice. So, we ate very happily and full.

However, by that year,

the family situation improved a little.

I am also strong enough.

I could climb up that beam

and see what the ham looked like.

I discovered

The ham is actually made of mud.

The rice, I later found out, was corn dregs.

I wish you a happy poster and hope you can become an angel of peace. (Hey, is it possible?)

Supplement: The humorous and professional explanation is not written by me, but reprinted. You will know it at a glance. This is to let everyone know better, so I share it with everyone, hehe.