Humour is often seen as means that allow approaching complex and relevant subjects through the lens of one’s identity, critically highlighting issues that may be improved and at the same time creating a channel to be heard by society at large. Thus, Gordon views humour from the philosophical perspective and says that it “makes it possible to be more honestly self-revealing and also crucially to entertain radically new and challenging ideas”
(Basu, p. 140). While King and Alabama Clergymen, in their works, both strive to put an end to discrimination, King uses humour to question some deep-rooted beliefs of the western culture, while Alabama Clergymen in their address strive not to show the differences between the cultures but similarities that require that all people are treated equally.
King combines the humorous stories from Afro-American culture with satire aimed to subvert the white dominance. Indeed, in his stories, western culture loses an air of superiority. This is largely due to the fact that King shows his Native culture as equal to the western one through humorous touches he employs. King shows that Afro-Americans are able to view their position with a grain of humour, thus challenging the popular idea of the inferiority of Afro-American culture (Andrews). People who are able to laugh at themselves in all contingencies are no less sophisticated than the whites and this idea is carried through all King’s stories.
Alabama Clergymen, in their address, strive to entertain the idea that, although they strive for equality of Afro-American race with western one, they do not support radical means used to ensure this equality. Their message is, in essence, pacifying, and a sombre tone chosen reveals the seriousness with which the topic is approached. Indeed, here there is no place for jokes when elements of radicalism erupt threatening to bury the peaceful initiatives of all Afro-American people to provide equal rights for everyone. Thus, while King uses humour to show that Afro-American culture is no less sophisticated than Western one, Alabama Clergymen in their address strive to show that all people are equal that is why no humor is employed.
Works Cited
Basu, Sammy. “Mordechai Gordon.: Humor, Laughter and Human Flourishing: A Philosophical Exploration of the Laughing Animal”HUMOR, vol. 30, no. 1, 2017, pp. 139-142.
Andrews, Jennifer. “Reading Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water: Border-Crossing Humour.”ESC: English Studies in Canada, vol. 28, no. 1, 2002, pp. 91-116.