Socially Critical Humor: Discussing Humor with Erich Fromm and Theodor W. Adorno

  • This article brings Erich Fromm and Theodor W. Adorno back into dialogue by discussing the cultural phenomena of humor and laughter based on their theoretical writings. I argue that what is typically considered socially critical humor, like offensive jokes or harsh satire, often fails to meet the preconditions of criticism in the light of Adorno’s and Fromm’s thinking. Humor, to be socially critical, has to be life-affirmative and non-positional, and it has to challenge the limits of humor. It is also claimed that in this scope, humor cannot be instrumental.

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Metadaten
Author:Jarno Hietalahti
Parent Title (English):Idéias, Campinas, SP, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 87-108.
Document Type:Articles
Language:English
Year of first Publication:2017
Release Date:2017/11/20
Format:PDF-file upon request / PDF-Datei auf Anfrage
IdNo:Hietalahti_J_2017b
Writings about Erich Fromm (Secondary Literature):Articles / Artikel
Erich Fromm's Library and Erich Fromm Archive:Articles / Artikel
Licence (German):
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