ABSTRACT
From a cultural theory perspective we can extend Hobbes's notion of humor involving a sudden recognition of some kind of eminency in ourselves relative to others and say we may find this eminency not only in our persons but in our cultures. This chapter discusses the dominant theories of humor. The theory that is most widely held suggests that humor is based on incongruity, on some kind of a difference between what people expect and what they get. There is another approach to humor, a cultural theory of humor that provides us with important insights into humor and its role in politics and society. A discussion of cultural theory and its application to humor follows. Cultural theory, as elaborated by Mary Douglas, Aaron Wildavsky, and a number of others, deals with how cultural biases and social relations affect our beliefs and behavior, and thus, by implication, can be used to deal with our reponses to humor.
