Various Means of Achieving Humor in English

温晓棠

【Abstract】Humor can be found everywhere in our daily life. It shows one's wisdom and confidence， which reflects a person's character， mind and cultivation. While it makes people laugh， it enlightens and instruct people. As we all know， English humor is a manifestation of the western literature. However， people in non-English speaking countries cannot completely understand English humor because of the differences of different cultures. The present paper starts from the analysis of English humor， trying to find out some ways of achieving humor so as to better our understanding and appreciation of English humor.

【Key words】English humor ways understanding appreciation

【中圖分类号】G424.1 【文献标识码】B 【文章编号】2095-3089（2014）6-0158-02

1. Introduction

I often observe people around me to find the reasons why they laugh and what kind of things makes them feel humorous. The more I know， the more interest I have. Meanwhile， I hope more and more people would become interested in humor， which is my main motivation to write this paper to let people know more about it.

The English word "humor" is derived from the ancient Latin word "humour"， which means one of certain liquids in the body， said to determine the mental and physical qualities of a person.

The theories of humor are prolific， too. Western humor theories can fall into three main classes.

First， let's come to the superiority theory. Thomas Hobbes， believed that "the passion of laughter is nothing else but sudden glory arising from some sudden conception of some eminency in ourselves， by comparing with the infirmity of others， or our own formerly". According to Hobbes， we can find that the reason why we laugh is that we think we are better than others in certain aspects.

The most important theory is the incongruity theory of humor. It proposes that all humor involves some kind of difference between what one expects and what one gets. Researchers such as Kant， Monro， Mindess， and Hazlitt devoted themselves to this study. The incongruity theory has its weakness， because the results are not always funny.

The third class of humor theory is the release theory. Psychologists such as Freud， Spencer， Minsky claim the humor is a result of a release of tensions or constraints. The basic principle of this theory is that， laughter provides relief for mental， nervous and psychic energy， and thus ensures homeostasis after a struggle， tension， strain.

As we all know， humor has lots of advantages. It can eliminate people's anger， relax the tense atmosphere. Humor will play a more and more important role in our daily life.

2. Definition of humor

People enjoy humor because they can get pleasure and relaxation from it. So when talking about humor， we frequently connect it with those words as happy， joking， funny， etc.

However， humor is a complex phenomenon so there is no exact definition for humor.

Koestler defined humor as a type of simulation that tends to elicit the laughter reflects （Encyclopedia Britiannica， 1979：5）

Jonson defined humor is an amazing strong quality in a person which all his desires， feelings and talent obey and under which they all strive in the same direction （Chen& Wang， 1988：17）

Generally speaking， it is not an easy thing to give an acceptable and satisfactory definition to humor. That's why Saul Steinberg （Boskin， 1979：1） says， "Trying to define humor is one of the definitions of humor"

3. Means of achieving humor

Humor is an integral part of people's daily life. In present social activities， various forms of humor have already become workable means of maintaining social relations between individuals， or solving conflicts， or releasing mental pressure， etc. In this chapter we will try to find out the causes of English humor to increase our appreciation of humor.

3.1 Surface structure of humor

Among the reasons for generating humor， language exists on the surface level. So surface structure is more concerned with language. Figures of speech are commonly used to produce humorous effects.

3.2Deep structure of humor

The preceding chapter has discussed humor in the perspective of its surface. Although the main carrier is human language， its final effect is realized through the process of the communication.

4. Conclusion

Throughout human history， people have been searching satisfactory understanding of the problem of humor. Humor is emotionally compelling and it pervades human life. So I do hope that more and more people will become interested in humor and then make deeper studies into it.

References

[1]Boskin， J.1979. Humor and Social Change in Twentieth-century America.

[2]Encyclopedia Britannica. 1979. Chicago： Britannica， Inc.

[3]（Chen， X.，& Wang， S.）陳孝英、王树昌，1988，《漫画幽默》，乌鲁木齐：新疆人民出版社。