joke

is not disruptive of social categories. On the contrary, it reinscribes that which it flaunts, affirming what is 'right by portraying what is 'wrong'.

While some have argued that jokes are inherently deconstructive, disruptive, and disorganizing of social categories and expectations (Douglas 1975... Oring 1992), Susan Seizer has argued that in fact jokes reinscribe that which they flaunt (1997: 63). That is to say, jokes affirm what is 'right by portraying what is 'wrong.' In considering the moral work of jokes, Seizer asks a very compelling question: how does one tell a joke without morally offending others' The answer is that it all depends on one's stance, or what she calls footing, and the context of the joke.

Susan SeizerThinkers

Susan Seizer