Jokes, Trivialization and the Common Ground

Jokes, Trivialization and the Common Ground

Jokes are sometimes criticized for trivializing their subject matter. But what exactly is it to trivialize something, and what's wrong with doing so? In this talk, I develop an understanding of trivialization as a stymieing of further inquiry, where further inquiry is needed. I show that representations in general can trivialize a topic when they channel the conversation away from important ethical inquiry. Moreover, jokes are, I argue, especially effective at trivialization for two reasons. First, for a representation to be humorous, it must push into the background ethically significant features of the represented subject, which makes it liable to channel the common ground away from further inquiry into those features. Second, jokes alter the tone of the conversation in a manner that makes it difficult to raise serious subjects. That said, not all jokes about serious topics are guilty of trivialization: sometimes context can prevent jokes from having these trivializing effects on inquiry.

Zoe Walker is an Associate Lecturer in Philosophy at UCL. Her research centres on ethical and political issues arising from jokes, humour and comedy. She has published on the use of joking in political speech, the ethics of what we find funny, and the role of comedy in objectification. Before starting at UCL, she was a Career Development Fellow at Trinity College, Oxford University, after completing her PhD at Cambridge University.

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