The Transgressive Potential of Humor Across Learning Spaces: Laughter, Critique, and Moments of Rupture

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Although critical literacies have long been regarded as legitimate in teaching and learning contexts, the role of humor as a critical literacy practice/performance has been murkier. Humor has the potential to rip open spaces of incongruity and make room for critical play. However, moments of humorous rupture have no automatic counter-hegemonic trajectory; they can also lead to amused contempt and dehumanization. This session examines the productive intersections of critical literacies and humor across a variety of relevant power structures. As humor is often integral to critical work across classroom, gaming, and fandom contexts, we argue it needs to be foregrounded in research around critical practices.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Language and Social Processes

Chair

• David E. Low, California State University - Fresno

Papers

• “If It's a Joke, Everybody's Going to Hear”: Transgressive Humor as Critical Literacy Performance - David E. Low, California State University - Fresno

• Good Humor? Youths’ Aesthetic Literacies in the Analysis and Production of Comedic Texts - Scott Storm, University at Albany - SUNY

• Humor as Narrative Method: Identifying Moments of Incongruous Storytelling as Openings for Collaborative Authorship - Alex Corbitt, Syracuse University

• “Toxic Fan Over Here!” Navigating Humorous Resistance in Youth Critical Media Analysis - Karis Michelle Jones, Baylor University

Discussant

• Raúl Alberto Mora, Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana