¶ … Southern Humor" by Roy Blount, Jr., the author discusses the concept of humor in the American culture as unique to a given portion of that culture. His thesis is that the work of the southern humorists all possess similar characteristics which reflect the opinions and perspectives of that geographical location.
"At the bottom of Southern humor lies this fundamental truth: that nothing is less humorous, or less Southern, than making a genuine, good-faith effort to define and explain humor, particularly Southern humor" (Blount 156). Blount explains that he is often questioned to define humor, particularly that from the Southern region. Humor is something that is very hard to define. Something either is humorous or it is not and it is in the attempting to explain or to analyze that drains something of any humor it had once possessed. Once the joke is made, it is either understood or it is not, but if it has to be explained, any potential joy there was in the piece will be destroyed.
"Maybe I get that thrill because I learned to appreciate early in life -- in the South -- both the Pledge of Allegiance and the American tradition of nothing sacred" (Blount 158). In American humor, either everything is okay to make fun of or nothing is. The South is a stereotypically patriotic and religious part of the country. Most people assume that because of these two ideas, there is no humor in the South. Blount assures the reader that this is not the case. It is combining the sincere of belief and the insincerity of humor and joviality and creates the unique tenor of Southern humor.
"Southern humor is usually better when it is trying to do justice to the nature of things than when it is trying to be comical" (Blount 159). This statement is true of most of the humor in the United States. Comedians and humorists try to illustrate a story, to repeat a moment in time which happens to be funny. They do not however fashion the storytelling in a way that is in itself funny. That is to say, they allow the humor to flow from the events of the story than from the manner in which it is told. This is the difference between humor and silliness. The humor stems naturally from carefully chosen words and stylistic storytelling. Silly is the intent of the comic to elicit laughs whether or not they be based on any humorous observation.
"Nothing is less enduringly savory than narrow-mindedness that tries to pass for gentility. Whereas a tang of meanness may be a preservative -- vinegar for pickling real fellow feeling and love of the world" (Blount 166-67). The stereotype of the American south is that everyone is racist and there is nothing but racially biased disharmony. Therefore, any humor which comes from this disharmony will undoubtedly also be racially biased and stereotypical. This, Blount states is again a fallacy. True racism and prejudice are distasteful, he argues. Making comments which insult another body based on race, religion, or sexuality are completely distasteful. However, humor which incorporates stereotypes to metaphorically tweak the nose of people who are different from us is something altogether different. Using the stereotype in humor to play on the ridiculousness of that stereotype is not the same things as having racist or in any way prejudicial opinions.
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