Theoretical Approaches to Humor From a Sociological Perspective

¶ … bag?" "Bottle of wine for my wife." "Good trade," is a joke that plays upon a number of images and ideas (Taylor, 2005, p. 130).

The bottle of wine in a paper bag conjures images of the homeless man drinking in public or the vagrant walking the streets having his alcoholic beverage right out in the open (hidden by the bag of course). Thus, the interpretive/symbolic interaction theory could be applied here, for there is a symbolic representation to this joke -- namely, that the vagrant has such a love of liquor that he has traded his wife for a bottle of it. The joke, of course, is that the wine is for his wife -- not that he traded her for it -- but the humor lies in the fact that the other views such a trade as a "good" one. Also, underlying this joke is a gender/sexual subtext, which is based on a male chauvinistic social tradition, in which the battle of the sexes results in social conflict -- here resolved (jokingly) by the trade of the spouse for the intoxicating beverage. So social conflict theory can also be applied here. An even deeper subtext could indicate that intoxication of romance between the sexes has worn off and now the male turns to intoxicating substances. It reduces the woman to a product for consumption, and in a consumerist culture where sex sells this is simply accepted as normal and commonplace: why shouldn't a man trade a woman for a bottle of booze (Jarvis, 2007)? Thus, the joke is funny but serious at the same time.

There is also the hint of what is called "bisociation" -- the joke moving between two distinct frames of reference -- on the one hand, the respect for marriage, the spouse, etc., and on the other hand, the desire to be rid of the union, of the spouse, and be completely drunken (Ohman, 2001). This bisociation plays into and facilitates the social conflict underlying the joke, which makes the social conflict theoretical approach a most suitable way to view this joke. As Macionis and Gerber (2013) note, humor is "generated by mixing two distinct and opposing realities" and in this case those realities are apparent (p. 155): the reality of the alcoholic vagrant, making excuses for who the bottle of wine is really for (not him but his wife) and his friend adding another layer of conflict to the joke by noting the marital strife (and resolution -- divorce/separation) that is often associated with references to the significant other.