Postscript

Abstract

For a society with a long history of literacy, the study of the rules of humour can begin in the library. The analysis of the rules of humour at the macro-level (in any one culture or language group) or at the micro-level (the rules to which any individual subscribes) may begin with the following questions:

• 1. What is the underlying assumption? Is humour considered to be a good thing, a bad thing, neither or both?

• 2. What is the method of choice in dealing with the problems of humour: excision, expurgation, containment, a combination thereof, or some other means? If there is a combination, how does it work? How does it relate to the way the society accommodates aggression?

• 3a. If the method of choice is expurgation, what categories of humour are expurgated: cruelty, aggression, obscenity, politics (for example), and how are these categories defined?

• 3b. If the method of choice is containment, is humour contained by: time, place, person, profession, relationship, situation (for example), how are these containers defined and how do they inter-relate?

• 4. How do these combinations of rules result in particular types of humour becoming highly developed or remaining undeveloped in particular cultures (or individuals), and what other factors help spur the development of particular types of humour?

• 5. How do these rules change over time and with social trends, and to what degree do individuals subscribe to and put into practice the rules that are current in their culture or language group?