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The study deals with the main features of Vladimír Borecký’s general theory of the comic. First, it introduces Borecký’s conception of the structuring features of the comic. It then examines the specificity of the main configurations of the comic that Borecký discusses, i.e. naivety, irony, humour, and absurdity. The study highlights Borecký’s conception of the position of these configurations in the ontogenetic development of the individual and in cultural development. The study also compares Borecký’s thoughts with the conceptions of other theorists of the comic. On the one hand, with James Sully’s genetic and pluralistic conception of laughter and the comic, and on the other hand, with Louis Cazamian’s conception of humour. In conclusion, the study shows that in both Borecký’s and Cazamian’s reflections one can trace a tendency to conceive of absurdity as the ultimate manifestation of the comic.

This study examines Louis Cazamian’s considerations on the nature of humour, which were influenced by Bergson’s theory of the comic as a contrast between life and automatism and Bergson’s idea of humour as a specific type of comic linguistic transposition. In this context, the paper draws attention to the critical function of humour in Cazamian’s understanding based on his embracing of Bergson’s conception of laughter as a critique of the automation of life. However, Cazamian’s speculating diverges from Bergson’s thoughts on humour and leads to the creation of an elaborated theory. Cazamian states that humour has an artistic status and attributes characteristics to it that Bergson attributes to works of art. In contrast to Bergson, who emphasises the distinction between art and the comic, Cazamian deems humour’s critical aspect to accord with its artistic status. While humour is attributed artistic status because it suggests the multifaceted or elusive character of reality, humour’s comic character entails ridiculing the inability or unwillingness to respect that reality has a comic character.