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This essay discusses the construction of Mexico in the writings of André Breton as “the surrealist place par excellence.” I focus on Breton’s claim that Mexico is “the chosen land of black humor” through an analysis of his literary sources and his engagement with the printmaker José Guadalupe Posada. I then address Breton’s presentation of Mexico in France through the 1939 exhibition Mexique, which was Frida Kahlo’s Parisian debut, and the article “Souvenir du Mexique,” published in the surrealist journal Minotaure.

In this article we propose to analyze how healthcare personnel involved in organ and tissue procurement activities use black humor during their daily work. The objective here is twofold: on the one hand, following previous studies, we are interested in showing the role of black humor as a way of dealing with death. On the other hand, we suggest that, in a parallel and complementary way, in this context black humor exposes a performative sense as a form of agency that attempts to modify an adverse reality. This work combines the methodological tools provided by ethnography and conducting open, multi-session interviews. The events revealed during the fieldwork and interviews that associate humor and brain death show the uses, limits and ways in which black humor operates in daily healthcare work of physical and emotional complexity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humor is generally known to effectively help individuals manage distress. Yet a variety of ways exist to engage in humor, and not all of them may be equally associated with desirable outcomes. The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which dark humor is associated with the subjective well-being of United States military veterans. An online survey was announced on several social media pages populated by US veterans, to which 93 fully responded. Our findings indicate that the use of dark humor does not appear to be associated with a sense of connectedness, but the reported use of self-defeating types of dark humor was associated with lower levels of life satisfaction. Our hypothesis that increased feelings of connectedness to civilian and veteran/active-duty friends would predict increased reports of overall subjective well-being was supported. The implications of these findings for understanding the functions of dark humor are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concepts currently operating in much medical microbiome research bear a curious resemblance to an ancient tradition of Western medicine. This tradition, humoral medicine, is concerned with the four humors: yellow and black bile, phlegm, blood. Both humoral medicine and medical microbiome research use notions of imbalance and balance for broad explanations of disease and health. Both traditions also hold that the composition of humors or microbiomes determines bodily as well as mental states. Causality in each system is often conceived teleologically, meaning that humors or microbiomes "function for" the maintenance of the whole. And ultimately, each framework situates the humors or microbiomes in a multilevel interactionist theory that conceptualizes individual health within a broader environmental context. As well as critically assessing the parallels between these systems, this article sketches some explanations of how they may have arisen. The authors also evaluate the implications of these similarities for the future of medical microbiome research and suggest ways in which the field might move forward. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. This study aims to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the absurdities inherent in combat events as depicted in Joseph Heller's novel, Catch-22. The study seeks to explore how Heller utilizes literary techniques such as sarcasm, black humor, and surrealism to portray the contradictions, irrationality, and overall absurd nature of war. Additionally, the study aims to unfold the deeper societal implications, including dehumanization and moral degradation, presented in the novel. Method. The research method employed in this study is primarily a qualitative literary analysis. The analysis involves a close examination of the text of Catch-22, focusing on the novel's characters, plot structure, narrative techniques, and the use of literary devices. It engages in critical interpretation and evaluation of how Heller employs sarcasm, black humor to convey the absurdities of war. Results. The study reveals that Joseph Heller employs a unique set of literary techniques, including non-sequential narrative, broken chronology, and cyclical motifs, to vividly capture the chaotic and absurd nature of combat events. The analysis uncovers recurring themes such as bureaucratic absurdities, loss of personal agency, dehumanization, and the existential toll of war. The study highlights the significance of the Catch-22 paradox as a central motif, illustrating the circular and illogical nature of bureaucratic processes during war. Conclusion. Joseph Heller's Catch-22 serves as a powerful critique of the absurdities prevalent in wartime. The Catch-22 paradox emerges as a symbolic representation of bureaucratic folly, encapsulating the struggle of individuals caught in the machinery of conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document is a review of two episodes from the television series "Masters of the Air." Episode 7 focuses on the 100th Bombardment Group's war experiences, including the challenges they faced and the changes in aerial strategy and tactics. It also explores the story of two American prisoners of war in a German camp. Episode 8 introduces the Tuskegee Airmen of the 99th Fighter Squadron and their ground attack role during World War II. The review highlights the realistic portrayal of the POW experience and the contributions of airpower during the D-Day invasion. [Extracted from the article]

Studies about representations of Latinidad in US and European media have identified stereotypes like criminalization and hypersexualization. Furthermore, it has been argued that comedy operates as a double-edged sword in exposing racism, as humor can be deployed to simultaneously mask/justify and show/denounce racial discrimination and monolithic representations of Latinidad. Using a feminist intersectional perspective that foregrounds constructions of masculinities and racialization/migration as exclusionary factors, this essay discusses how RTVE Playz, the digital platform of the Spanish public television aimed at young audiences, represents Latinidad in its series Riders (2021). Situated within the dynamics of racialization in Spain, Riders stands out as an example of dark humor that both complicates and reinforces stereotypes. Through a close reading of the series, we assess its response to current social, political and cultural citizenship challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influx of digital streaming platforms from 2005 to 2008 enabled more nuanced representations of Jewish cultures, rituals, and subjects than on traditional distribution platforms. In front of and behind the camera, Jewish women, once marginalized, are now taking center stage and portraying the complexities of Jewish American life. Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson (creators of Broad City) and Rachel Bloom (creator of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) successfully navigated open-access digital streaming platforms to promote their comedic work, then modified their content to meet the needs of broadcast and cable networks and later subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) platforms. These content creators adapted traditional motifs of Jewish humor by infusing their work with contemporary, popular feminist sensibilities and applying narrative tactics specific to digital technology. This article examines the new common tropes produced by these Jewish American women creators of comedic digital streaming content as well as the historical, technological, and economic factors that gave rise to those tropes. Glazer, Jacobson, and Bloom inspired numerous subsequent content creators such as Jenji Kohan (creator of Orange Is the New Black), Joey Soloway (creator of Transparent), Amy Sherman-Palladino (creator of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), Tiffany Haddish (creator of the comedy special Black Mitzvah), and Natasha Lyonne (cocreator of Russian Doll), who have also incorporated these tropes and been at the forefront of Jewish comedy, particularly in twenty-first-century digital streaming programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: While schadenfreude is commonly experienced in interpersonal relationships, it is generally considered immoral. Although previous research has explored the factors relating to schadenfreude, including certain personality traits, moral disengagement, and humor styles, our understanding of these factors remains limited. The present study examined the mediating effects of moral disengagement and aggressive humor style in the relationship between the Dark Triad traits and schadenfreude. Methods: In this study, a sample of 693 Iranian students (69.4% female), was recruited using a convenient sampling method, consisting of 330 undergraduate, 230 graduate, and 133 Ph.D. students. The trait schadenfreude scale, the short Dark Triad, the moral disengagement scale, and the aggressive humor style scale were measured through an online survey. Results: The study found that Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy were positively related to schadenfreude, aggressive humor style, and moral disengagement. Additionally, aggressive humor style and moral disengagement mediated the relationship between Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy with schadenfreude. Conclusion: This study provides insights into the complex relationships between Dark Triad traits, moral disengagement, aggressive humor style, and schadenfreude. The findings suggest that individuals with higher levels of Dark Triad traits may be more likely to experience pleasure from others' misfortunes. Furthermore, the study highlights the importance of moral disengagement and aggressive humor style as potential mechanisms underlying the relationship between Dark Triad traits and schadenfreude. Further research should be done to explore the motivational factors influencing schadenfreude in specific settings, thereby elucidating these connections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a writer, editor, scholar, and activist, Toni Cade Bambara left an indelible imprint on African American literature and Black feminist thought. This article elucidates Bambara's significance to Black women's humorous practice and articulates the mutuality between Black feminism's ongoing project to render Black women visible and to recover and engage in the bounty of Black women's humorous expression. Through her "cut on the bias" approach to using humor in the short story "Medley," Bambara offers an "alternate design sensibility" of racial and gender difference that illuminates the perspective of being Black and female. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the intersection of humour and humanitarianism in engaging Northern audiences with global Southern poverty issues. It analyses witty social media campaigns that critique humanitarian practices and Africa's representation, notably What's Up Africa (WUA) on YouTube, Radi‐Aid on YouTube, Humanitarians of Tinder on Tumblr and Barbie Savior on Instagram. Using 'contraflow', it shows how humour and positionality shape reception. WUA's Black African‐centric comedy, particualrly, highlights the often‐underexplored role of race in development discourse, challenging the White institutional core of humanitarianism. These insights reveal power dynamics and invite further academic inquiry into the transformative potential of comedic humanitarian critique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article shares the story about the wedding ceremony of Catherine and Anthony at Ferndale Library in Washington where Catherine works as a clerk. It considers the Ferndale Library as the safe place and attributes the decision of the couple to hold their wedding ceremony at Ferndale Library to the sense of belonging that Catherine feels in this place. Also noted is the taking of photos of the couple at the main library area after the ceremony.

The representation of "pest" animals in mass media can reflect wider societal attitudes about belonging, race, and purity. In New Zealand, the Australian brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) is portrayed as the nation's top enemy. This project examined online news articles published in New Zealand between 2016 and 2023 to explore how possums were framed after the creation of the Predator Free 2050 "pest" eradication campaign that sought to eradicate all invasive rats, stoats, and possums. Through a process of qualitative thematic analysis, it was discovered that themes of militancy, economy, and desensitization of cruelty were paired with dark humor and extreme objectification of possums. This has created a culture of creaturely racism and speciesist xenophobia that presents cruelty as patriotism. A new media ethics that prioritizes an intersectional, anti-speciesist praxis is necessary to prevent the nation's enculturation of vigilante slayers who are encouraged to kill those deemed to not belong. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Vietnamese cinema industry today, state-sponsored (formerly known as revolutionary cinema) and commercial cinema (held by private entertainment groups) are the two cinema mainstreams that dominate the film market. The third, but lesser known, mode is a diverse range of new independent films. With an aesthetics of socialist realism, governmental cinema often shows less “dream” in the ordinary, personal, and secular sense. However, it often turns to grand visions and symbols that impress upon the whole community concepts like “a brighter tomorrow.” Meanwhile, commercial cinema follows the capitalist model of cultural reproduction, presenting pragmatic dreams about a prosperous, successful, and beautiful life to stimulate viewers to work, consume goods and services for tourism and entertainment, and accumulate wealth. Meanwhile, young independent directors of the 1990s generation in Vietnam today are deploying the cinematic language of black comedy and magical realism to resist the pragmatic consumerist and “land of tomorrow” ideologies of the two mainstream tendencies. In the movies of the independents, dreamlike and fanciful elements occupy equally important, essential, organic places. Dreaming becomes a way of escaping the politics of the space or the ideologies embedded in dreams of the future that influence people consciously and subconsciously. This paper also explores the possibility that Vietnamese independent films can create new narrative potentials and interpretations of people’s inner lives in the postsocialist era through a unique and anti-traditional cinematic aesthetic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Video game content has evolved over the last six decades, from a basic focus on challenge and competition to include more serious and introspective narratives capable of encouraging critical contemplation within gamers. The "No Russian" mission from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 casts players as terrorists responsible for the murder of innocent bystanders, sparking debate around how players engage and react to wanton violence in modern video games. Through thematic analysis of 649 Reddit posts discussing the mission, 10 themes emerged representing complexity in player experiences. Those themes were grouped into categories representing (descending order), (1) rote gameplay experiences, (2) dark humor, (3) comparing the mission to other games and real-world events, and (4) self-reflective eudaimonic reactions to the mission. Although less common, the presence of eudaimonic media effects (in at least 15% of posts) holds promise for the use of video games as reflective spaces for violence prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a comparative analysis of Henrik Ibsen's play En folkefiende [An Enemy of the People, 1882] and its adaptation into a graphic novel by Javi Rey (2022). The plot revolves around Dr Tomas Stockmann's discovery that the water of the touristic baths of his hometown is polluted and his futile attempt to convince his fellow citizens to take action. I argue that this can be read as an allegory of specific aspects of the Anthropocene. Moreover, while both works address the production of ignorance about human environmental change, the graphic novel possesses medium-specific ways of depicting the gap between knowledge and action. Finally, while the play is a black comedy, the graphic novel conveys a stronger faith in democratic pedagogy, adapted to twenty-first-century discourses on climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frances McDonald's book, "Posthumorism: The Modernist Affect of Laughter," challenges the premise of humor studies by exploring posthumorist laughter, which she argues lies outside the field. McDonald draws on affect studies to analyze various texts, including Nathanael West's "The Day of the Locust" and Hélène Cixous' "The Book of Promethea," to demonstrate how writers use language to make laughter a central focus. She also incorporates philosophical concepts from Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari to present posthumorist laughter as a disruptive force that goes beyond individual emotions and traditional notions of humor. While McDonald's book has been criticized for its totalizing rhetoric and overlooking the diversity of modernist art, it offers a thought-provoking critique of humor studies and opens up new possibilities for understanding laughter. [Extracted from the article]

"Dead Funny: The Humor of American Horror" by David Gillota is a book that explores the relationship between humor and horror in American horror films. The author argues that humor is a prominent aspect of horror and contributes to the tone, themes, and structure of the genre. The book examines various humorous modes and devices used in horror, such as parody, comic monsters, body humor, camp, awkward humor, and satire. It offers close readings of films and analyzes their use of humor to provide social critique and commentary. Overall, the book provides new perspectives on the intersection of humor and horror in American cinema. [Extracted from the article]

The objective of this study was to gain insight into Trevor Noah's intention for employing dark humor through applying Attardo's humor function framework to his stand-up comedy performance "Son of Patricia. This qualitative research utilized a phenomenological methodology. The investigation aimed to explore the phenomenon of dark humor based on Trevor Noah's personal experiences as conveyed in his act. The study analyzed dark humor found in Trevor Noah's stand-up show "Son of Patricia" through the lens of Attardo's (1994) humor functions. The result showed that the frequent humor function found was defunctionalisation for amusement and the jokes often involve playing with the language followed with social management, decommitment and mediation. Exploring the multifaceted humor function of dark humor in Trevor Noah's show "Son of Patricia" revealed a nuanced and thought-provoking approach to comedy. Noah skillfully employed dark humor as a tool for social management, shedding light on sensitive issues such as race, politics, and societal norms. While dark humor can be polarizing, Trevor Noah demonstrates its potential as a powerful vehicle for social commentary and awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigated the relationships of the Dark Triad traits, humor styles, and schadenfreude with 169 participants who completed the Short Dark Triad, the Humor Style Questionnaire, and a measure of schadenfreude. Significant correlations imply that those with salient dark traits (psychopathy, Machiavellianism, narcissism) elicit pleasure from others' misfortune. Additionally, schadenfreude can be a product of self‐defeating and aggressive humor styles. Indirect effect analysis revealed the significance of the indirect effect of the measured aggressive humor style on the Dark Triad's direct effects on schadenfreude. These results imply that those with salient Dark Triad traits enjoy others' misery as a means to undermine them. Hence, individuals with salient Dark Triad traits tend to engage in downward social comparison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous relationships between Dark Triad and Humor styles are theoretically difficult to interpret since Dark Triad traits present general and specific sources of variance. In the present study, we used structural equation modelling techniques to allow us to separate the two sources and detect which source of variance of Dark Triad plays the main role in the relationship observed with Humor styles. Similarly, it was tested if relationships among measures of Self-esteem and Humor styles are replicated at structural level. Moreover, the vast majority of previous studies have been conducted with university samples, which represents a limitation. Hence, a series of bi-factor models to test the relationship between Dark Triad and Humor styles and structural models for Self-esteem and Humor styles were fitted on a community sample of 987 Spanish people. Results suggest that the common variance of the Dark Triad traits was mainly responsible for the reported relationships with Humor styles. It is noteworthy that relations reported for Aggressive and Self-defeating humor styles were higher than those observed in previous studies. Similarly, a higher correlation between Self-esteem and Self-defeating was observed at the structural level. Futures studies are suggested to better establish the psychological reasons behind these relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Stay Cool: Why Dark Comedy Matters in the Fight against Climate Change" by Aaron Sachs explores how dark humor can help us confront the climate crisis. Sachs argues that dark humor serves as a coping strategy, creates distance in heated debates, and builds camaraderie among those who share similar concerns. The book also examines the intersections between African American and Jewish traditions of dark humor and climate change humor. While the book offers lively anecdotes and a personable voice, it may overlook social justice concerns and lacks in-depth analysis and theoretical exploration. [Extracted from the article]

A correction is presented to the article correction of an error in the initial publication of an article regarding the association between humor and emotional distress, specifically correcting the issue number from 3 to 4 in the citation.