RECONSTRUCTING HUMOR: AN ANALYSIS OF HUMOR
IN TWO SELECTED SHORT STORIES
A Research Paper
Submitted to the English Department of FPBS UPI in Partial Fulfilment of the
Requirements for Sarjana Sastra Degree
By
Hani Fatmawati 0707800
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
RECONSTRUCTING HUMOR: AN ANALYSIS
OF HUMOR IN TWO SELECTED SHORT
STORIES
Oleh Hani Fatmawati
Sebuah skripsi yang diajukan untuk memenuhi salah satu syarat memperoleh gelar Sarjana pada Fakultas Pendidikan Bahasa dan Seni
© Hani Fatmawati 2012 Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
Hak Cipta dilindungi undang-undang.
RECONSTRUCTING HUMOR: AN ANALYSIS OF HUMOR IN TWO
SELECTED SHORT STORIES
A Research Paper
by
Hani Fatmawati 0707800
Approved by:
Main supervisor,
Dr. R. Safrina Noorman, M.A. NIP. 196207291987032003
Co-supervisor,
R. Della N. Kartika Sari, S.Pd, M.Ed. NIP. 197704142001122003
Head of Department of English Education Department Faculty of Language and Arts Education
Indonesia University of Education,
ABSTRAK
Penulisan penelitian ini berjudul “RECONSTRUCTING HUMOR: AN ANALYSIS OF HUMOR IN TWO SELECTED SHORT STORIES” bertujuan untuk meneliti konstruksi dan fungsi dari humor pada dua cerita pendek yang berjudul Rape Fantasies dan The Concert Stages
of Europe. Kedua cerita ini dipilih dari sebagian besar cerita pendek yang ada karena mereka
termasuk dalam genre komedi. Penelitian ini menggunakan pola penelitian kualitatif yang mencakup kasus pembelajaran dalam karakteristik. Karya tulis ini dianalisa menggunakan teori humor yang di usung oleh Billig (2005) yang focus pada tipe-tipe dan fungsi-fungsi dari humor yang ditemukan di dalam teks ini. Untuk memperkuat analisis, penelitian ini disokong oleh peran narrator dengan melibatkan struktur naratif (Nikolajeva, 2002). Ternyata dapat diungkapkan bahwa humor dikonstruksi di dalam teks yaitu melalui peran narator dalam mengomentari ide atau penampilan dari karakter lain; mendominasi keseuruhan cerita; dan mempengaruhi persepsi para pembaca. Dapat diungkapkan juga bahwa peran narator di dalam teks juga dianggap sebagai penentu dalam memunculkan humor. Bukti-bukti tekstual juga menunjukan bahwa menganalisa melalui peran narrator dalam mengkontruksi humor, fungsi humor juga bisa diidentifikasi yaitu untuk menghibur para pembaca. Selain itu, fungsi humor juga ditemukan yaitu untut mengundang ide kritis para pembaca melalui kedua cerita pendek tersebut.
ABSTRACT
This research paper entitled “RECONSTRUCTING HUMOR: AN ANALYSIS OF
HUMOR IN TWO SELECTED SHORT STORIES” is aimed at investigating the construction and the function of humor in two selected short stories Rape Fantasies and The
Concert Stages of Europe. These stories have been chosen mainly because they belong to the
genre of comedy. The study employs a qualitative research design embracing the characteristics of a case study. The texts were analyzed using Billig’s (2005) humor theory, focusing on the types of humor and its function in the texts. To strengthen the analysis, the study is endorsed by the narrator’s roles engaging to the narrative structure (Nikolajeva,
2002). It is revealed that humor is constructed in the texts due to the role of narrator in co/ mghe textual evidences also show that through analyzing the role of the narrator in
constructing humor, humor function can also be identified which are to entertain the readers.
Besides, the function of humor can be found out that is to invite the readers’ critical thinking
from those stories.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE OF APPROVAL………...……….i
STATEMENT OF AUTHORIZATION...ii
PREFACE………..…..iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT...iv
ABSTRACT………...………..………vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS....………..…...……….…vii
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
1.1.Background…….………...……...………...11.2.Statement of Problems……….………...….5
1.3.Aims of the Research……….………..5
1.4.Reason for Choosing the Topic………5
1.5.Significant of the Research………...5
1.6.Research Design………...6
1.7.Scope of the Research………...7
1.8.Clarification of Terms………...7
viii
CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW
2.1. Humor Theory………....…10
2.2. Types of Humor……….………....13
2.2.1. Superiority Theory………..………...14
2.2.2. Incongruity Theory………...15
2.2.3. Relief Theory……...………..17
2.3 . Humor in Short Stories………....……….…..18
2.4. Humor and Narrative………...20
2.5. Previous Study………...21
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1. Research Questions……….………...243.2. Research Subject and Context……….…………...24
3.3. Research Method………25
3.5. Data Collection and Analysis……….28
3.5.1. Data Source………29
3.5.2. Synopsis………...30
3.5.2.1. Synopsis in Rape Fantasies………...30
3.5.2.2. Synopsis in The Concert Stages of Europe……...31
CHAPTER IV FINDING AND DISSCUSION
4.1 Constructing Humor………...………....334.1.1. The Role of Narrator in Humor Construction……….……….34
4.1.1.1. The Role of Narrator in Rape Fantasies..…...35
4.1.1.2. The Role of Narrator in The Concert Stages of Europe……38
4.1.2. Narrative Structures in Humor Construction...41
4.2. Types of Humor………...………..43
4.2.1. Superiority Humor………...44
4.2.1.1. Superiority Humor in Rape Fantasies…...44
4.2.1.2. Superiority Humor in The Concert Stages of Europe……..47
x
4.2.2.1. Incongruity Humor in Rape Fantasies ……….…...52
4.2.2.2. Incongruity Humor in The Concert Stages of Europe…….54
4.2.3. Relief Humor………...55
4.2.3.1. Relief Humor in Rape Fantasies ………...56
4.2.3.2 Relief Humor in The Concert Stages of Europe…………...57
4.3. The Function of Humor..…...……….59
4.4. Discussion………...………...62
CHAPTER V CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
5.1. Conclusion………..……….………...655.2. Suggestion…………...………...66
REFERENCES………...………..68
APPENDIX A………...………...……….71
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This chapter introduces the basic of the research. It begins with the
background of the research in which the research questions and the aims of the
research are presented. The reason for choosing the topic and its significance are
also engaged with this chapter. The research design employed in the research is
clarified in relation to data analysis within certain scopes. This chapter also serves
with the organization of paper as the general description of the research paper.
1.1
Background
Humor cannot be separated from human life as without humor life could
be monotonous. Bremmer et.al (as cited in Mawter, 2005) defines humor as
message transmitted into action, speech, writing, image, or music which aims at
making people smile or laugh. Different individuals might have a different sense
of humor, therefore, they might respond to humorous things in a variety of ways:
smiling, laughing or giving cynical comments. Related to this, in social relations,
humor holds an important function. For example, many people respect a person
with a good sense of humor as s/he may help strengthen the bonding between
friends through delivering funny stories, making people smile or laugh (Vettin &
2
Humor can be found in different media and classified into several
categories. For instance, humor presented in electronic media such as television is
called stand-up comedy that requires a person delivering a monologue to entertain
the audiences with his/her jokes. As for the printed media, humor can be found in
comics, short stories, novels, newspapers, and magazines.
Many researchers such as Bardon (2005) who believe that the study of
humor covers a large, relative yet rare scopes. It is a large and rare field because
it connects humor to people’s daily lives; it is relative due to its indicator, that is
the sense of humor which determines one’s reactions towards humorous
situations.
When narrowing down the studies of humor in the context of literary work
also applies. Humor has been discussed extensively; studies on this topic include
firstly, the work of Fine (as cited in Neuendorf & Skalski, 2001) who investigates
the functions of humor. In his work, Fine finds three functions of humor: to make
people feel each other’s chemistry; to be an ice-breaker in a bad situation and to
be a good weapon to initiate conversation in a new situation. Other research is
Kaufman & Kozbelt’s (2009) modes of delivering humor. They note:
One main vehicle by which funny thought which can be blunt the edge of potentially controversial topics and contribute to increasing the
audience’s health through laughter. Clearly, from their standpoint, humor
can be conveyed through creative writing.
In addition, Ostrower (2000) professes the view that humor is any
experience joy even when faced with adversity. Further, she mentions three
components of humor namely wit, mirth and laughter. She believes that if one of
the three components is gone, humor would be meaningless.
From the above explanation, humor may involve a lot of aspects, namely
situations, customs, habits of speech or dialects, or arrangement of words.
Another point is that humor affects people in different ways: it may result in
laughter or smile. Therefore, it is clear that there is a line between humor and
laughter. Humor is delivered as one’s efforts to make others laugh, while laughter
means a happy feeling resulted in laugh due to funny things.
In order to investigate the humor in literary work, the aims of the present
research are twofold. First, to investigate the construction of humor and second,
to identify the functions of humor in two selected short stories: Rape Fantasies
(1977) by Margaret Atwood and The Concert Stages of Europe (1978) by Jack
Hodgins. The main reasons for selecting these two stories is because they share
similarities in terms of humorous issues, modes of delivery and the role of the
narrator.
The first short story entitled Rape Fantasies (1977) by Margaret Atwood
revealed the conversation between five women who were discussing about their
fantasy when being raped. Uniquely, they talk about it during lunch time as their
response to several magazines which highlighting rape as headline news. The
4
story is about the five female characters responding to the ideas of being raped
seen from the perspective of the narrator.
The second short story entitled The Concert Stages of Europe (1978) by
Jack Hodgins explored the first person point of view as a narrator who was a
thirteen-year-old boy named Barclay or known as Clay. He is forced by his
mother to participate in a talent show called the concert stages of Europe. His
mother wanted Clay to be a pianist as her dream about, but Clay only wanted to
be just a Finn—Finish, Finlandian. In his paradigm, being Finn—Finnish,
Finlandian—means being liberate in which freedom is one of Finn—Finnish,
Finlandian—main-principal. The ridiculous comments which is conveyed by the
narrator made the story extremely comical. Finally Clay ended up with his
mother’s dream and it turned into disaster because he embarrassed his entire
family in the talent show.
Both short stories bring to forth humorous issues where each of the
narrator gives significant meaning and invites the reaction from the readers.
Another interesting thing is the way the two short stories are conveyed; the
narrator plays a role as a humorous agent of messages.
In general, most of humor stories are delivered in the first person point
of view. When delivered by different a story teller, usually it is not as funny as the
original version. However, humor is also relative, meaning that what makes a
1.2
Statement of Problems
The present research will be guided by the following questions:
1. How is humor constructed in the texts?
2. What function does the humor serve in the texts?
1.3
Aims of the Research
The aims of the research are to find out the way humor is constructed in
the texts and to find out the function of humor in the texts.
1.4
Reasons for Choosing the Topic
The issue of the research is chosen since the writer is interested to learn
how a text can make people laugh. Laughter is resulted from humorous event.
Therefore, in this research which is to find out two short stories create humorous
situations; the humor is revealed in aim to unveil its construction and its function
in creating laughter as a result—readers’ response.
1.5
Significance of the Research
The research is expected to give the description dealing with the definition
of humor especially in literature. Besides by exploring the research of humor, the
student’s appreciation will increase the understanding toward humor in the literary
texts especially in short stories. And the research is also attempted to give more
6
focusing on humor in the English Department of UPI (Indonesia University of
Education).
1.6
Research Design
The research is a qualitative research which uses descriptive methods
through narrative analysis where the focus of analysis is the two selected short
stories. The qualitative research tends to associate with words, languages,
statistics, numerical figures, and experiences than measurements. The result of the
data is the words and sentences which describe the elements of short stories that
make people laugh and the function of humor in the readers’ responses.
Furthermore, the research is directed to find out the connection between the
humorous texts with wit or narrator which is revealed in the texts.
The research finds the textual evidences that appear in the two short
stories, especially the dialogue between character and also the role of the narrator.
The descriptive method is considered relevant conducted in this research because
it can describe the characteristic of humor presence in the short stories.
The aim of a qualitative research is to get close to the data in their natural
setting. And it’s also designed to reflect an individual experience in the context of
their daily life. The descriptive methods are one of the qualitative research
methods which analyzes the text using narrative approach.
In analyzing two selected short stories, the research has several steps until
it reaches its findings. The basic step is by close reading. By using the close
The analysis will be on the characters, their interactions, and comments on
narrator which is united in the humor’s borderline. Then, the humorous events will
be labeled and interpreted by using the theory of humor and narrative. After
labeling the humorous events, then this research categorizes them into the three
types of humor, those are superiority, incongruity and relief. Besides, it
investigates the ways of the characters react towards the narrator. The narrator
holds the important part of the stories.
1.7
Scope of the Research
To limit the research scope, this research is attempted to analyze two short
stories entitled Rape Fantasies (1977) by Margaret Atwood and The Concert
Stages of Europe (1978) by Jack Hodgins by doing the analysis to find out the
humorous events and the function of humor found in the texts.
1.8
Clarification of Terms
Humor : The attempt to stimulate amusement (Jauregui, 1998).
Short story : A prose narrative of shorter length than the novel,
especially one that concentrates on a single theme.
Funny : The realistic situation. (Neuendorf and Skalski, 2001)
Laughter : A result of the physical energy which is built up to deal
8
Amusement : The human emotional responses to 'funny' or 'comical'
objects (Jauregui, 1998).
Wit : The ability to say or write things that are both clever and
amusing.
1.9
Organization of Paper
The research paper will be organized as follows:
Chapter I : Introduction
This chapter consists of the introduction which provides the
information on the background, statement of problems, aim
of the research, reason for choosing the topic, significances
of the research, research design, scope of the research,
classification of terms, and organization of the paper.
Chapter II : Literature Review
This section consists of previous researches and the
theoretical reviews that are relevant to the present study,
humor and a bit of narrative theory.
Chapter III : Research Method
This part deals with the methodology of the research. It
consists of research questions, research subject and context,
research method, research procedure, data collection and
explanation about the data source, the synopsis of the data
which contains of two selected of the short stories.
Chapter IV : Findings and Discussion
After collecting the data, this part reports the result of the
research. This chapter contains the research findings and
discussions of humor and narrative.
Chapter V : Conclusion and Suggestion
This chapter presents all the conclusions and suggestions
24
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter deals with the methodological aspects of the research. The
first subsection, that is, the research procedure discusses qualitative research
design, case study, and humor theory from Billig (2005) in brief. There are also
phases of research detailing steps taken in the study. As the tools of analysis,
humor theory from Billig (2005) and narrative from Nikolajeva (2002) are
reviewed in concerning research questions of the research.
3.1 Research Questions
The research is intended to investigate the following questions:
1. How is humor constructed in the texts?
2. What function does the humor serve in the texts?
3.2 Research Subject and Context
The subjects of the research are two selected short stories which are
considered as humorous texts. They are Rape Fantasies and The Concert Stages of
Europe. Rape Fantasies was written by Margaret Atwood and the story was
published in 1977. The author, Atwood is the Canadian writer who has written
25
Concert Stages of Europe was written by Jack Hodgins and the story was
published in 1978. The author, Hodgins is the British Columbian writer who has
published numbers of novels and short stories. Both stories were written in
English which consists of twenty pages.
The research is aimed to investigate the construction of humor by
analyzing the elements, the role of narrator, types of humor and also the narrative
implied in the texts. Moreover, the research is also aimed to analyze the function
of humor employed in the texts.
3.3 Research Methods
This research employs a qualitative method in the descriptive approach.
The research describes the textual evidences by analyzing words, phrases, and
sentences in two selected short stories (Rape Fantasies by Margaret Atwood and
The Concert Stages of Europe by Jack Hodgins) to answer the research questions.
A descriptive method is chosen since the research is formed to describe the
variables and phenomenons rather than to test a predicted relationship between
variables using a numerical code.
The research is conducted qualitatively by employing a textual analysis.
Alwasilah (2002, p.54) stated that qualitative research provides an understanding
by scrutinizing certain phenomenon in detail which context vitally influences
meanings of the phenomenon. Hancock (1998) added that a qualitative research is
26
subjective data. According to Lincoln (cited in Ospina, 2004) argued that a
qualitative research involves an interpretive and naturalistic approach. It means
that qualitative researchers learn things in their natural settings, attempt to make
sense of, or to interpret phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them.
Based on Hancock (1998) a qualitative research can be defined as an
attempts to increase our understanding of why things are the way they are in our
social world and why people act the way they do. In addition, Locke (2006)
argued that the qualitative projects are aimed to create understanding from data as
the analysis proceeds.
The text was discussed using humor theory framework from Billig (2005).
It focuses on the type, the role of narrator, and function of humor in two selected
short stories. In this frame, reader response such a laugh, smile, and cynical
response are facilitated. To enhance the validity of the study, the analysis also
engages to narrative theory from Nikolajeva (2002) concerning to the issue the
narrator of role which construct the humor in the texts.
3.4 Research Procedure
In conducting the research, the writer undertook some steps as presented
below:
1. Reading closely the whole short stories Rape Fantasies and The
27
2. Selecting the evidences from the short stories containing humor
issue specifically which results laugh, smile and cynical responses.
3. Selecting the issue of narrative specifically the role of narrator
which is related to the humor issue to find out the main focus of
humor construction.
4. Determining categories for collecting data. The categories are
superiority humor, incongruity humor, relief humor and their
connection toward narrative.
5. Collecting the data from two selected short stories by paying
attention to clues signifying humor proposed by Billig (2005).
6. Analyzing the text using humor theory from Billig (2005) and
relate it to the finding dealing with narrative from Nikolajeva
(2002) which focuses on the role of narrator in constructing humor.
The role of narrator is mostly described as the main determiner in
constructing humor in the two selected stories.
7. Evaluating the data analysis which has been classified into the
categories.
a. Interpreting result. This steps involve:
Clarifying the data analysis concerning into the humor issue
and its relation to the role of narrator in the process of
28 Finding out the way of humor constructing through the role
of narrator and how it describes its function in the texts.
b. Discussing the result of the analysis by meaning of humor
theory principles especially in constructing humor through the
role of narrator. Finally the essence was conceptualized in
conclusion with boundaries and several suggestions.
3.5 Data Collection and Analysis
Data are collected by finding textual evidences in the forms of words,
sentences, phrases, and dialogues. The textual evidences are those that contain
clues signifying them as the humorous texts and also related to humor which have
been explained in the previous chapter. After the textual evidences being
collected, they are categorized into three types of humor which is based on the
theory of humor proposed by Billig (2005).
After the data are categorized, the writer looks into how the rounding
context of the humorous effect is being analyzed. From the context, it attempts to
find out how is humor constructed in the texts. It also will figure out why the
humor is being constructed functioned in the texts. After identifying the humorous
texts, the writer focuses into the characteristics of each type. The collected data
were presented in a table, for instance:
No. Humor Events Reason of Smiling or
29
Laughing Narrator Humor
1. “You’re intending to
rape me, right?” and
he nods, so I open
my purse to get the
plastic lemon, and I
can’t find it! My
purse is full of all
this junk, Kleenex
and cigarettes and
my change purse and
my lipstick and my
driver’s license, you
know the kind of
stuff.” (16th par, line 5)
The narrator is
so screwed up
to find the
plastic lemon,
because in her
fantasy, the
plastic lemon is
a must stuff.
But when the
time arrives,
she just can’t
find the plastic
lemon and
can’t make her
fantasies come
true.
As a
punchliner
Incongruity
3.5.1 Data Source
Data source for this research is two selected short stories which are
entitled Rape Fantasies (1977) and The Concert Stages of Europe (1978). These
two short stories are considered as humorous texts which is the main focus of this
research. In Rape Fantasies, the characters are Estelle, Chrissy, Sondra, Darlene,
30 story. Chrissy, Sondra, Darlene, and Greta are Estelle’s coworkers. In the story,
they shared about their fantasies of being raped.
While in The Concert Stages of Europe, the characters are Barclay Philip
Desmond, Barclay’s parent, Cornelia Horncastle, Mrs. Humphries, Richy Ryder,
Aunt Jessie, Mr and Mrs Greenborough, Korhonen’s family. The concert stages of
Europe is a famous talent show which searches a talented child. The main
character in this story is Barclay Philip Desmond or known as Clay who is also a
narrator. Cornelia Horncastle is a previous pianist winner in the concert stages of
Europe. Richy Ryder is the emcee of the recital. Mrs. Humpries, Aunt Jessie, Mrs.
Greenborough are Clay’s piano teacher. Korhonen’s families consist of Mr. and
Mrs. Korhonen, Lilja Korhonen, and Larry Korhonen are Clay’s neighbors who
were Finns.
3.5.2 Synopsis
3.5.2.1 Synopsis Rape Fantasies
The story presents the short fiction that discusses about the women’s
imagination of rape fantasy. Estelle—the narrator—shares about her personal rape
fantasies, she is also talking about her friends’ rape fantasies. The narrator
restrains the whole story which is dominated at each her friends’ imagination
31
friend as a woman who make up too much and she considers that her friend is not
beautiful at all.
Another foolish fantasy of Estelle’s friend is when she imagines being
raped by some guy. She does not feel fear but she just excited being raped. When
her other friend imagines raped fantasies at a romantic situation one, the
narrator—Estelle—describes her fantasies into the romance too, but all her
fantasy is just broken. When someone is intended to rape her, she was searching
the plastic lemon which is a must thing if she is being raped. But she cannot find
that must thing and finally she cannot make her romantic fantasies came true.
3.5.2.2. Synopsis The Concert Stages of Europe
The story tells about a thirteen-year-old boy named Clay who was forced
to learn piano by his own mother. At first, it was his mother’s obsession to be a
great pianist but she could never reach her dream. Clay who is the narrator in the
story brings humor with the description of himself. The story begins with the
refusal act from Clay who does not want to take the piano lesson. He makes some
excuses to the mother but it never works. One of his efforts is running away from
the piano lesson to the creek behind his teacher’s house, but unfortunately he was
falling down from the raft.
Clay has a fool’s dream which is to be a Finn. Finns are people who have a
32
asking money from his neighbors to vote and make him win in the recital. Clay
also embarrassed his entire family by his stupid answer to Richy Ryder (the emcee
of the recital) which mocks his hometown. At the recital, he cannot show off his
ability that is playing the piano as well as the other contestant do. The mother
feels disappointed and regretted by forcing her son to learn the piano lesson
because all she gets just feel ashamed. The humor precisely arises from Clay’s
entire bloomer act that cause to one significant result that embarrassed his whole
family.
3.6 Closing Remarks
This chapter has briefly discussed the research methodology which
includes the research objective, the research subject and context, the research
method, the research procedure, the data collection and analysis (how to collect
and analyze the data) and the data source and the synopsis of both short stories.
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
After describing and discussing the findings of the research, this chapter
discusses several conclusions which are drawn from the previous chapter. This
chapter also provides several suggestions for future research in analyzing humor
in literary texts.
5.1
Conclusion
The research is aimed to answer two research questions deals with humor
which is about the construction of humor and its function in the texts. The humor
is constructed through the types and its elements employed in two selected short
stories. The elements of humor divided into three things such as wit, the ideas or
creative thinking, and the interaction between all of them with the readers.
From the discussion in the previous chapter, it is concluded that there are
three types of humor employed in two selected short stories entitled Rape
Fantasies and The Concert Stages of Europe. They are superiority humor,
incongruity humor, and relief humor which involves the main character, as the
participant. In the sequences event when the humor occurs, the function of humor
is also engaged in showing the construction of humor. The function of humor is to
66
A line between the function in Rape Fantasies and in The Concert Stages
of Europe is depicted clearly. In Rape Fantasies, the function of humor is ironic
which invites the readers’ responses such as a smile while think why rape
becomes the subject of humor. In The Concert Stages of Europe, the function of
humor tends to entertain the readers by serving several mockery and ridicule. As
the whole texts revealed, by analyzing humor we can figure out why humor
happens, when humor happens, what factors and raises our senses of humor.
Furthermore, the issue in both stories wrapped in humor construction,
emerges the critical thinking of the readers towards stories. On the other words, it
affects the readers in questioning the context of the texts since the sensitive issue
are wrapped in humor construction. Therefore, it is formally concluded that the
short stories—Rape Fantasies and The Concert Stages of Europe—is one of
critical literary works due to its capability in using the role of humor as the tools
of inviting readers critical-thinking.
5.2
Suggestions
This research can provide a useful reference for literary research and its
application in the society. Therefore, the writer has some suggestions for future
research about humor. First, future researchers should present more detail analysis
of humor and its types. Besides, the writer also realizes that in this research the
analysis of the function of humor should to be analyzed in more detail. In this
67
in literary texts. In line with the suggestion, future researchers should have easy
and wide access to find literature relating to context of humor.
Second, future researchers are suggested to investigate the asymmetries in
the types of humor which are superiority humor, incongruity humor, and relief
humor since the writer considers it is an interesting phenomenon. Future
researchers may focus on why people tend to mock the weak people and utter the
humorous utterance in an inappropriate situation as their object of humor by using
68
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