Humour as a Carrier of Memory within Culture. A few Remarks on the English Sense of Humour and its Relation to the Collective Memory of the British Society, seen from the Perspective of Cognitive Integration Theory

  • Joanna Jabłońska-Hood Uniwersytet Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej (UMCS) w Lublinie, Wydział Humanistyczny

Abstrakt

 

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The purpose of my article is to present the notion of cultural memory as applied to both the English society as well as the English sense of humour, and to examine these in relation to WW2 by means of the cog­nitive integration theory, aka blending.

THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS: The presented research prob­lem hinges around the term of memory, specifically the collective memory of the English, as perceived with regard to its multimodal conceptualization with the cul­ture, together with its inextricable link with the English sense of humour. All this has been scrutinised by a linguistic method, i.e. conceptual integration theory, and the references to the literature in question.

THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: Having defined the goal of my pa­per, and the basic concepts pertaining to it (memory, collective memory, English sense of humour), I proceed to the brief explanation of the linguistic paradigm, i.e. blending theory, which is employed within this study. Then, I present the anal­ysis of the English humour tackling the subject of the Second World War, which is performed with the aid of the blending theory.

RESEARCH RESULTS: The result of this argumentation is the preservation of the glorious memories of the British past via the English sense of humour, which helps to deal with the trauma and the not‑so‑glarious moments of the English history.

CONCLUSIONS, INNOVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: This analysis confirmed that conceptual integration theory can be utilized as a tool with which to analyse the collective memory of the English and their sense of humour. It also proved that the English nation employs their humour into the processing of the historical past, which softens the blow of the horrendous events, and makes it possible for the English to glorify and idealise their role within the world’s arena.

Bibliografia

Assmann, A. (2008). Canon and Archive. In A. Erll, & A. Nünning (Eds.), Cultural Memory Studies. An Interdisciplinary Handbook. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

Assmann, J. (2008). Communicative and Cultural Memory. In A. Erll, & A. Nünning (Eds.), Cultural Memory Studies. An Interdisciplinary Handbook. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

Brandt, L., & Brandt, P.A. (2005). Making Sense of a blend. A cognitive approach to metaphor. Retrieved from: http://www.hum.au.dk/ckulturf/pages/publications/ lb/blend_metaphor.html (access: 15.11.2007).

Clark, W. (2005). On the semiosphere by Juri Lotman (translation). Retrieved from: http://www.academia.edu/21861844/On_the_Semiosphere_Translation_

Erll, A., & Nünning, A. (Eds.). (2008). Cultural Memory Studies. An Interdisciplinary Handbook. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

Esposito, E. (2008). Social Forgetting. A Systems Theory Approach. In A. Erll, & A. Nünning (Eds.), Cultural Memory Studies. An Interdisciplinary Handbook. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 181-190.

Fauconnier, G. (1994). Mental Spaces: Aspects of meaning construction in natural language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Fauconnier, G. (1998). Mappings in Language and Thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Fauconnier, G. (2008). How Compression Gives Rise to Metaphor and Metonymy. Retrieved from: www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiHw3N6d1Js

Fauconnier, G., & Turner, M. (1998). Polysemy and conceptual blending. Retrieved from: http://www.cogsci.ucsd.edu/~coulson/203/turner polysemy.pdf

Fauconnier, G., & Turner, M. (2002). The Way We Think: Conceptual Blending and the Mind’s Hidden Complexities. New York: Basic Books.

Fauconnier, G., & Turner, M. (2006). Mental spaces. Conceptual integration networks. In D. Geerarest (Ed.), Cognitive Linguistics. Basic Readings. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 303-371.

Fauconnier, G., & Turner, M. (2008a). The origin of language as a product of the evolution of Modern Cognition. Retrieved from: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/ papers.cmf?abstract_id=1556533

Fauconnier, G., & Turner, M. (2008b). Rethinking Metaphor. In R. Gibbs (Ed.), Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought. New York: Cambridge University Press, 53-66.

Grishakova, M. (Ed.). (2009). Culture and Explosion. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

Jabłońska Hood, J. (2015). A Conceptual Blending Theory of Humour. Selected British Comedy Productions in Focus. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang GmbH.

Jamieson, A. (2008, November 19). Nazi leader Hitler really did have only one ball. Retrieved from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howabout-that/3481932/Nazi leader Hitler really did have only one ball.html

Jarsz, H. (2008). Laugh, Cackle and Howl. Liverpool: Carlton Books Limited.

Libura, A. (2007). Amalgamaty kognitywne w sztuce. Kraków: Universitas.

McCubbins, M.D., & Turner. M. (2013). Concepts of Law. Southern California Law Review, 86 (3), 517-572.

Marr, A. (2009). A History of Modern Britain. London: MacMillan.

Noakes, L., & Pattison, J. (Eds.). (2013). British Cultural Memory and the Second World War. London: Bloomsbury.

Olick, J.K. (2007). Collective Memory. The Two Cultures. Retrieved from: https://

www.sfu.ca/cmns/courses/2012/487/1-Extra%20Readings/olick1999.pdf

Olick, J.K., Vinitzky‑Seroussi, V., & Levy, D. (Eds.). (2011). The Collective Memory Reader. New York: Oxford University Press.

Saryusz‑Wolska, M., & Traba, R. (Eds.). (2014). Modi memorandi: Leksykon kultury pamięci. Scholar: Warszawa.

Turner, M. (2010). Blending Box Experiments, Build 1.0. Retrieved from: http://ssrn.com/author=1058129

Turner, M. (2014). The Origin of Ideas: Blending, Creativity, and the Human Spark. New York: OUP.

Turner, M. (2015). Blending in Language and Communication. In E. Dabrowska, & D. Divjak (Eds.), Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.

YouTube online1, Dad’s army exemplary episode with the introductory song, which accompanied every single episode in each series. Retrieved from: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FGdJnwRihR8

YouTube online 2, Monty Python’s Flying Circus sketch entitled Mr Hitler and Minehead by‑electio. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VSTzGwkMiM

Opublikowane
2017-01-23
Jak cytować
Jabłońska-Hood, J. (2017). Humour as a Carrier of Memory within Culture. A few Remarks on the English Sense of Humour and its Relation to the Collective Memory of the British Society, seen from the Perspective of Cognitive Integration Theory. Horyzonty Wychowania, 15(36), 87-105. https://doi.org/10.17399/HW.2016.153605