This was a very interesting study by Freud about the nature of humor, comedy, and jokes. It was different from his other major, and even minor, pieces- and herein lies its strength and weakness. Although it's dated now and the scientific relevance is dubious in nature, the ideas that permeate through this (and the analysis) I feel are still worth denoting.

3 stars. ( )

Sigmund Freud‘s Il motto di spirito e la sua relazione con l'inconscio (Jokes and their relation to the unconscious). A very good book, the differences between different genres of humor are interesting. This book wises people up to humor and its functions, structures and social influence. I didn’t like the link between jokes and repressed sexual impulses, it felt too forced and unnatural, especially when applied to some kinds of jokes. ( )

Freud had first discussed jokes in his work on dreams, drawing upon the relationship--and the fact that so many dreams really are jokes had been observed. This dates back to 1899. Freud also credits and draws upon the work of Theodor Lipps, the Munich professor who introduced the term 'Einfulung" [empathy]. Among others, Freud also credits Kuno Fisher, whose definition provides many windows and doors: "A joke is a playful judgment". [10]

Once Freud's structural view of the mind had been developed, his collection of the material for this book on the function of Jokes began in earnest.

Much of this material plays off linguistics. For example, "Traduttore--Traditore!" [Translator--Traitor!] Fortunately, this translation does very well with the German-English, minimizing clumsy periphrases but adding clarifications with care -- "care-ifications" (Sorry, could not help myself, after reading the Witzig-Scherz "strange fatality" in which German and English terms never seem to coincide).[7] And even the German "Humor" often used by itself, but in English is rarely used without "sense of".

Freud takes on the complex psychological processes and relationships invoked by Jokes, showing how they appear and are used. After analyzing examples, he theorizes "what it is that jokes achieve" in the service of their purpose. "They make possible the satisfaction of an instinct (whether lustful or hostile) in the face of an obstacle that stands in its way." [101]

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