First, by
adopting the point of view of the standard as our own, identifying
ourselves with it, and through the contrast of ourselves with the
object, we may take pleasure in the resulting exaltation of ourselves.
The pleasure in the comic is often closely akin to that which we feel
in distinction of any kind. We feel ourselves superior to the object
at which we laugh. There is pride in much of laughter and not
infrequently cruelty, a delight in the absurdities of other men because
they exalt ourselves as the representatives of the rational and normal.
There is often a touch of malice even in the laughter of the child.
Nevertheless, the pleasure in the comic is still contemplative, and
so far aesthetic, because it is a pleasure in perception, not in action.
No matter how evil be the comic object, we do not seek to destroy or
remodel it; action is sublimated into laughter.
But the pleasure in the comic may arise through our taking the opposite
point of view--that of the funny thing itself. Instead of upholding
the point of view of the standard, we may identify ourselves with the
object. If the comic spirit is oftentimes the champion of the normal
and conventional, it is as often the mischief-maker and rebel. Whenever
the maintaining of a standard involves strain through the inhibition
of instinctive tendencies, to relax and give way to impulse causes a
pleasure which centers itself upon the object that breaks the tension.
The intrusive animal that interrupts the solemn occasion, the child
that wittingly or not scoffs at our petty formalities through his naive
behavior, win our gratitude, not our scorn.
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