The trumping of the funny: classroom joking in a polarized public sphere

Abstract

Classroom funniness is a common undertaking – a professor often laces discussion with jokes in order to enliven and endear themselves to students. In doing so, one adopts Mintz’s (1985) persona of comedian-as-shaman, a figure who stands apart from a social group in order to assume the perspective needed to critique in funny ways. In this paper, though, I argue that the increasingly separatist nature of politics in Trump’s America make that shamanistic position one that students react negatively toward. If a comedian is necessarily an “other,” and if vehement repudiation of the “other” is our current political currency, then a professor risks alienating classes rather than illuminating them with their funniness.

Keywords:

• Comedy
• humor
• pedagogy
• Trump

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).