Culture is Clash Theory’s third and final major category. Culture informs and supports the sense and nonsense identifications within each humor kernel. For a short but critical background review, please first read What is Culture?.

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Culture and humor intersect in two crucial ways. First, humor is frequently constructed using culture and cultural norms as both subject matter and as humor kernel elements. Second, the expression of humor itself is a kind of culture.

For some familiar forms of humorous expression (hyperbole, personification, slapstick, gags, whimsy, irony, sarcasm, cringe, shock, innuendo), the dominant component is the character of the humor kernel. For others (dry, deadpan, inside, one-liner, observational, gallows), the dominant component is context.

The remaining humor culture categories require elements of culture. Six of these are relatively straightforward (Parody, Satire, Cultural Comparison Humor, Wit, Catchphrases, Meta-humor). The last three humor forms (Wordplay, Ridicule, Pranks) take the largest amount of Clash Theory’s attention, as measured by chapter count in Why Funny Is Funny.

Return to the second broad category Context

Continue to the first Humor Culture category Parody