History of Humor: U.S. Modern and Contemporary

Humor in the United States reflects the country's diversity and the shifting statuses of its many cultural and social groups. Historical and social factors that will be briefly discussed here as contributors to the present state of American humor include marginalization related to ethnic and other differences; the expectation that citizens should be active participants in governance; the influence of capitalism [Page 333]and its encouragement of competition and new technologies; and folk or amateur humor, as opposed to humor prepared for profit.