High-Context Humor

High context and low context are terms often used to describe the communicative style of an entire culture. Whether a culture is considered high or low context depends on how much a listener must rely on implicit information to grasp the meaning of a message. In high-context cultures, such as those in Africa, Asia, South America, and the Middle East, messages rely on more than the words in the message itself, such as shared cultural knowledge and experiences. This highly contextual communicative style places an emphasis on the relative status of the interlocutors, and words are much less important than the surrounding context. In low-context cultures, such those in North America and most of Western Europe, messages do not contain as much implicit information as those from high-context cultures, and the literal meaning of the shared words are enough to grasp the full intention of a speaker. This entry discusses high-context messages and the role they play in humor.

Not only can entire cultures be identified as more high or low context than others, but interactions between individuals, regardless of culture, can also be more high or low context depending on the level of formality, relationship, and shared experiences between interlocutors. For example, if an individual is asked, “Is something wrong?” and he or she responds with “no,” then we may assume that nothing is wrong. If, however, that individual's arms are crossed and that individual has a scowl on his or her face while saying “no,” then we would most likely understand the implicit “yes” underlying the verbal “no.” This is an example of a high-context message that relies on a shared understanding and interpretation of body language to relay the implicit information.

Another example of high-context messages, which introduces the broader concept of high-context humor, is inside jokes, or in-jokes. Inside jokes are highly contextual, esoteric jokes that are understood only to individuals who share a mutual community, social group, or common experience. Inside jokes often have triggers that stem from the common ground shared between community members that can never be fully understood by an outsider who doesn't have the same contextual understanding. Triggers are events that occur after the inside joke has been established and act as a reference to the humorous meaning surrounding the shared experience.

Let's consider an example: Two female friends, Tina and Anne, spend an evening together at a bar. While there, a rather intoxicated man approaches the table and attempts to pick up one of the women by saying, “Do you wash your clothes with Windex? Because I can see myself in your window. Er—pants! I mean pants!” Not only did Tina and Anne find his attempt in and of itself pitiful and humorous, but his slip of the tongue (saying “window” instead of “pants”) made the situation even more hysterical. Now, even months after the bar scene, the women signal to one another when they find an individual attractive in public by simply saying, “I can see myself in his window… .” The meaning of this phrase is only understandable for Tina and Anne because they shared the experience needed to fully grasp the implicit meaning. The literal translation of this phrase could never provide an outsider with enough information to understand it the way the two women do. The inside joke is used by these two women to strengthen their friendship, while also bridging the meaning surrounding the bar experience into their day-to-day lives (i.e., the man at the bar was insinuating that he was attracted to one of the women when he accidentally said, “I can see myself in your window.” Since that experience, Tina and Anne use the same phrase to insinuate their own attractions toward others while continuing to make fun of the man.) So the trigger for the inside joke is the instance in which Tina finds herself attracted to a stranger and wishes to express the fact to Anne, or vice versa. Even if the women were to explain the inside joke to an outsider who did not directly share the experience in the bar, doing so would rely on the use of low-context messages (direct, literal language), which reduces the humorous appeal for the outsider.

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