Stereotypes

Stereotypes are forms of representation that evaluate particular categories of people in homogenized, unyielding terms. They implicitly claim that those belonging to such categories have certain traits or characteristics that are absolute and unchanging. Those assigned to them are reduced to these traits or characteristics without qualification. When stereotypes are aligned with jokes or other comic modes, the stock features associated with them are the source and object of the humor, and the humor functions primarily as a way of ridiculing, demeaning, and belittling people outside of the social group that enjoys the humor. This entry examines what is involved in the relationship of stereotyping and humor; how their combination operates and has a determining effect on the humor; and how, at least to a degree, reverse humor can be used to challenge stereotypes.

When stereotypes are given expression in comic frames, a particular perspective is being signaled. This does not necessarily belong to any broader outlook or worldview, but it does register the discourse of expression as apparently nonserious, though of course that may not be recognized or accepted, and the comic expression may have serious implications, such as making the stereotypes of those “joked about” gain hold despite—or rather, because of—the laughter thus generated. In any event, stereotypes within comic frames cannot be regarded as straightforwardly equivalent to stereotypes in general because their use in humor modifies the status of their meaning and how the stereotypes are understood. The general import of a stereotype within a comic frame may be more or less identical to the same stereotype outside that frame, but where in another context, such as a war film or a spy novel, the stereotypical representation acquires a moral or political value relevant to the outcome of the narrative, with comic stereotyping what is represented acquires a different value—that of being a warranted object of amusement and hilarity in and of itself. The humor is legitimated by the stereotype, and vice versa. The shift has various implications for the operation, circulation, and reception of a stereotype, and so we need to look into the relationship between humor and stereotyping, and see what happens when they are brought into combination.