In my recent conference paper on cultural dimensions of literacy development,
I referred to Francoise Hermann's excellent monograph (which i do hope
will not remain unpublished too much longer), and noted "the peculiar status
of humor as a vehicle for subversion of authority by peripheral participants,
a topic noted in other contexts as one of the few 'weapons of the weak'
(Scott, 1985)..."
Yet even central figures such as yourself, Mike, experience a sense of
potential danger when deploying this dimension of discourse. I wonder why ?
Part of it, I think, arises from
the need for underpinning by trust grounded in a strong sense of
intersubjectivity. We can negotiate intersubjectivity so much more easily in ftf
communication because of the multiple paralinguistic resources at our disposal.
Robert
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Robert Serpell Telephone: (410)455-2417
Psychology Department (410)455-2567
University of Maryland Baltimore County
1000 Hilltop Circle,
Baltimore, MD 21250 Fax: (410)455-1055
USA
INTERNET: Serpell who-is-at UMBC2.UMBC.edu