Scan barcode
A review by theaurochs
The Joke and Its Relation to the Unconscious by Sigmund Freud
4.0
Absolutely fascinating book.
Freud's thought process is intriguing and very well argued- it is an intense deep dive into certain semantics that I never knew I wanted explaining, but I'm now very glad that I took this journey.
What exactly is a joke, and why do we laugh at it? It's surely an age-old question, and here Freud extends his more famous analysis of dreams and the subconscious with the aim to explain jokes in the same terms. His ultimate thesis is that laughter from a joke arises from excess psychical energy (mental effort) released when a 'shortcut' of sorts is found- comparing two otherwise unlike examples. Or, when surplus psychical energy is released by comparison with mental inhibitions that are culturally dependant. Despite the fact that the scientific body at large is no longer in agreement with this interpretation, it still was a powerful step in the understanding of the conscious/unconscious mind at the time. And as mentioned, it is well laid out and enjoyable to read.
The translation (2002 edition- Joyce Crick) must also take great credit in addition to what I imagine is superb original writing; the prose is engaging and manages to convey the subtler ideas with clarity but never strays over into the stuffy, overly-academic tone that a lot of scientific writing finds itself in.
Two concepts really come in to play here. The first is this- when you explain a joke, it stops being funny (a concept which Freud actually adequately explains). And second- when you continue a bit and it stops being funny, but then you can keep it going for long enough that it becomes funny again. The effect is to make a large portion of the book feel quite amusing already, just by the ridiculous extent to which Freud will take a joke and analyse it to oblivion.
The selection of jokes themselves are also quite illuminating- a lot of them are lost to a translation either of language or space, but there are enough that are still genuinely amusing.
A genuinely fascinating book that I'd recommend to pretty much anyone with an interest in knowledge!
Freud's thought process is intriguing and very well argued- it is an intense deep dive into certain semantics that I never knew I wanted explaining, but I'm now very glad that I took this journey.
What exactly is a joke, and why do we laugh at it? It's surely an age-old question, and here Freud extends his more famous analysis of dreams and the subconscious with the aim to explain jokes in the same terms. His ultimate thesis is that laughter from a joke arises from excess psychical energy (mental effort) released when a 'shortcut' of sorts is found- comparing two otherwise unlike examples. Or, when surplus psychical energy is released by comparison with mental inhibitions that are culturally dependant. Despite the fact that the scientific body at large is no longer in agreement with this interpretation, it still was a powerful step in the understanding of the conscious/unconscious mind at the time. And as mentioned, it is well laid out and enjoyable to read.
The translation (2002 edition- Joyce Crick) must also take great credit in addition to what I imagine is superb original writing; the prose is engaging and manages to convey the subtler ideas with clarity but never strays over into the stuffy, overly-academic tone that a lot of scientific writing finds itself in.
Two concepts really come in to play here. The first is this- when you explain a joke, it stops being funny (a concept which Freud actually adequately explains). And second- when you continue a bit and it stops being funny, but then you can keep it going for long enough that it becomes funny again. The effect is to make a large portion of the book feel quite amusing already, just by the ridiculous extent to which Freud will take a joke and analyse it to oblivion.
The selection of jokes themselves are also quite illuminating- a lot of them are lost to a translation either of language or space, but there are enough that are still genuinely amusing.
A genuinely fascinating book that I'd recommend to pretty much anyone with an interest in knowledge!