Using Humor to Move Away From Abjection

Abstract

The absence of discourses on death makes it difficult for those dealing with loss to communicate about their experiences. Our emotions vary even more when we see the corpse of a loved one at the funeral. It is overwhelming; a family member is gone, death, and you are faced with your own mortality, abjection. The author recently experienced the death of her grandmother and confronted her own abjection. The author writes this story as a third way of knowing. The author wants to share her experience by offering a narrative blueprint of how her family used humor to more effectively cope. In addition, this story fills a gap in the current literature; humor has been studied minimally in regard to dealing with death. Humor can be an effective way to ease tensions, reduce stress, and open lines of communication among family members when they are faced with death and abjection.

A scoping research literature review to explore bereavement humor

“…One described the joking that is done by attendees at African funerals and African funerals where comedians were increasingly appearing (Pype, 2015 ). Marmo’s ( 2010 ) article indicated that humor was often used by grieving family members; with humor easing tensions, reducing stress, and opening lines of communication among family members who are coping with a death. Moreover, in that paper, humor was said to help initiate a realization of one’s own death in the future (Marmo, 2010 ).…”

“…Marmo’s ( 2010 ) article indicated that humor was often used by grieving family members; with humor easing tensions, reducing stress, and opening lines of communication among family members who are coping with a death. Moreover, in that paper, humor was said to help initiate a realization of one’s own death in the future (Marmo, 2010 ). Similarly, a report about the House of Being, a Holocaust-survivor combined geriatric center and memorial museum in Israel, discussed the common use of humor and the importance of humor for Holocaust descendants (Kidron, 2010 ).…”

Humor como Estratégia Discursiva na Compreensão da Dinâmica do Espaço Organizacional

“…O humor tem por objetivo primeiro divertir, mas também realiza diversas outras funções (Roth & Vivona, 2010;Schnurr, 2008;Holmes, 2007;Lynch & Schaefer, 2009;Heiss & Carmack, 2011;Kidd, Miller, Boyd, & Cardeña, 2009 (Romero & Cruthirds, 2006;Greatbatch & Clark, 2003;Kidd, Miller, Boyd, & Cardeña, 2009;Santos, 2003), Estresse (Romero & Cruthirds, 2006;Heiss & Carmack, 2011;Greatbatch & Clark, 2003;Marmo, 2010;Duarte & Duarte, 2009, Santos, 2003, Comunicação (Romero & Cruthirds, 2006;Marmo, 2010;Santos, 2003), Criatividade (Romero & Cruthirds, 2006, Santos, 2003, Cultura organizacional (Romero & Cruthirds, 2006;Holmes, 2009;Santos, 2003) e Liderança (Romero & Cruthirds, 2006;Holmes, 2009). …”