This article highlights the civic role of humour as revealed by the analysis of two Romanian online satirical publications (Times New Roman and Cațavencii). The analysis will emphasise different ...humorous strategies and the crisis narratives deployed by the journalists, in accordance with the profile of the publication. While a ludic frame is preferred for the Times New Roman authors, the authors from Cațavencii use aggressive humour or articles with humorous insertion in order to make accusations against public or private power structures. Satirical publications are not only meant to entertain the public, but also to raise awareness to critical issues such as the environmental aspects (for example, climate change, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, etc.). The analysis will also tackle the appraisal of humorous articles by the public and the risk entailed by the lens of humour on the public’s perception of the topic: illegal logging in Romania.
In this accessible book, Delia Chiaro provides a fresh overview of the language of jokes in a globalized and digitalized world. The book shows how, while on the one hand the lingua-cultural nuts and ...bolts of jokes have remained unchanged over time, on the other, the time-space compression brought about by modern technology has generated new settings and new ways of joking and playing with language. The Language of Jokes in the Digital Age covers a wide range of settings from social networks, e-mails and memes, to more traditional fields of film and TV (especially sitcoms and game shows) and advertising. Chiaro’s consideration of the increasingly virtual context of jokes delights with both up-to-date examples and frequent reference to the most central theories of comedy. This lively book will be essential reading for any student or researcher working in the area of language and humour and will be of interest to those in language and media and sociolinguistics.
Self-referential third-person predications functioning as stand-alone virtual performatives, such as ∗shrugs∗, abound across modes of computer-mediated communication and interactive multimodal ...platforms. Their continued use, commonly involving manual addition of typographic elements, testifies to non-trivial communicative needs not satisfied by easy access to graphical icons, like the shrug emoji. This study investigates their contributions to the construction of face in mass messaging. Focusing on face-work practices on Twitter, the aim is to account for ways in which users employ virtual performatives in that noisy, opaque, and socially complex environment. Virtual performatives are examined in a sample of publicly visible tweets which are not retweets or replies to other users and do not contain names of people. Manifesting minimal addressivity, the constructions are shown to rely on self-reference for face-work, inviting imagined audiences of the like-minded to treat the action or emotion thus enacted virtually by an externalized self as something they can relate to. Virtual performatives are inherently playful, and the humour conveyed in the tweets including them is predominantly benevolent and tolerant. A central finding is the conspicuous presence of benign self-deprecating humour: as users seek social acceptance at their own expense, they seem not to take themselves too seriously.
•Virtual performatives contribute to face-work practices on Twitter.•Users post self-referential microplays for others to relate to.•Virtual performatives convey playfulness and humour.•What is conspicuously present is benevolent self-deprecating humour.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
In this study, we investigate the relationship between affiliative and aggressive humour of the leader and the quality of relationship between leader and follower in terms of leader–member exchange ...(LMX), assuming identification with the leader to mediate this relationship. We conducted a 2‐wave survey study with a time lag of 6 weeks (N = 152). We found affiliative humour of the leader rated at Time 1 to be positively related to LMX at Time 2, even after controlling for LMX at Time 1, whereas aggressive humour was negatively related to LMX at Time 2. Identification with the leader mediated the relationship between affiliative humour of the leader and LMX but did not mediate the relationship between aggressive humour and LMX. Our results contribute to the understanding of leader behaviours that contribute to a positive professional relationship between leader and follower as well as to the understanding of the relational processes that may explain the effects of humour in leadership.
Practitioner points
Leader humour may help establish high‐quality relationships between leaders and followers. Leaders could use affiliative humour and should avoid aggressive humour to improve the quality of leader–follower relationships.
Affiliative humour may be developed by an established humour training programme focusing on the so‐called humour habits. Aggressive humour could be prevented by establishing organizational non‐aggression norms.
Formal humour training for leaders should be used with care to prevent potential downsides such as emotional exhaustion.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
This article adds to the social psychological literature on how minority group members seek to manage their interactions with majority group members. Specifically, it focuses on minority group ...members’ use of humour in interactions where they anticipate or actually experience prejudice. The data on which our analysis is based originate from interviews conducted with Roma in Hungary (N = 30). Asked about their interactions with majority group members, interviewees reported using humour as a means to (a) manage embarrassment; (b) gather information about the other's intergroup attitudes; and (c) subvert taken‐for‐granted understandings of social relations. The humour involved was diverse. Sometimes it entailed the telling of (Roma‐related) jokes. Sometimes it involved the exaggerated performance of roles and identities that ironised majority–minority social relations. The significance of humour as a tool for minority group members to exert some control over their interactions with majority group members is discussed.
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DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Background
Visualization of aqueous humor flow in MR contrast images using gadolinium is challenging because of the delayed contrast effects associated with the blood‐retinal and blood‐aqueous humor ...barriers. However, oxygen‐17 water (H217O) might be used as an ocular contrast agent.
Purpose
To observe the distribution of H217O in the human eye, and its flow in and out of the anterior chamber, using dynamic T2‐weighted MRI.
Study Type
Prospective.
Population
Six ophthalmologically normal volunteers (20–37 years, six females).
Field Strength/Sequence
A 3 T/dynamic T2‐weighted MRI.
Assessment
H217O eye drops were administered to the right eye. Time‐series images were created by subtracting the image before the eye drops from each of the images obtained after the eye drops. The normalized signal intensity of the right anterior chamber (nAC) was obtained by dividing the signal intensity of the right anterior chamber region by that of the left. The inflow and outflow constants of H217O and H217O concentration were calculated from the nAC.
Statistical Tests
A paired t‐test was used to compare the flow‐related values and temporal changes in signal intensity. P‐values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.
Results
Significantly decreased signal intensity was observed in the right anterior chamber but not the right vitreous body (P = 0.39). The nAC signal intensity decreased significantly and then recovered. The inflow and outflow constants were 0.36–0.94 min−1 and 0.023–0.13 min−1, respectively. The maximum H217O concentration was 0.078%–0.24%.
Data Conclusion
H217O were distributed in the anterior chamber. The H217O inflow into the anterior chamber was significantly faster than that of the outflow.
Level of Evidence
2
Technical Efficacy Stage
2
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Pathological myopia (PM) and its associated complications can lead to permanent vision loss. However, the cellular mechanisms underlying PM development remain unclear. To identify the metabolic ...alterations that may contribute to the pathophysiology of PM, we performed non-targeted metabolomics analysis using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry in age- and sex-matched patients with PM (n = 30) and individuals without myopia as controls (n = 30). Targeted metabolomics and insulin microarray were used to validate the results. We identified 508 metabolites in the aqueous humour (AH) and 601 in the vitreous humour (VH). Statistical evaluation revealed that 104 metabolites in AH and 114 metabolites in VH were significantly different between the two groups (variable important for the projection >1, fold change >1.5, or < 0.667, and P < 0.05). The four metabolic pathways enriched in both AH and VH identified to be associated with PM were: bile secretion, insulin secretion, thyroid hormone synthesis, and cGMP-PKG signaling pathway. The concentration of 10 amino acids was significantly higher in the PM than in the controls. Insulin microarray analysis showed that insulin, insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF-2), IGF-2R, insulin-like growth factor binding protein 1 (IGFBP-1), IGFBP-2, IGFBP-3, IGFBP-4, and IGFBP-6 levels were significantly higher in PM patients compared to that in the controls. Thus, this study identified potential metabolite biomarkers for PM and provided novel insights into the mechanisms underlying this disorder.
•Aqueous and vitreous humors of myopia patients have distinct metabolite profiles.•Four metabolic pathways are significantly enriched in and are associated with myopia both in aqueous humour and vitreous humour.•Ten amino acids are significantly higher in the vitreous humour of myopic patients.•Insulin, IGF-2, IGF-2R, and multiple IGFBPs levels are higher in myopia VH.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Was Socrates an ironist? Did he mock his interlocutors, and in doing so, show disdain for both them and the institutions of Athenian democracy? These questions were debated with great seriousness by ...generations of ancient Greek writers and helped to define a primary strand of the western tradition of political thought. Reconstructing these debates, The Politics of Socratic Humor compares the very different interpretations of Socrates developed by his followers--such diverse thinkers as Plato, Aristotle, Xenophon, Aristophanes, and the Hellenistic Philosophers--to explore the deep ethical and political dimensions of Socratic humor, and its implications for civic identity, democratic speech, and political cooperation. Irony has long been seen as one of Socrates' most characteristic features, but as Lombardini shows, irony is only one part of a much larger toolkit of Socratic humor, the broader intellectual context of which must be better understood if we are to appropriate Socratic thought for our own modern ends.
This engaging study explores how the works of Shakespeare, Milton, Swift, and others were taken up by caricaturists as a means of helping the eighteenth-century British public make sense of political ...issues, outrages, and personalities. The first in-depth exploration of the relationship between literature and visual satire in this period, David Taylor's book explores how great texts, seen through the lens of visual parody, shape how we understand the political world. It offers a fascinating, novel approach to literary history.
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