Not Without Laughter: Tracing Humour in African American Literature Across the Ages

Many philosophers, from Aristotle to Hobbes, Freud to Schopenhauer, Spencer to Peter McGraw, have given interesting insights on matters concerning humour, comedy, and laughter. While the classical theories of humour, namely the superiority theory, the incongruity theory, and the relief theory, discuss the fundamental nature of humour, its evolved forms, such as the benign violation theory, provide a more compact version of the same. Nevertheless, humour is pervasive and can be witnessed in all aspects of life.

It is also to be noted that the terms, humour, comedy and laughter have a significant difference despite hailing from the same roots. Additionally, all these terms are extremely subjective. What may be humorous to one, can be intolerable for the other, what may make one laugh, can be infuriating for the other, and what may be comic to one, can be tragic for the other. This subjectivity is what makes one extremely curious about the existence of humour as a theme, especially in African American contexts.

Despite a legacy of slavery, bondage and discrimination, African American works have always been rich in humour. Glenda Carpio in her seminal work Laughing Fit To Kill (2008) points out “By most accounts, African American humor, like other humor that arises from oppression, has provided a balm, a release of anger and aggression, a way of coping with the painful consequences of racism” (5). Not only is this humour linked to various theoretical postulations but has also proven to be a substantial tool of combat, a mechanism for coping, a refuge for emotions and a safe release of sentiments. Carpio also argues, “Black writers and artists have utilized heterogeneous forms of humor across two centuries as a uniquely invigorating kind of epistemological response to the situation of forced migration and transatlantic alienation” (8). One wonders, did the African American writers use humour and laughter as a cathartic means or was it the only possible positive response available to voice out the emotions otherwise denied to them? Also, how did humour keep up with the dynamic conditions of the Black people?

We invite scholars, researchers, and writers to contribute to an upcoming edited volume exploring the evolution of African American humour across time. This collection examines how humour has functioned as resistance, survival, celebration, and social critique within African American communities from the earliest oral traditions to contemporary expressions.

We welcome submissions that analyse African American humour in various historical periods, including but not limited to:

• Humour in the Folktales of African American Literature
• Humour in the literature of Slavery
• Humour in the literature of reconstruction through the 1910s
• Humour in the literature of Harlem Renaissance
• Humour in the mid-Twentieth-Century Literature
• Humour in the Literature of 1960s and the Black Arts Movement
• Humour in the literature of 1970–2000: The Flourishing of Black Women Writers and the Return to Black History
• Humour in the Twenty-First-Century Literature: A Time of Reckoning

We encourage interdisciplinary approaches, including literary analysis and historical or cultural perspectives. Contributions can explore humour’s intersection with race, gender, class, and identity.

Submission Guidelines:

• Abstracts (250–300 words) should outline the proposed paper’s scope, methodology, and contribution.
• A brief bio (150 words) should accompany the abstract.
• Full papers will be invited upon abstract acceptance.

Deadline for Abstracts: 15th April 2025

Please submit abstracts and bios to africanamericanliterature22@gmail.com For any inquiries, feel free to reach out.

The manuscript would be submitted to Brill for consideration.

We look forward to your contributions to this important exploration of African American humour!

-        Dr. Shubhanku Kochar and Dr. Prachi Behrani