What is humour? What function does it serve? How does humour challenge authority?
Packed full of insight this fascinating book examines the concept of humour from a variety of perspectives and explains why authorities fear it and have sought to control it. Using the American television show South Park as a case study, Franklyn argues that explicitly oppositional humour is only allowed to circulate through mass-media channels because it helps ensure that people cannot organise themselves into radical movements capable of challenging existing power structures. Denied of its revolutionary...