@article{ART003357315},
author={Kim, Si-Yeon},
title={The Illusion of “Jokes that Cross the Line” - Comparing High-Contextual Humor in Male Homosociality and Minority Groups},
journal={Journal of Popular Narrative},
issn={1738-3188},
year={2026},
volume={32},
number={2},
pages={159-205},
doi={10.18856/jpn.2026.32.2.005}
TY - JOUR
AU - Kim, Si-Yeon
TI - The Illusion of “Jokes that Cross the Line” - Comparing High-Contextual Humor in Male Homosociality and Minority Groups
JO - Journal of Popular Narrative
PY - 2026
VL - 32
IS - 2
PB - The Association of Popular Narrative
SP - 159
EP - 205
SN - 1738-3188
AB - This study examines the political dimensions of humor as a gendered practice, critically analyzing the fictitious construction of "masculine" humor discourse—commonly celebrated as edgy, boundary-pushing comedy. Historically, humor has functioned as the exclusive domain of male homosocial bonding and as a cultural resource for reproducing social hierarchy. Drawing on the anthropological concept of "high-context communication," this paper investigates the divergent ways in which male-centered humor and minority community humor each mobilize contextual meaning.
Chapter 2 analyzes sexual and aggressive humor deployed within male homosocial settings. While such humor is often self-styled as transgressive taboo-breaking, its actual mechanisms remain safely contained within dominant norms and normative assumptions. High-contextuality here functions as little more than a rhetorical pose: by evading the risk of exposing the speaker's identity or political position, this humor operates not as genuine transgression but as a "safe provocation"—reaffirming normative authority while displaying social power.
Chapter 3 explores the humor of minority communities—including women, queer individuals, and people with disabilities—alongside the recently emergent form of stand-up comedy. In minority humor, high-contextuality is not confined to the rhetorical level; it mediates a genuinely dangerous pleasure that traverses cultural codes, normative boundaries, and identities. Humor thus functions as a political text that directly unsettles the social norms it is presumed merely to flirt with.
This study represents a preliminary attempt to rethink the meanings and effects of humor as a social speech act in a more multidimensional way. Whether humor carrying diverse cultural codes can be received and understood is deeply tied to the cultural literacy of a given society. This is precisely why humor demands analysis across multiple registers: its narrative structures and historical genealogies, its sites of performance and communities of reception, and the cultural premises upon which it is grounded.
KW - Humor;Male Homosociality;Minority Community;Women;Disability;Queer;High-contextuality;Stand-up Comedy;Norms
DO - 10.18856/jpn.2026.32.2.005
ER -
Kim, Si-Yeon. (2026). The Illusion of “Jokes that Cross the Line” - Comparing High-Contextual Humor in Male Homosociality and Minority Groups. Journal of Popular Narrative, 32(2), 159-205.
Kim, Si-Yeon. 2026, "The Illusion of “Jokes that Cross the Line” - Comparing High-Contextual Humor in Male Homosociality and Minority Groups", Journal of Popular Narrative, vol.32, no.2 pp.159-205. Available from: doi:10.18856/jpn.2026.32.2.005
Kim, Si-Yeon "The Illusion of “Jokes that Cross the Line” - Comparing High-Contextual Humor in Male Homosociality and Minority Groups" Journal of Popular Narrative 32.2 pp.159-205 (2026) : 159.
Kim, Si-Yeon. The Illusion of “Jokes that Cross the Line” - Comparing High-Contextual Humor in Male Homosociality and Minority Groups. 2026; 32(2), 159-205. Available from: doi:10.18856/jpn.2026.32.2.005
Kim, Si-Yeon. "The Illusion of “Jokes that Cross the Line” - Comparing High-Contextual Humor in Male Homosociality and Minority Groups" Journal of Popular Narrative 32, no.2 (2026) : 159-205.doi: 10.18856/jpn.2026.32.2.005
Kim, Si-Yeon. The Illusion of “Jokes that Cross the Line” - Comparing High-Contextual Humor in Male Homosociality and Minority Groups. Journal of Popular Narrative, 32(2), 159-205. doi: 10.18856/jpn.2026.32.2.005
Kim, Si-Yeon. The Illusion of “Jokes that Cross the Line” - Comparing High-Contextual Humor in Male Homosociality and Minority Groups. Journal of Popular Narrative. 2026; 32(2) 159-205. doi: 10.18856/jpn.2026.32.2.005
Kim, Si-Yeon. The Illusion of “Jokes that Cross the Line” - Comparing High-Contextual Humor in Male Homosociality and Minority Groups. 2026; 32(2), 159-205. Available from: doi:10.18856/jpn.2026.32.2.005
Kim, Si-Yeon. "The Illusion of “Jokes that Cross the Line” - Comparing High-Contextual Humor in Male Homosociality and Minority Groups" Journal of Popular Narrative 32, no.2 (2026) : 159-205.doi: 10.18856/jpn.2026.32.2.005
