Christian F Hempelmann
Biographic Data
| ID | 6550887 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Christian F Hempelmann |
| GIVEN NAMES | Christian F |
| FAMILY NAME | Hempelmann |
| SIGNATURE | HEMPELMANN C F |
| AFFILIATIONS | East Texas A&M University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9926-5006 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 79 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 18 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2024 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Introduction to the special issue
This paper considers the alleged incompatibility of humour and religion, identifies the need for a multifaceted approach to the study of humour and religion, and spotlights important scholarship on humour and religion. It also outlines how this special issue emerged from an online symposium organized by the editors (Nicole Graham and Paul S Martin) in 2020 titled: The Sacred and The Profanity: Humour, Religion and Ritual, hosted by the University…
Semantic components of laughter behavior
This paper builds on a novel methodology of lexical semantics exemplified on lexical field theory by using several translations of Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest . The present study, a large-scale collaboration, presents and compares the results for laugh , smile , grin, giggle , and other words for laughter behaviors across 14 languages and in extensive detail. The key results answer the question of what semantic dimensions the voca…
Humor in the age of coronavirus
Komik
Deutsche Sprachkomik. Ein Überblick für Übersetzer und Germanisten [German verbal humor. An overview for translators and German philologists]
The predictable semiotic essence of humor
This short paper responds to Oring’s renewed and detailed criticism of the General Theory of Verbal Humor (2019). While conceding the need for some clarifications and elaborations in multidisciplinary collaboration, it mainly points to misunderstandings and misdirections of that criticism
True German and phony English laughter
Schmidt-Hidding’s (b. 1903, d. 1967) lexical field study on the area of Humor und Witz [humor and wit/jokes] (1963b) receives attention in humor research to this day, especially in German-speaking countries. His diamond-shaped illustration of the two dimensions of the field of humor, not least in its aim to distinguish “earthy” German from “courteous” English humor, has become well-known. In view of this continued interest in the final write-up o…
Impact of Status and Meme Content on the Spread of Memes in Virtual Communities
We examined the influence of meme consistency (vs. inconsistency) and intragroup status on the spread of memes in virtual communities. Prior research suggests that information consistent with the theme of the group is remembered better and that ideas threatening to the group identity are rejected. In addition, previous research shows that low-status group members mimic high-status members and communicate with them to seek information and approval…
Dynel Marta
Humor with backgrounded incongruity
Humorous stimuli, like jokes and cartoons, are assumed to contain a central incongruity in a specific constellation of opposition and overlap that is essential to their humorousness. Many stimuli also contain additional incongruities that the audience usually overlooks, but that may be needed to create the setup for the main incongruity, e.g., animals that talk, space aliens, an Italian, an American, and a Russian sharing a language. Two of the s…
Resolutions and their incongruities
This paper is a contribution to the study of the resolution of incongruities in humor. We reject some criticisms of logical mechanisms and analyze three different types of incongruities in humorous texts: completely backgrounded, backgrounded, and foregrounded. Only the latter are addressed by logical mechanisms. We identify a mechanism of “incongruity shifting” which may be a candidate for “deep” logical mechanism (along the lines of “parallelis…
Wordplay in church marquees
Despite research demonstrating a certain degree of incompatibility between humor and religion, church marquees in the United States frequently use humor, and especially puns, as a way of advertising religious messages. Is the wordplay found in this context different from wordplay in general? Our comparison of the puns found on church billboards versus those found in a general corpus of puns reveals significant differences in structure and content…
Were they really laughed at? That much? Gelotophobes and their history of perceived derisibility
The List of Derisible Situations (LDS; Proyer, Hempelmann and Ruch, List of Derisible Situations (LDS), University of Zurich, 2008) consists of 102 different occasions for being laughed at. They were retrieved in a corpus study and compiled into the LDS. Based on this list, information on the frequency and the intensity with which people recall being laughed at during a given time-span (12 months in this study) can be collected. An empirical stud…
The laughter of the 1962 Tanganyika ‘laughter epidemic’
The present article discusses the role of laughter in the much cited ‘laughter epidemic’ that occurred in Tanganyika in 1962. Despite its extraordinary nature, the veracity of the event is confirmed, crucially on the basis of similar reports. But most current representations are flawed by their exaggeration and misinterpretation of the role of laughter in the event, relating it to a humorous stimulus, a virus or environmental contaminant, or iden…
WD meets GTVH
The present paper describes an interdisciplinary effort, in which results based on the same material, but analyzed with tools from two different disciplines are brought together for mutual evaluation. The set of 70 jokes and cartoons from the 3 WD (Ruch 1995), which has been extensively studied psychologically for its affective properties, is analyzed linguistically for its internal morphology based on the General Theory of Verbal Humor— GTVH (At…
Script opposition and logical mechanism in punning
Based on a larger project on punning, this paper outlines the application of the General Theory of Verbal Humor to imperfect puns. The aim is to illustrate the intricate mechanisms of this seemingly simple joke type. Application necessitates the expansion and further formalization of the linguistic tools available for the description and explanation of humor, in this case centrally the knowledge resources for script opposition and logical mechani…
Nuns Giggle, 1 Nun Gasps
Script oppositions and logical mechanisms
Script oppositions and logical mechanisms
Resolutions and their incongruities
This paper is a contribution to the study of the resolution of incongruities in humor. We reject some criticisms of logical mechanisms and analyze three different types of incongruities in humorous texts: completely backgrounded, backgrounded, and foregrounded. Only the latter are addressed by logical mechanisms. We identify a mechanism of “incongruity shifting” which may be a candidate for “deep” logical mechanism (along the lines of “parallelis…
Script opposition and logical mechanism in punning
Based on a larger project on punning, this paper outlines the application of the General Theory of Verbal Humor to imperfect puns. The aim is to illustrate the intricate mechanisms of this seemingly simple joke type. Application necessitates the expansion and further formalization of the linguistic tools available for the description and explanation of humor, in this case centrally the knowledge resources for script opposition and logical mechani…
WD meets GTVH
The present paper describes an interdisciplinary effort, in which results based on the same material, but analyzed with tools from two different disciplines are brought together for mutual evaluation. The set of 70 jokes and cartoons from the 3 WD (Ruch 1995), which has been extensively studied psychologically for its affective properties, is analyzed linguistically for its internal morphology based on the General Theory of Verbal Humor— GTVH (At…
Were they really laughed at? That much? Gelotophobes and their history of perceived derisibility
The List of Derisible Situations (LDS; Proyer, Hempelmann and Ruch, List of Derisible Situations (LDS), University of Zurich, 2008) consists of 102 different occasions for being laughed at. They were retrieved in a corpus study and compiled into the LDS. Based on this list, information on the frequency and the intensity with which people recall being laughed at during a given time-span (12 months in this study) can be collected. An empirical stud…
Humor in the age of coronavirus
The predictable semiotic essence of humor
This short paper responds to Oring’s renewed and detailed criticism of the General Theory of Verbal Humor (2019). While conceding the need for some clarifications and elaborations in multidisciplinary collaboration, it mainly points to misunderstandings and misdirections of that criticism
Humor with backgrounded incongruity
Humorous stimuli, like jokes and cartoons, are assumed to contain a central incongruity in a specific constellation of opposition and overlap that is essential to their humorousness. Many stimuli also contain additional incongruities that the audience usually overlooks, but that may be needed to create the setup for the main incongruity, e.g., animals that talk, space aliens, an Italian, an American, and a Russian sharing a language. Two of the s…
Wordplay in church marquees
Despite research demonstrating a certain degree of incompatibility between humor and religion, church marquees in the United States frequently use humor, and especially puns, as a way of advertising religious messages. Is the wordplay found in this context different from wordplay in general? Our comparison of the puns found on church billboards versus those found in a general corpus of puns reveals significant differences in structure and content…
Introduction to the special issue
This paper considers the alleged incompatibility of humour and religion, identifies the need for a multifaceted approach to the study of humour and religion, and spotlights important scholarship on humour and religion. It also outlines how this special issue emerged from an online symposium organized by the editors (Nicole Graham and Paul S Martin) in 2020 titled: The Sacred and The Profanity: Humour, Religion and Ritual, hosted by the University…
The laughter of the 1962 Tanganyika ‘laughter epidemic’
The present article discusses the role of laughter in the much cited ‘laughter epidemic’ that occurred in Tanganyika in 1962. Despite its extraordinary nature, the veracity of the event is confirmed, crucially on the basis of similar reports. But most current representations are flawed by their exaggeration and misinterpretation of the role of laughter in the event, relating it to a humorous stimulus, a virus or environmental contaminant, or iden…
Script oppositions and logical mechanisms
Nuns Giggle, 1 Nun Gasps
Script opposition and logical mechanism in punning
Based on a larger project on punning, this paper outlines the application of the General Theory of Verbal Humor to imperfect puns. The aim is to illustrate the intricate mechanisms of this seemingly simple joke type. Application necessitates the expansion and further formalization of the linguistic tools available for the description and explanation of humor, in this case centrally the knowledge resources for script opposition and logical mechani…
WD meets GTVH
The present paper describes an interdisciplinary effort, in which results based on the same material, but analyzed with tools from two different disciplines are brought together for mutual evaluation. The set of 70 jokes and cartoons from the 3 WD (Ruch 1995), which has been extensively studied psychologically for its affective properties, is analyzed linguistically for its internal morphology based on the General Theory of Verbal Humor— GTVH (At…
The laughter of the 1962 Tanganyika ‘laughter epidemic’
The present article discusses the role of laughter in the much cited ‘laughter epidemic’ that occurred in Tanganyika in 1962. Despite its extraordinary nature, the veracity of the event is confirmed, crucially on the basis of similar reports. But most current representations are flawed by their exaggeration and misinterpretation of the role of laughter in the event, relating it to a humorous stimulus, a virus or environmental contaminant, or iden…
Were they really laughed at? That much? Gelotophobes and their history of perceived derisibility
The List of Derisible Situations (LDS; Proyer, Hempelmann and Ruch, List of Derisible Situations (LDS), University of Zurich, 2008) consists of 102 different occasions for being laughed at. They were retrieved in a corpus study and compiled into the LDS. Based on this list, information on the frequency and the intensity with which people recall being laughed at during a given time-span (12 months in this study) can be collected. An empirical stud…
Humor with backgrounded incongruity
Humorous stimuli, like jokes and cartoons, are assumed to contain a central incongruity in a specific constellation of opposition and overlap that is essential to their humorousness. Many stimuli also contain additional incongruities that the audience usually overlooks, but that may be needed to create the setup for the main incongruity, e.g., animals that talk, space aliens, an Italian, an American, and a Russian sharing a language. Two of the s…
Resolutions and their incongruities
This paper is a contribution to the study of the resolution of incongruities in humor. We reject some criticisms of logical mechanisms and analyze three different types of incongruities in humorous texts: completely backgrounded, backgrounded, and foregrounded. Only the latter are addressed by logical mechanisms. We identify a mechanism of “incongruity shifting” which may be a candidate for “deep” logical mechanism (along the lines of “parallelis…
Wordplay in church marquees
Despite research demonstrating a certain degree of incompatibility between humor and religion, church marquees in the United States frequently use humor, and especially puns, as a way of advertising religious messages. Is the wordplay found in this context different from wordplay in general? Our comparison of the puns found on church billboards versus those found in a general corpus of puns reveals significant differences in structure and content…
Impact of Status and Meme Content on the Spread of Memes in Virtual Communities
We examined the influence of meme consistency (vs. inconsistency) and intragroup status on the spread of memes in virtual communities. Prior research suggests that information consistent with the theme of the group is remembered better and that ideas threatening to the group identity are rejected. In addition, previous research shows that low-status group members mimic high-status members and communicate with them to seek information and approval…
Dynel Marta
True German and phony English laughter
Schmidt-Hidding’s (b. 1903, d. 1967) lexical field study on the area of Humor und Witz [humor and wit/jokes] (1963b) receives attention in humor research to this day, especially in German-speaking countries. His diamond-shaped illustration of the two dimensions of the field of humor, not least in its aim to distinguish “earthy” German from “courteous” English humor, has become well-known. In view of this continued interest in the final write-up o…
The predictable semiotic essence of humor
This short paper responds to Oring’s renewed and detailed criticism of the General Theory of Verbal Humor (2019). While conceding the need for some clarifications and elaborations in multidisciplinary collaboration, it mainly points to misunderstandings and misdirections of that criticism
Komik
Deutsche Sprachkomik. Ein Überblick für Übersetzer und Germanisten [German verbal humor. An overview for translators and German philologists]
Humor in the age of coronavirus
Semantic components of laughter behavior
This paper builds on a novel methodology of lexical semantics exemplified on lexical field theory by using several translations of Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest . The present study, a large-scale collaboration, presents and compares the results for laugh , smile , grin, giggle , and other words for laughter behaviors across 14 languages and in extensive detail. The key results answer the question of what semantic dimensions the voca…
Introduction to the special issue
This paper considers the alleged incompatibility of humour and religion, identifies the need for a multifaceted approach to the study of humour and religion, and spotlights important scholarship on humour and religion. It also outlines how this special issue emerged from an online symposium organized by the editors (Nicole Graham and Paul S Martin) in 2020 titled: The Sacred and The Profanity: Humour, Religion and Ritual, hosted by the University…
Psychology (16 works) · Humor Studies and Applications (14 works) · Philosophy (10 works) · Philosophy (10 works) · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition (9 works) · Linguistics (8 works) · Social Psychology (7 works) · Social Psychology (6 works) · Art (5 works) · Computer Science (5 works)