Jokers Wild

The Importance of Humour in the Maintenance of Organizational Culture

Bibliographic Data

ID3533341
AuthorsSteve Linstead (corresponding author)
Year1985
Volume33
Issue4
Pages741-767
Publication date1985-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Sociological Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0038-0261 • E-ISSN: 1467-954X
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-954x.1985.tb02447.x
OpenAlexW1963775142
LanguageEN
Citations received50

Humour may have a number of different effects within organizations, but it is usually manifested in one of two major 'joke forms': standardized/canned or situation/spontaneous. Using examples of each from fieldwork conducted in a large manufacturing bakery, it is argued that both forms depend for their effect on their appositeness to the 'joke in the social structure' Both forms share the capacity to enable the reversal, within the humorous framework, of problematic social relations, patterns of control, or customary mystifications. Humour may be used to create ambiguity or to promote closure: its impact on the organizational culture will depend on the extent to which the symbolic transformations achieved within its boundaries can be transposed into material, 'real-world' relationships

Aesthetics · Ambiguity · Closure (psychology) · Control (management) · Epistemology · Joke · Linguistics · Organizational culture · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Law · Management and Organizational Studies · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology

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