1. Deliberative Democracy and Comic Voice Sammy Basu PhD Associate Professor of Politics Willamette University Salem Oregon, USA

2. Overview 1. Deliberative democracy 2. What ’ s so bad about humor? 3. What is humor? 4. What ’ s so bad about deliberative democracy? 5. The ironic speech situation

3. Deliberative democracy

4. 2. What ’ s so bad about humor? Jurgen Habermas and the Ideal Speech Situation according to which “ In the final analysis, the normative content arises from the very structure of communicative actions ” (1996:26).

5. Jedediah Purdy (1999) in For Common Things: Irony, Trust, and Commitment in America Today. 9-11 encouraged commentators across the ideological spectrum to opine hopefully, as Roger Rosenblatt (2001) did in Time, that “ One good thing could come from this horror: it could spell the end of the age of irony. ”

6. 1. The boor

7. 2. The Cynic

8. A kind of high-water mark in popular humorphobia was reached with Purdy ’ s For Common Things. In it Purdy (1999:xii) pointed to “ the widespread cultivation of irony as a personal manner ” as the source of the national inhibition “ to speak earnestly of uncertain hopes. ”

9. 3. The buffoon

10. For Habermas (1982:271), “ jokes, fictional representations, irony, games, and so on, rest on intentionally using categorical confusions which, in the wake of the differentiation of validity-claims and corresponding modes (being/illusion, is/ought, essence/appearance), are seen through as category mistakes. ”

11. 4. The hysteric

13. 3. What is humor?

14. Theories of Humor Physiological/ Sensory Affective/ Evaluative RELIEF: pleasurable relief as pent-up nervous energy, anxiety, or sensory excitement is rapidly deflated RELEASE: pleasurable release of psychic energy otherwise used to regulate or repress socially taboo topics or desires (Juxtaposition) the close juxtaposition of two or more phenomena, frames, etc. INCONGRUITY: pleasurable recognition of the close juxtaposition of the familiar against what initially is unexpected and/or meaningless but subsequently proves compactly yet pivotally meaningful SUPERIORITY: pleasurable sense of one ’ s relative eminence at the expense of someone or something aggressively downgraded Cognitive/Intellectual

15. Physiological/ Sensory Affective/ Evaluative HystericBoor RELIEF:RELEASE: (Juxtaposition) INCONGRUITY:SUPERIORITY: Buffoon Cognitive/Intellectual Cynic

16. 4. What ’ s so bad about deliberative democracy?

17. 1. Boor, or Devil’s Advocate?

18. “ It would seem that you cannot be funny without being vulgar — …. For it is not only sex that is ‘ vulgar ’. So are death, childbirth and poverty, the other three subjects upon which the best music-hall humour turns. And respect for the intellect and strong political feeling, if not actually vulgar, are looked upon as being in doubtful taste. You cannot be really funny if your main aim is to flatter the comfortable classes: it means leaving out too much. To be funny, indeed, you have got to be serious. ” Orwell (1968)

19. 2. Buffoon, or Holistic critic Specific critic Linguistic critic

20. Holistic criticism: Modern Times

22. Specific Criticism

24. Linguistic criticism: Support our tropes

26. 4. Hysteria or just cracking up?

27. 5. The ironic speech situation Truth ideal reasoned speech testimony Critical Disengag ement exitfoot- dragging and mumbling critical engagement through comic voice lipservice and marching loyaltyUncritical Engagement fraud force Untruth