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The Primary Functions of Pandemic Humor in the Context of Iran
Abstract
Literature includes many studies that underscore the coping function of humor. In rather extreme instances, Sliter et al. convey how humor can help prevent Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in firefighters, and Frankl discusses how humor helps cope with suffering and survive the dire circumstances of concentration camps. This function can explain why people across different cultures and situations have resorted to humor in facing the current health crisis. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has taken a great toll on Iran; consequently, there has been an outpouring of Persian pandemic humor. In the early months of the outbreak, the University of Amsterdam launched a meme portal to collect pandemic humor from around the world. I was invited to prepare a Persian interface for the portal. A relatively large number of humorous files was submitted in Persian. These included texts, images, music and short video clips. The content analysis of this corpus conveys that although humor was utilized to cope with pandemic calamities, it has simultaneously served other purposes in Iran. Pandemic humor has also been used for providing information, political and religious censure. This research aims to analyze a corpus of Persian pandemic humor to determine its primary themes and functions. The initial results convey that medical and paramedical staff have used humor to cope with crushing working conditions and increasing experiences of human tragedy, suffering and death. At the same time, people have employed humor in order to criticize political authorities for their incompetence in managing the crisis. As politics and power are closely tied to religion in a theocracy, religious fervor has not remained immune to such criticism. Besides coping and censure, provision of information is another function for pandemic humor in Iran. Citizens resorted to humor to diffuse information and foster responsible behavior in the society. Personal responsibility in adhering to lockdown regulations and difficulties of homeschooling are among the recurring themes that serve this function of humor. References: Frankl, V. E. (1984). Man’s search for meaning: An introduction to logotherapy. Touchstone. “Research into ‘corona humour’.” https://www.uva.nl/en/shared-content/faculteiten/en/faculteit-der-maatschappij-en-gedragswetenschappen/news/2020/04/corona-humour.html Sliter, M., Kale, A., & Yuan, Z. (2014). Is humour the best medicine? The buffering effect of coping humour on traumatic stressors in firefighters. Journal of Organizational Behaviour, 35(2), 257–272. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.1868
Discipline
Literature
Geographic Area
Iran
Sub Area
Iranian Studies