European Cultures of Laughter

This interdisciplinary research group explores Europe through its laughter cultures, ranging from stand-up performances and TV shows to satire and comedy in art and literature. The aim is to understand the specificity of European cultures of laughter and the critical reception they receive in the non-European world.

Historical investigations have shown that Europe has the most extensive tradition of mocking, ridiculing, and poking fun at political and religious authorities in the world. From the 16th to the 20th century, Europe published far more works of irreverent satire, parody, and comedy than any other continent. This research group investigates the continuing importance of these remarkable and comprehensive laughter cultures, which have arguably played a greater role in the self-understanding and perception of authority in Europe than elsewhere.

However, in recent decades, European laughter cultures have also been widely criticised for being insensitive, disrespectful, provocative and more, especially by non-European voices. In order to address these criticisms, the research group does noe examine European laughter cultures in isolation, but examines their conflicted interactions with the non-European world.

Lund University

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