Horyzonty Wychowania (Jan 2017)
Humour as a Carrier of Memory within Culture. A few Remarks on the English Sense of Humour and its Relation to the Collective Memory of the British Society, seen from the Perspective of Cognitive Integration Theory
Abstract
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The purpose of my article is to present the notion of cultural memory as applied to both the English society as well as the English sense of humour, and to examine these in relation to WW2 by means of the cognitive integration theory, aka blending. THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS: The presented research problem hinges around the term of memory, specifically the collective memory of the English, as perceived with regard to its multimodal conceptualization with the culture, together with its inextricable link with the English sense of humour. All this has been scrutinised by a linguistic method, i.e. conceptual integration theory, and the references to the literature in question. THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: Having defined the goal of my paper, and the basic concepts pertaining to it (memory, collective memory, English sense of humour), I proceed to the brief explanation of the linguistic paradigm, i.e. blending theory, which is employed within this study. Then, I present the analysis of the English humour tackling the subject of the Second World War, which is performed with the aid of the blending theory. RESEARCH RESULTS: The result of this argumentation is the preservation of the glorious memories of the British past via the English sense of humour, which helps to deal with the trauma and the not‑so‑glarious moments of the English history. CONCLUSIONS, INNOVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS: This analysis confirmed that conceptual integration theory can be utilized as a tool with which to analyse the collective memory of the English and their sense of humour. It also proved that the English nation employs their humour into the processing of the historical past, which softens the blow of the horrendous events, and makes it possible for the English to glorify and idealise their role within the world’s arena.
