Wednesday, February 19, 2020

Intercultural Humour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Intercultural Humour - Essay Example One of the challenges of understanding the place and value of humour within the multi-cultural environment is that it is not entirely translatable. In usual cases, humour is culturally-specific. A speech act with some content of humour may not apply across the cultural spectrum. In other cases, humour relates to the context and the personality of an individual. This would imply that an idea or phrase with humorous content may not be understood easily or may be distorted in the process of translating into another language or culture. Findings Case reviews have shown that humour could be used to bridge cultures by identifying some mutual linkages within the discourse of communication (Holliday, Kullman & Hyde, 2012). Andrew (2010) distinguished between humour and laughter by identifying some of the problematic areas, which define the essence of humour. In his effort, he established that humour does not necessarily translate into laughter. He sought to establish the theoretical basis on which humour is founded. In his study, Andrew identified three theories as fundamental to the understanding of humour. These include incongruity theory, relief theory, and superiority theory. He explains incongruity theory as being informed by a reaction to a logical impossibility, or to an ambiguity. This kind of humour is associated with the thinking of Kant and Kierkegaard particularly due to its drift from the conventional flow of logic. Superiority theory, according to Andrew (2010) arises out of a feeling of euphoria, which basically comes to the surface when the person making the humorous statement relates to the audience from a real or presumed higher level of seniority. Superiority theory is defended in the philosophies of Aristotle and Plato (Andrew, 2010). A third theory, which is embraced within the Freudian conception of humour, argues that the release of repressed feelings often translates in the form of humour. These theories put together provide a comprehensive fram ework that could be relied upon to furnish deeper connections between the element of humour and inter-cultural connections. The theories have helped in the establishment of important linkages that define life in terms of meanings and underlying meanings of words. Evidence adduced from multiple studies has established that a proper understanding of the structure of humour provides a resourceful entry point into the inner details of any given culture (Holliday, Kullman & Hyde, 2012). Humour should be understood within certain contexts, situations, origin, and other factors that situate it within some specific categories of identification. The element of humour manifests an entire corpus of ideals that are buried beneath the substance of any given culture. As such, it becomes necessary to conceptualize such evidence in light of some of the issues that attend to the general beliefs, practices, and cultural assumptions of that particular culture. Humour provides the framework of understa nding the worldview of a given culture. Broadly, the study of humour involves an investigation into the various connecting points of the different genres that fall under the umbrella name. According to Andrew (2010) some of the genres that are included within the corpus of humour are satire, sight gags, stand up comedy, sarcasm, bending joke, irony, variety shows and word play. These aspects of humour usually involve various issues that work together to form a comprehensive understanding of

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

The Sorrow and the Pity film by Marcel Ophuls Movie Review

The Sorrow and the Pity film by Marcel Ophuls - Movie Review Example The Sorrow and the pity documentary is based on view that during the World War II, France was the only state which collaborated and de Gaulle's Free French in UK were in the awkward situation as government of France was not in a state of exile. The strongest point of the movie is that it shows reality and the idea was completely innovative to show the interviews of the people who actually were present at the time of such a chaos and destruction. The real stories are described in the film. The Sorrow and the Pity movie include the interviews of the French and German who played a major or minor part in the war. The idea behind the movie was to bring in front the truth about the collaboration of France with Nazis. The documentary, which is more than four hours long was shot in Clermont Ferrand, a town in France. Marcel Ophulus view about the movie is that those who have not undergone the pain, damage and grief of occupying power can never know how it feels so they have no right to judge a nation that endured the horrors and terror of the war. The fundamental point of the movie is the forbearance and complacent of the people under the control of another power in their state. The Sorrow and the Pity is one of the greatest documentary ever made. The film is based on the World War II, the destructions caused by the war and the people affected by the war. The movie was about the physical and social division of France. The Germans with their war weapons and machined easily conquered the France and it was not shown that it's any of a big deal for the Nazi Germans to have a control over France. As shown in the movie the basic concern of the people under the war was to have food for them to eat. The movie has two parts. First part is about the conquest and collaboration of France and is called "The Collapse". This part consists of the attack of Nazi Germans and the quick surrender of the French, whereas the second part is known as "The Choice" which inquires about the practical dilemma of power of resisting. This part was actually to reveal the truth about the resistance or cooperation of French with Nazi Germans. It also reveals the consequences of the Collaboration. The movie first stirred great controversy when it was released . The people of France were reluctant to admit that France was one of the many states who could actually collaborate with the victorious country, Germany. The French television was not willing to broadcast it and it stirred a huge controversy. So the movie was shown at the cinema where it emerged as a great success, (Holm, D. K 2005). The Sorrow and the pity movie is all about the life in France during the period of the World War II and the Nazi Occupation. It includes the interviews of the people who were involved directly or indirectly in this play. It is a daring step taken by the director to make an objective evaluation of the perplexing situation in the history of France. The documentary is close to reality which reflects the real life situation about what actually happened to the people who lived during the war and what difficulties they faced. The interviews were conducted from the Government officials, politicians, artists, farmers, veterans, forces and common people who could speak about the war