Doug
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>From: Kenneth Mostern <kmostern at utk.edu>
>To: "'lbo-talk at lists.panix.com'" <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com>
>Subject: RE: Moore, Remy, & Fortune
>Date: Thu, 21 May 1998 09:02:42 -0400
>MIME-Version: 1.0
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>I need to say something kind of obvious about this "are we humorous =
>enough?" thing. As a teacher who has had student evaluations for the =
>same class which say that I'm completely humorless, and that I'm the =
>funniest teacher at Tennessee, I'm more than a little skeptical about =
>the coherence of the claim that leftists aren't funny enough. Finding =
>something funny is a kind of identification -- it means understanding =
>the position from which a statement was made, knowing enough about its =
>content to see the twist, and appreciating the twist. That's why people =
>with different ideologies find different things funny, and why the same =
>marxists who are accused of having no humor by the right often get hardy =
>laughs among comrades. =20
>
>Having said that, I am 100% serious (sorry) about asking how we can use =
>humor and irony to talk about the economy, to jar people who don't know =
>enough about what we know into thinking about it. I have a small =
>regional reputation as a performance poet, which, despite the name, =
>basically means I do three minute stand up comedy routines about =
>broadly, and sometimes narrowly, political (and yes economic) issues. =
>For all that -- and in spite of the fact that our scene in Knoxville and =
>the other small cities I've performed at generates crowds of up 50-75 =
>people, not bad for a DIY scene -- this always has so much the feel of =
>preaching to the converted, only a few of whom actually get the multiple =
>layers of the humor one hopes one has placed in the poem anyway. (And =
>some of you may have noticed that the performance poetry scene, as it =
>has developed a subcultural rep, has also been enlisted for Nike =
>commercials.)
>
>The point of saying this is not then to support, or oppose, the =
>cultivation of humor in the abstract. Personally, I like Michael Moore =
>more than I don't. But I do want to distinguish between the cliche -- =
>we have no senses of humor -- and the reality that people make jokes =
>about what seems funny to them; and further to make it possible to =
>simultaneously appreciate Moore's humor and also critique his politics, =
>since the latter establishes the possibilities, and limitations, of the =
>former.
>
>peace,
>
>Kenneth Mostern
>Department of English
>University of Tennessee