Ladies aren't supposed to laugh at that!!

The type of humor that was studied this week was a kind which many of our mothers would not find to be so comedic. My own mom would say that urine, excretion, and other characteristics of Rabelais’ writing are not appropriate topics “for a lady” to discuss. However, it is this mindset of unsuitableness which urges us to laugh at the writings of Rabelais. I believe that laughter at these types of writings such as “Trickster Eats the Laxative Bulb” and “Gargantua” comes from a combination of nature and nurture. As kids we would all have naturally laughed hysterically at these stories with no reservations or thought as to why we are laughing. Yet when girls began to mature many were taught by our culture that they should not laugh at such foolishness because it is not becoming. This is where the nurture begins to show its influence. Regardless of gender, as American children grow they are told that defecating a pile of dung the height of a tree is not a subject which should be discusses openly. Brakhtin mentions that sayings in America do not have the same effect on people of other countries. For example, “if God has urinated here” is more of a blessing in France than a disgusting idea as it would be to most Americans. This shows that one’s discretion on what is comedic and what isn’t is due in part to one’s culture or nurture. Nurturing can also be a reason why we would find these stories to be comedic. If one has never read a story about a woman’s defecation resulting from the consumption of too many tripes being mistaken for her baby then one might be extremely intrigued by Rabelais. The shock of reading such a filthy and ridiculous story might have the effect of producing laughter in the reader because he/she doesn’t know how else to deal with it. Regardless of one’s discretion of what id humorous and what in fact is not, one cannot help but be affected in some way by Rabelais’ unique billingsgate comedy.