LenaStraßburger HumorandHorror Humor Research Editors Victor Raskin Willibald Ruch Volume 13 Lena Straßburger Humor and Horror Different Emotions, Similar Linguistic Processing Strategies ISBN978-3-11-076468-0 e-ISBN(PDF)978-3-11-076474-1 e-ISBN(EPUB)978-3-11-076480-2 ISSN1861-4116 LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2021951792 BibliographicinformationpublishedbytheDeutscheNationalbibliothek TheDeutscheNationalbibliothekliststhispublicationintheDeutscheNationalbibliografie; detailedbibliographicdataareavailableontheInternetathttp://dnb.dnb.de. ©2022WalterdeGruyterGmbH,Berlin/Boston Coverimage:ChristopherSchneider,Berlin Typesetting:IntegraSoftwareServicesPvt.Ltd. Printingandbinding:CPIbooksGmbH,Leck www.degruyter.com Acknowledgments Firstandforemost,IwouldliketothankProf.Dr.PetraSchumacherwhoopened my eyestoanacademic careerand welcomed me to herteamwith enthusiasm. Throughherknowledge,hergroundbreakingadviceandtheexcitingtasks,Iwas abletogrowbothprofessionallyandpersonally.HerXLinCLabmadeitpossibleto conductmyexperiments.Prof.Dr.MartinBeckeralwaysgavemevaluableadvice, raisedtherightquestionsandmadethisbookapleasuretoworkon.Iwouldlike tothankJun.-Prof.Dr.RomanBartoschforbeingopentomypsycholinguisticap- proachandformakingsurethatmyfirstchapterdidnotbecomeahorror.Further- more, I would like to thank my colleagues Dr. Hanna Weiland-Breckle and Dr. BarbaraTomaszewicz-Özakınfortheirgreatcommitment! Iwould like tothankthegraduateschool a.r.t.e.s.for afull-time scholarship andmanytravelgrants.IwouldalsoliketothankDr.JeffreyPowerandYing-Ying Chowforproof-readingmywork! I thank myparents for their unconditional love! But the biggestthank goes tomyhusband.Hehasalwaysturnedmymomentsofhorrorintohumor.Thank youforbeingbymyside. Finally,Iwouldliketothankthetwoeditors-in-chiefWillibaldRuchandVic- torRaskinaswellasDr.NatalieFecherandKirstinBörgenforpatientlyaccompa- nyingmypublicationprocessinMoutonDeGruyter’sHumorResearchseries. ThepresentworkhasbeenacceptedbytheFacultyofArtsandHumanitiesof theUniversityofCologneasadissertationunderthetitle“It’samatteroflifeand death–incongruityinhumorandhorror”.Ithasbeeneditedbeforepublication. Cologne,November2021 LenaStraßburger https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110764741-202 Contents Acknowledgments V Listoffigures IX Listoftables XI Listofabbreviations XIII Introduction 1 1 Horror:Howtoscreambecauseofincongruity 4 1.1 Originsandiconographyofhorrorinliteratureandfilm 5 1.2 Horrortheories:Whyfearanddisgust? 16 1.2.1 Art-horror’semotions 16 1.2.2 Psychoanalytichorrorapproaches 22 1.2.3 Cognitivehorrorapproaches 25 1.3 Intermediateresults 34 2 Humor:Howtosmileaboutincongruity 37 2.1 Humortheories:Fromantiquitytomodernapproaches 39 2.2 Cognitiveapproaches:Incongruityandhumor 50 2.2.1 Script-basedtheoriesofhumor 53 2.2.1.1 SemanticScriptTheoryofHumor 54 2.2.1.2 GeneralTheoryofVerbalHumor 58 2.2.1.3 GTVHrevis(it)ed:Pragmaticsandcontext 62 2.2.1.4 Spacestructuringmodel 68 2.2.2 Gradedinformativeness,optimalinnovation, andrelevance 69 2.3 Incongruityinhumorandart-horror 72 2.4 Intermediateresults 80 3 Humor&horror:Processingincongruity 84 3.1 Measuringprocessingcosts 85 3.2 Comparingincongruitytypesexperimentally 86 3.3 Evidenceforincongruitydetectionandresolution 89 3.4 Evidenceforemotionsafterincongruity 96 3.5 Individualdifferencesinincongruityprocessing 103 3.6 Intermediateresults 108 VIII Contents 4 Humor&horror:Anexperimentalcomparison 113 4.1 Stimulinorming:QuestionnaireIandII 114 4.1.1 QuestionnaireI 115 4.1.1.1 Methods 115 4.1.1.2 Results 119 4.1.1.3 Discussion 122 4.1.2 QuestionnaireII 123 4.1.2.1 Methods 123 4.1.2.2 Results 125 4.1.2.3 Discussion 129 4.2 Readingtimes:ExperimentI 130 4.2.1 Methods 132 4.2.2 Results 136 4.2.3 Discussion 138 4.3 Facialexpressions:ExperimentII 139 4.3.1 Methods 147 4.3.2 Results 149 4.3.3 Discussion 155 4.4 Neuro-electricactivity:ExperimentIII 158 4.4.1 Methods 164 4.4.2 Results 169 4.4.3 Discussion 173 5 Discussion&conclusion 176 5.1 Summaryofconceptualfindings 176 5.2 Summaryofexperimentalfindings 179 5.3 Incongruityprocessingmodelofhumor&horror(IPM) 187 5.4 Desiderata&outlook 191 References 195 Index 219 List of figures Figure1 Information-processingmodelofhumor(adaptedfromSuls1972:85) 52 Figure2 SyntagmaticLM(adaptedfromAttardo,HempelmannandDiMaio 2002:18) 59 Figure3 ReasoningLM(adaptedfromAttardo,HempelmannandDiMaio 2002:19) 59 Figure4 GTVH’ssixKnowledgeResourcesinhierarchicalorder 61 Figure5 ExpandedKnowledgeResourcesoftheGTVH 64 Figure6 Humorimplicatureson7levels(basedonCanestrari2012:65–73) 65 Figure7 Continuumofcontrarietydependingoncontrarietytypeandinvariance offurtherfeature(basedonCanestrariandBianchi2013:17–18) 67 Figure8 Correlationofincongruitytypeandhumoroussuccess(basedonCanestrari andBianchi2013:20) 67 Figure9 ExpandedKnowledgeResources(equalsFigure5) 73 Figure10 Incongruityprocessingstepsinart-horrorandhumor 76 Figure11 Rothbart’smodelofaffectiveresponsestoincongruity(adaptedfrom Rothbart2017:39) 79 Figure12 ThreephasesoftheneuralCircuitModel(NCM)(adaptedfromChan,Chou, Chen,Yeh,Lavallee,LiangandChang2013:175) 98 Figure13 ResultsofQuestionnaireIregardingmeansperconditionandquestion. Scariness,surprise,andfunninesswereratedona7-pointLikertscale (1=notatall;7=absolutely),errorbars=sd 120 Figure14 ResultsofQuestionnaireIIforall67triplets.Meansperconditionand questions.Scariness,funninessandsurprisewereratedona7-pointLikert scale(1=notatall;7=absolutely),errorbars=sd 126 Figure15 ResultsofQuestionnaireIIforthe36triplets.Meansperconditionand questions.Scariness,funniness,andsurprisewereratedona7-pointLikert scale(1=notatall;7=absolutely),errorbars=sd 127 Figure16 Schematicillustrationofpredictionsofreadingtimes(RT)forthethree conditionsart-horror,humor,andcoherence 132 Figure17 Logresidualreactiontimesforthesixtargetsegmentsoverallconditions, errorbars=sd 137 Figure18 Comparisonofthemuscularanatomyofthehumanface(leftpicture)and itsnotationinactionunits(AU),hereAU1,2,4,6,and7(rightpicture).The encirclednumberindicatestheendingpointofamovement(Ekman, Friesen,andHager2002b:15 140 Figure19 ComparisonofAU12(lipcornerpuller)asaschemaoftheoblique movement(leftpicture)anditsfacialexpression(rightpicture)(Ekmanet al.2002b:175,484).Sidenote:thefacialexpressionontherightsidealso includesAU25(openmouth) 141 Figure20 ComparisonofAU6(cheekraiserandlidcompressor)asschema(left)and facialexpression(middle).CombinationofAU6andAU12(right)(Ekman etal.2002b:15,468,485) 142 https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110764741-204 X Listoffigures Figure21 ComparisonofAU10(upperlipraiser)andAU9(nosewrinkle)asschema (leftpicture)andfacialexpressions(middle:AU10,right:AU9)(Ekman etal.2002b:91,95).Sidenote:MiddlepicturealsoshowsAU25(opened mouth) 143 Figure22 ComparisonofAU1and2asschema(left)andfacialexpression(middle: AU1,right:AU2)(cf.Ekmanetal.2002b:15,466) 144 Figure23 FacialexpressionsofAU4(browlowerer,left)anditscombinationwith AU1andAU2(right)(cf.Ekmanetal.2002b:466,472) 144 Figure24 FacialexpressionsofAU5(upperlidraiser,left)anditscombinationwith AU1andAU2(right)(cf.Ekmanetal2002b:467,472) 145 Figure25 Visualsummaryofpredictedfacialexpressions.1:happiness(AU6,12).2: disgust(AU9),3:disgust(AU10),4:fear(AU1,2,4);5:fear(AU1,25) (Ekmanetal.2002b:472–474,485).Sidenote:In3,AU25(openmouth)is activatedadditionally 145 Figure26 FACSresults–meanfrequencyofactionunits(AU)perconditiononand afterthecriticalsegment,andpercentageofAUof148AUshownacross conditionsandlocations 152 Figure27 Schemaofrecordingprocedure(adaptedfromHung2011:46) 159 Figure28 Illustrationofelectrodecap(extendedversion)accordingto10/20system (adaptedtorecordedelectrodepositionsfromLuck2014:167) 167 Figure29 Electrophysiologicalresultsofthegrand-averagedERPsfor9selected electrodesidesfortheconditionscoherence,horror,humor,and incoherence 170 Figure30 Incongruityprocessingmodelforhumorandart-horror(IPM) 188