Humor, Laughter, Identity, and Reactions to Trauma

A sizable body of literature examines humor as a way to cope with trauma and/or negative life events. These studies often recognize the idea of a sense of humor as an issue of personal identity and link that character trait to coping with stress and/or trauma. The papers of this session examine three different aspects of humor and trauma/identity as they relate to the late Middle Ages. Paper 1 examines the relationship of laughter to trauma in The Canterbury Tales. Paper 2 shifts our focus to the Mughal court in Asia and the functions of humor and identity in that court. Paper 3 examines the humor in BL MS Harley 913—particularly The Land of Cokaygne—as coping strategies for the trauma brought about by frequent poor harvests and the Great Famine of 1315-1317. Together, the papers provide insight into the uses of humor, representations of laughter, and their relationship to trauma and identity across the globe.