Date of Award
5-2015
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Legacy Department
Rhetorics, Communication, and Information Design
Committee Chair/Advisor
Victor J. Vitanza
Committee Member
Stephanie Barczewski
Committee Member
Cynthia Haynes
Committee Member
Beth Lauritis
Abstract
In the following work I create and define the parameters for a specific form of humorous parody. I highlight specific problematic narrative figures that circulate the public sphere and reinforce our serious narrative expectations. However, I demonstrate how critical public pedagogies are able to disrupt these problematic narrative expectations. Humorous parodic narratives are especially equipped to help us in such situations when they work as a critical public/classroom pedagogy, a form of critical rhetoric, and a form of mass narrative therapy. These findings are supported by a rhetorical analysis of these parodic narratives, as I expand upon their ability to provide a practical model for how to create/analyze narratives both inside/outside of the classroom. Because these parodic narratives serve as an impetus for creative inquiry, I focus specifically on the importance of humor and play within the classroom and within practices of self-narration.
Recommended Citation
Lucas, Michael Richard, "Seriously Playful and Playfully Serious: The Helpfulness of Humorous Parody" (2015). All Dissertations. 1486.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_dissertations/1486