Gallows humor

Sigmund Freud, in his 1927 essay, “ Humor, ” puts forward the following gallows humor theory: “The ego refuses to suffer because of reality in order to allow itself to be forced to suffer. It insists that traumatic episodes of the outside world cannot affect it; it shows, in fact, that such injuries are nothing more than opportunities to achieve pleasure. ” This concept was further developed by several other sociologists. At the same time, Paul Lewis warns that this “facilitating” aspect of hanging jokes depends on the context: whether the “sentenced” jokes or someone else. ^[four]

The social effect of a gallows humor is that it raises the spirit of the oppressed and lowers the spirit of the oppressor ^{[5] [6]} . According to Wiley Cypher , "if we are able to laugh at evil and mistakes, then we have overcome them." ^[7]

The gallows humor is a natural human instinct; its examples can be found in antiquity. It was widely used in Central Europe , from where it was transferred to the United States as part of Jewish humor . ^[3] In German, there is a similar term Galgenhumor , in French - rire jaune , ^{[8] [9] [10]} in Flemish - groen lachen (lit. green laughter ). ^{[11] [12] [13] [14]}

Italian comedian Daniele Lutazzi discussed the hangman ’s humor, paying particular attention to the specific kind of laughter he evokes ( risata verde or groen lachen ), and said that such a laugh most often causes a grotesque satire , as opposed to ironic satire. ^{[15] [16] [17]} This genre was extremely common in the Cabaret of the Weimar Republic , and according to Lutazzi, its main masters were Karl Valentin and Karl Kraus . ^[17]

There are many recorded examples of humorous last words before death or in court . For example, Oscar Wilde needed and lived in a cheap hostel before his death. There are discrepancies regarding the exact quote, but his last words were relatively recognized by his words , “Either this wallpaper, or me.”

Examples of the last words of the convicted:

• One of the first convicts exiled by the British Empire to Australia , who took the nickname Black Caesar (after a famous pirate ), escaped from hard labor in 1789 and lived in the wilderness as a bush ranger . He lived on the fact that he was robbing garden plots with a stolen gun. When he was finally caught, according to Lieutenant Governor David Collins , he was “so indifferent to meeting death that in prison he said that if he was hanged, he would have laughed before he died, playing a joke on the executioner ". ^[eighteen]
• When Thomas More climbed the shaky scaffold, where he was supposed to be executed, he told the executioner: “I pray you, Mr. Lieutenant, see that I come up calmly; let me down myself. ”
• During his execution, serial killer William Palmer looked at the hatch of his gallows and asked the executioner: “Are you sure this is safe?” ^[19]
• Walter Raleigh was beheaded on October 29, 1618 in the Old Courtyard at the Palace of Westminster . “It’s time to leave,” said Raleigh to his executioner. “This time I was in a fever. "I will not allow my enemies to think that I tremble in the face of death." He was allowed to inspect the ax with which he would be beheaded, after which he joked: “This medicine is an acute drug! But heals all diseases! ” According to many biographers (for example, Raleigh Travelin in “Sir Walter Raleigh”, 2002) - Raleigh's last words were “Sacks, soldiers, sacks!”, Which he shouted already putting his head under the ax.
• When Ronald Reagan was taken to the ward after the attempt of John Hinckley , he asked the doctors: “I hope you are all good Republicans?”

The gallows humor is also filled with military life, as soldiers often, especially in wartime, live in constant danger of being killed. For example:

• The Japanese Mitsubishi G4M bomber (イ ッ シ キ リ ッ コ ウ) in Japanese pilots was called "Hamaki" (葉 巻 or は ま сиг, which means a cigar ), not only because of the cigar-shaped fuselage, but also because of the defeat it tended to catch fire quickly. The Americans called it "flying zippo " - according to the slogan of the manufacturer of lighters: "Guaranteed fire from the first blow every time."
• For a similar reason, the British nicknamed the M4 Sherman tank also a lighter, " Ronson, " whose slogan was "every time it lights up the first time!"
• While the surviving crew members of HMS Sheffield , sunk in 1982 in the Falkland War , were waiting for salvation, they were reportedly not wasting time and were singing Monty Python's song “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” from the movie “ Brian 's Life by Monty Python” ".
• During the Second World War, Soviet pilots joked that the true meaning of the name of the LaGG-3 aircraft was the Lacquered Guaranteed Coffin.
• At night during the Battle of Jutland (May 31 - June 1, 1916), the destroyer HMS Tipperary was sunk by the German dreadnought SMS Westfalen ; only 13 crew members from 197 survived. In the darkness, survivors were discovered by the loud performance of the song “ The Way Far to Tippereri ”. The Royal Navy rescuers said: "We had no doubt that it was you."
• During the Winter War, the Soviet Union bombed Helsinki, and after the USSR stated that it was actually dropping food to the "starving people of Helsinki," the Finns dubbed the Soviet cluster bombs RRAB-3 "Molotov bread baskets", and small-sized aerial bombs - "Molotov bread bins ". In response, the Finns began to call their Molotov cocktails Molotov cocktails as “a drink for this food.”
• During World War II, Soviet soldiers dubbed the 45 mm anti-tank gun M1937 (53-K) “goodbye, Motherland!”, Because it could not destroy German tanks, and, therefore, its calculation was almost defenseless against them.

• In the final scene of the film “The Life of Brian by Monty Python ”, a group of crucified criminals joyfully sings “ Always Look on the Bright Side of Life ”
• In Stephen King 's science fiction novel Tomminokera (1987), the protagonist ponders a joke he “once heard”. One person is getting ready to be executed, and the head of the firing squad offers him a cigarette. He replies: "No, thanks, I'm trying to quit."
• In Romeo and Juliet , Shakespeare, Act 3, Scene 1 (translation by A. Grigoriev):

Mercutio. Friend, take courage! After all, the wound is not deep.

Mercutio. Yes, of course: it’s smaller than the well and narrower of the church doors, but it will be with me too ... Come and see me tomorrow, how I will lie as a gentleman.

• Black humor
• Grotesque
• Shocking

• Lipman, Steve (1991) Laughter in hell: the use of humor during the Holocaust, Northvale, NJ: J Aronson Inc.