This thesis examines the responses of several thinkers to the question of laughter according to a thematic division of critical concerns. A reflexive focus is adopted querying the diversity of such responses. Contextual assumptions are considered as crucially informing each individual interpretation. Laughter is here approached from three distinct perspectives each treated in three respective chapters. 1. ‘Laughter, Society and Play’ interrogates those border territories where laughter arises. Arthur Koestler here initiates an examination of laughter’s social or formal determinants which takes in alternative contributions from Henri Bergson and Wyndham Lewis. Helmuth Plessner’s work is then appropriated in order to situate this debate. It is proposed that the social role of laughter is best understood under the aspect of communal play. 2. In ‘Laughter and the Play of the Psyche’ Freud’s work traces a trajectory from the passivity of laughter to the agency of the instigator. The arousal of laughter is then read according to the grammatical persons as distinguished from discrete individuals. Freud recognises a latent infancy in laughter which is examined with respect to his ongoing thinking. Here a complex relationship between anticipation and imagination emerges from reading Freud’s early joke-book through his later considerations on play and phantasy. 3. ‘Laughter and Being in Play’ suggests that the adoption of a broadly comic or tragic paradigm will fundamentally inform laughter’s local reception. Charles Baudelaire’s thought is explored here as he proposes laughter to be symptomatic of both Original Sin and of prefigured redemption. In this context Hegel, Kierkegaard, Leopardi, de Man and Dante each provide individual perspectives on the intersection of laughter, guilt and redemption which is then treated in the light of Georges Bataille’s radical account of laughter as an encounter with the unknown.

La révolution Tunisienne en 2011 a permis de libérer la parole. C’est ainsi que nous avons été témoins d’une explosion humoristique touchant à tous les domaines de vie : politique, économique, sportif, religieux et social. La tranche d’âge adolescente semble la plus concernée par cette expression créatrice servant son développement psychologique et social. Nous nous sommes proposés, au sein de cette thèse, d’identifier le rôle de l’humour dans le processus adolescent à travers l’étude du fonctionnement du préconscient, du narcissisme, du processus d’individuation et de la socialisation. Quels renseignements pourrait-il apporter quant à la qualité de la vie psychique de l’adolescent et de ses éventuelles failles ? L’absence d’humour ou la réticence à en produire serait-elle témoin d’une fragilité adolescente et d’une impossibilité à gérer les émergences pulsionnelles les enfermant dans un fonctionnement rigide et impénétrable ? Nous nous sommes donc inspirés du Humurous Response Questionnary de Rod, A Martin afin de procéder à une catégorisation de l’humour chez des adolescents de 13 à 15 ans. Nous avons ensuite exploré leurs dynamiques psychiques à travers le test projectif du TAT.Ce travail, nous a permis de déterminer la qualité du préconscient et les caractéristiques psychiques inhérentes à chaque groupe d’humour. Cette étude a contribué à identifier une nouvelle catégorie « non-humour » qui participe à la compréhension du phénomène de radicalisation religieuse à l’adolescence. Ainsi le type d’humour utilisé par l’adolescent, dans son contexte culturel, prend la valeur d’un signe psychopathologique renseignant sur sa santé psychique. / The Tunisian revolution in 2011 helped to free the speech and unleash languages. Thus we witnessed a humorous explosion affecting all areas of life: political, economic, sports, religious and social. The teenagers seem to be the most concerned by this creative expression serving their psychological and social development. In this thesis, we proposed to identify the role of humor in the adolescent process through the study of the functioning of the preconscious, the narcissism, the individuation process and the socialization. What information could it provide about the quality of the adolescent's psychic life and its possible flaws. Would the lack of humor or the reluctance to produce it be evidence of adolescent fragility and an impossibility to manage the drive emergencies enclosing them in a rigid and impenetrable operation? We have therefore drawn inspiration from Rod, A Martin's Humorous Response Questionnary, in order to categorize humor in adolescents aged 13 to 15 years. Then, we explored their psychic dynamics through the TAT projective test. This work allowed us to determine the quality of the preconscious and the psychic characteristics inherent in each group of humor. This study helped to identify a new "non-humor" category that contributes to understanding the phenomenon of religious radicalization in adolescence. Thus the type of humor used by the adolescent, in his cultural context, takes on the value of a psychopathological sign informing about his psychic health.

One potent, yet little recognized tool in therapy is humour. As the desire to be entertained through humour is near universal the establishment and return of a positive sense of humour may be considered a goal of therapy. The goal of Gestalt exploration is awareness. From its origin Gestalt theory includes addressing body experiences such as laughter and emotional expression through humour. In Gestalt Theory a contact boundary disturbance such as deflection refers to the ways in which individuals may refuse contact with their environment in order to avoid aware¬ness. The goal of this study was to explore the implementation of humour as a deflective technique where contact boundary disturbances occur, to bring about change. Aspects of humour, namely the ability to perceive the comic as well as the ability to produce it, aid therapy and relationship building, and help the client to deflect in a way that enhances emotional well-being. / Humor, geringskat in terapie, is 'n uiters sterk hulpmiddel. Aangesien die behoefte om vermaak te word deur humor universeel is, is die terugkeer van 'n positiewe sin vir humor 'n deurdagte doel vir terapie. Die doel van die Gestalt eksplorasie is bewuswording. Van die begin af sluit Gestalt teorie liggaamservaringe soos lag en emosioneie uitdrukking deur humor in. In Gestalt Teorie verwys 'n kontakgrens versteuring soos defleksie, na die wyse waarop individue kontak met die omgewing vermy, om sodoende bewuswording te vermy. Die doel van die studie was om die implementering van humor as deflektiewe tegniek, waar kontak grens versteuringe en weerstande voorkom, as verandering teweeg kan bring. Aspekte van humor, naamlik die moontlikheid om die komiese waar te neem, sowel as om dit te produseer, versterk terapie and vehoudingsbou, beide aspekte help die klient om te deflekteer op so 'n wyse dat emosioneie goedvoel bevorder word. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play Therapy)

One potent, yet little recognized tool in therapy is humour. As the desire to be entertained through humour is near universal the establishment and return of a positive sense of humour may be considered a goal of therapy. The goal of Gestalt exploration is awareness. From its origin Gestalt theory includes addressing body experiences such as laughter and emotional expression through humour. In Gestalt Theory a contact boundary disturbance such as deflection refers to the ways in which individuals may refuse contact with their environment in order to avoid aware¬ness. The goal of this study was to explore the implementation of humour as a deflective technique where contact boundary disturbances occur, to bring about change. Aspects of humour, namely the ability to perceive the comic as well as the ability to produce it, aid therapy and relationship building, and help the client to deflect in a way that enhances emotional well-being. / Humor, geringskat in terapie, is 'n uiters sterk hulpmiddel. Aangesien die behoefte om vermaak te word deur humor universeel is, is die terugkeer van 'n positiewe sin vir humor 'n deurdagte doel vir terapie. Die doel van die Gestalt eksplorasie is bewuswording. Van die begin af sluit Gestalt teorie liggaamservaringe soos lag en emosioneie uitdrukking deur humor in. In Gestalt Teorie verwys 'n kontakgrens versteuring soos defleksie, na die wyse waarop individue kontak met die omgewing vermy, om sodoende bewuswording te vermy. Die doel van die studie was om die implementering van humor as deflektiewe tegniek, waar kontak grens versteuringe en weerstande voorkom, as verandering teweeg kan bring. Aspekte van humor, naamlik die moontlikheid om die komiese waar te neem, sowel as om dit te produseer, versterk terapie and vehoudingsbou, beide aspekte help die klient om te deflekteer op so 'n wyse dat emosioneie goedvoel bevorder word. / Social Work / M. Diac. (Play Therapy)