Cette thèse apporte des éléments de description et d’analyse du registre littéraire que constitue l’humour noir. Elle s’appuie sur les réflexions développées par André Breton dans son Anthologie de l’humour noir (1966), tout en les resituant au sein des théories surréalistes et en démontrant que l’auteur construit un registre parfaitement adapté à la défense de ses opinions sur l’art et la modernité. La sélection effectuée par l’Anthologie peut alors être abordée sous un nouvel angle et étudiée d’un point de vue littéraire : l’humour noir peut ainsi être défini comme un registre bipolaire, reposant sur la confrontation entre deux tendances, l’une herméneutique et l’autre terroriste, mais qui interrogent toutes deux la valeur des discours tenus sur le monde. Les manifestations littéraires de l’humour noir peuvent ainsi être analysées, de même que les évolutions que connaît le registre à la suite de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. L’humour noir gagne en effet en popularité au sein des médias et les auteurs qui vont avoir recours à ce registre vont prendre en compte sa proximité avec des genres littéraires peu légitimes. Ces évolutions du registre sont étudiées à travers les œuvres de trois auteurs : Joyce Mansour, Roland Topor et Jean-Pierre Martinet. Leurs récits reposent sur des procédés similaires qui visent dans l’ensemble à déstabiliser les schémas narratifs traditionnels. Ainsi, l’humour noir interroge le lecteur sur ses habitudes de lecture et rompt le contrat passé avec l’auteur afin de remettre en cause l’idée d’une communauté possible à travers le partage – inégal – d’une culture et d’une langue communes. L’humour noir postule ainsi l’existence d’une communauté introuvable par la littérature, au sein de récits qui revendiquent leur illégitimité. / This dissertation offers new elements for the description and the analysis of the literary register that is dark humour. It is based on the considerations that André Breton developed in his Anthologie de l’humour noir (1966), and at the same time, it replaces them within the surrealist theories, in order to demonstrate that the author creates a register perfectly suited to the defence of his opinions about art and Modernity. The selection that is made in the Anthologie can henceforth be approached with a fresh eye and analyzed from a literary point of view : dark humour would then be defined as a bipolar register, built on a confrontation between two tendencies, a hermeneutic one and a terrorist one, but which both question the value of the speeches that pretend to represent reality. The literary features of dark humour can thus be analyzed, as well as its evolutions after the Second World War. Indeed, at that time, dark humour becomes more popular in the media, and the authors who use it take into account its acquaintances with literary genres that lack legitimacy. The evolutions of the register are studied through the work of three writers : Joyce Mansour, Roland Topor and Jean-Pierre Martinet. Their narratives follow similar patterns which, on the whole, aim to dismantle the traditional narrative schemes. Thus, dark humour questions the reader about his reading habits and breaks the contract entered into with the author, in order to call into question the possibility of a community unified by the – unequal – share of a common culture and language. Dark humour thereby postulates the existence of a community that cannot be found by literature, within narratives that claim their illegitimacy.

The essay is a theoretical analysis on genre, based on André Breton's views on black humor. Breton is believed to be the person who is the mind behind the term "black humor", but his views on black humour have not – as far as I’m concerned – been applied in a film-scientific context. There is no cohesive view of the genre concept, as reflected in four selected genre theorists' texts that I selected. Texts that also have been published in various decades. The disposition for my essay is to begin by clarifying the definition of “black humour” by Breton and then highlight the key ideas of Leo Braudy, Thomas Schatz, Rick Altman and David Bordwell. In the end, I will try to interpret the ways in which black humor can be formed as a genre of its own. My conclusion is that there is no clear answer to how black can be formed as its own genre, but on the other hand there are a number of critical perspectives on the genre concept. Together, all theorists demonstrates complex relationships between ideological roots and present-day added significance. In the final discussion, I argue that there is a need to continue studying more about "black humor" by adding additional relevant dimensions and linking them to genre theory.

In humour studies research, there have been few attempts to elucidate why black humour was such a prevalent, powerful force in late twentieth century culture and why it continues to make a profound impression in the new millennium. As Dana Polan (1991) laments: ???Rarely have there been attempts to offer material, historically specific explanations of particular manifestations of the comic???.1 This thesis offers an interdisciplinary analysis of black humour in the late twentieth century. I contend that the experience of black humour emerges from the intricacies of human beliefs and behaviours surrounding death and through the diverse rituals that shape experiences of loss. I suggest that black humour is an attempt to articulate the tension between the haunting absence and disturbing presence of death in contemporary society. Chapter 1 of this thesis offers an historical and etymological perspective on black humour. In Chapter 2, I argue that the increasing privatisation and medicalisation of death, along with the overt mediatisation of death, creates a problematic juxtaposition. I contend that these unique social conditions created, and continue to foster, an ideal environment for the creation and proliferation of black humour. In Chapters 3 and 4, I examine the structures and functions of black humour through three key theories of humour: incongruity, catharsis and superiority. Chapter 5 looks at ways in which the experience of black humour creates resolutions and forces dissonances for people entwined with loss. In this final chapter, I also consider how black humour may help people make meaning from issues surrounding death. Throughout this theoretical discussion, I interweave the analysis of a range of scenes from contemporary black comic texts (i.e. plays, screenplays and television scripts). On the whole, this thesis works towards a more complex, specific understanding of the phenomenon of black humour within a social context.

In humour studies research, there have been few attempts to elucidate why black humour was such a prevalent, powerful force in late twentieth century culture and why it continues to make a profound impression in the new millennium. As Dana Polan (1991) laments: ???Rarely have there been attempts to offer material, historically specific explanations of particular manifestations of the comic???.1 This thesis offers an interdisciplinary analysis of black humour in the late twentieth century. I contend that the experience of black humour emerges from the intricacies of human beliefs and behaviours surrounding death and through the diverse rituals that shape experiences of loss. I suggest that black humour is an attempt to articulate the tension between the haunting absence and disturbing presence of death in contemporary society. Chapter 1 of this thesis offers an historical and etymological perspective on black humour. In Chapter 2, I argue that the increasing privatisation and medicalisation of death, along with the overt mediatisation of death, creates a problematic juxtaposition. I contend that these unique social conditions created, and continue to foster, an ideal environment for the creation and proliferation of black humour. In Chapters 3 and 4, I examine the structures and functions of black humour through three key theories of humour: incongruity, catharsis and superiority. Chapter 5 looks at ways in which the experience of black humour creates resolutions and forces dissonances for people entwined with loss. In this final chapter, I also consider how black humour may help people make meaning from issues surrounding death. Throughout this theoretical discussion, I interweave the analysis of a range of scenes from contemporary black comic texts (i.e. plays, screenplays and television scripts). On the whole, this thesis works towards a more complex, specific understanding of the phenomenon of black humour within a social context.