Books by Elliott Oring

Almost everyone tells and appreciates jokes. Yet the nature of jokes has proved elusive. This title offers a perspective on jokes and related forms of humor. Criticizing and modifying traditional concepts and methods of analysis, it delineates an approach that explains the peculiarities of various forms of humorous expression.

Filled with examples of jokes and riddles that reveal humour to be a meaningful - even significant - form of expression, this title provides alternate ways of thinking about humorous expressions by examining their contexts - not just their contents.