Seriously Laughing: On Paradoxes of Absurdity among Matsigenka People

摘要

Laughing and humour are of great importance to most people in their everyday life and these phenomena have attracted attention from many social thinkers. It has been noted that laughter often is provoked by something that is considered to be absurd and paradoxical. This essay focuses specifically on the meaning of laughter among Matsigenka people of the Peruvian Amazon. The paper discusses how absurdity is employed within narrative genres as a structuring principle within the specific ethos that is predominant among this people and how it serves to generate and manifest conviviality.