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Research on Young Children’s Humor pp 187–201Cite as

Humour as Culture in Infancy

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Part of the book series: Educating the Young Child ((EDYC,volume 15))

Abstract

Humour is a fundamentally cultural process, beginning in the I-Thou interactions of early infancy. Humorous engagements in infancy thus offer a unique insight into the origins and meanings of funniness, a potential diagnostic tool for assessing infant ‘typicality’ and powerfully exemplify the process of culture. Three important aspects of cultural process are its dialogicality, its particularity and its precariousness. All three are strongly evident in humorous interactions in early infancy and different aspects of infant humour are discussed to illustrate them. Infants are active participants in the cultures of humour which seek to draw them in, and contribute through humour creation and playfulness, both to their maintenance and their change.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK

    Vasudevi Reddy

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  1. Vasudevi Reddy
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Correspondence to Vasudevi Reddy .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Eleni Loizou

  2. Department of Curriculum and Teaching, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Susan L. Recchia

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Reddy, V. (2019). Humour as Culture in Infancy. In: Loizou, E., Recchia, S.L. (eds) Research on Young Children’s Humor. Educating the Young Child, vol 15. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15202-4_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15202-4_11

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-15201-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-15202-4

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

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