Just about a week ago, I wrote about a lost podcast – or at least an elusive one as I have yet to find it – of an interview between Christopher Lydon and Dickinson scholar Helen Vendler. Info on the 2010 interview is HERE, and the focus was on Vendler’s book Dickinson, Selected Poems and Commentaries. Info on the book is HERE.
I travelled to Chicago this past weekend, and prior to my trip, I ordered the book and then began reading it on the plane. My initial reaction to the forty-plus pages I’ve read of the 530: I love it! ; )
I travelled to Chicago this past weekend, and prior to my trip, I ordered the book and then began reading it on the plane. My initial reaction to the forty-plus pages I’ve read of the 530: I love it! ; )
 | So far I’ve read Vendler’s “A Note on the Text,” her twenty-three-page introduction, and commentaries on eight of Dickinson’s poems, and while I don’t necessarily agree with every perspective of Vendler’s (SPOILER ALERT: I agree with most), I applaud her in-depth look at Dickinson’s structures above and beyond her dissection, deconstruction, and deliberation of Dickinson’s meanings – how the poet’s form and prosody augment and intensify the impact of the metaphorical messages. In the opening paragraph of her introduction, Vendler states that “to enter her poetic entirely a reader would have to know by heart (and by ear) all her poems. Ideally, too, her reader should possess the King James Bible as firmly as she did, and should have read the poetry of the English past as fervently as she had….” Well, I’m sure that’s not the case for many Dickison enthusiasts (including myself), and Vendler does admit, “Yet readers worldwide, even when they have lacked her background, have flocked to her poems, responding to her candor, her grief, and her wit.” LOL – I’m living proof. |
All of this reminded me of a scene from “Itchy & Scratchy & Marge,” the ninth episode of the second season of “The Simpsons,” where – after continued exposure to the gratuitous cartoon violence of cat & mouse Itchy and Scratchy – Maggie Simpson whacks her father over the head with a mallet in a meticulous shot-for-shot parody of the infamous shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho.”
 |  |
 |  |
Does one have to have seen “Psycho” to appreciate the dark humor? Of course not. Does it help? Of course. Still, without having seen Hitchcock’s classic, the scene is as downright laughable as is all cartoon violence – amirite?
As an aside, I paused to search “why is cartoon violence so funny,” and I found this:
“Cartoon violence makes us laugh because it relies on the principle of benign violation, a psychological theory suggesting we find things funny when a situation threatens our sense of how the world should work but is ultimately harmless.”
I’m not making this up. Have you heard of this? Here’s a bit more:
The Benign Violation Theory (BVT) is a psychological framework developed by researchers at the University of Colorado Humor Research Lab which posits that humor occurs only when three conditions happen simultaneously:
Okay, let me pump the brakes here for a moment longer – I’ll get back on track again shortly. Does the University of Colorado really have a Humor Research Lab? I ran a search and found this:
“Yes, the University of Colorado Boulder really does have a humor research lab. It is known as the Humor Research Lab (HuRL).”
LOL – oookay – so I believe it – I suppose. While this is the stuff parodies are made of, I believe that this is true. I found additional info (HERE) about one of the lab’s founders, Peter McGraw:
“Prior to the Solo project, I immersed myself in the scientific study of humor, exploring its causes and consequences. I’m pleased to have helped move humor research from the fringes into mainstream academic discussion. A major accomplishment has been co-creating the Benign Violation Theory with Caleb Warren, which explains what makes things funny. To do that, I founded the Humor Research Lab (HuRL). Curious about the theory? Check out my TEDx talk ‘What Makes Things Funny?’ where I summarize our academic insights.”
I have not had the time to view his talk yet (HERE), but I will at some later time. Additionally, I want to look into why it is we laugh when friends fall down or get hurt (in minor ways); I suspect that sort of “clumsy” reaction is related to BVT. For now, though, let me at least swerve back into a lane on Dickinson; however, I’ll provide an example or two from Vendler’s comprehensive analyses of Dickinson’s form tomorrow. Today, since I careened off track into the realm of humor, let me leave you with some comical looks at Dickinson, the woman who put the “fun” in “funeral”:
“Cartoon violence makes us laugh because it relies on the principle of benign violation, a psychological theory suggesting we find things funny when a situation threatens our sense of how the world should work but is ultimately harmless.”
I’m not making this up. Have you heard of this? Here’s a bit more:
The Benign Violation Theory (BVT) is a psychological framework developed by researchers at the University of Colorado Humor Research Lab which posits that humor occurs only when three conditions happen simultaneously:
- A Violation: Something threatens your sense of how the world "ought to be" (e.g., a moral, social, or physical norm is broken).
- Benignity: The situation is perceived as safe, harmless, or okay.
- Simultaneity: You recognize both the violation and the harmlessness at the exact same time.
Okay, let me pump the brakes here for a moment longer – I’ll get back on track again shortly. Does the University of Colorado really have a Humor Research Lab? I ran a search and found this:
“Yes, the University of Colorado Boulder really does have a humor research lab. It is known as the Humor Research Lab (HuRL).”
LOL – oookay – so I believe it – I suppose. While this is the stuff parodies are made of, I believe that this is true. I found additional info (HERE) about one of the lab’s founders, Peter McGraw:
“Prior to the Solo project, I immersed myself in the scientific study of humor, exploring its causes and consequences. I’m pleased to have helped move humor research from the fringes into mainstream academic discussion. A major accomplishment has been co-creating the Benign Violation Theory with Caleb Warren, which explains what makes things funny. To do that, I founded the Humor Research Lab (HuRL). Curious about the theory? Check out my TEDx talk ‘What Makes Things Funny?’ where I summarize our academic insights.”
I have not had the time to view his talk yet (HERE), but I will at some later time. Additionally, I want to look into why it is we laugh when friends fall down or get hurt (in minor ways); I suspect that sort of “clumsy” reaction is related to BVT. For now, though, let me at least swerve back into a lane on Dickinson; however, I’ll provide an example or two from Vendler’s comprehensive analyses of Dickinson’s form tomorrow. Today, since I careened off track into the realm of humor, let me leave you with some comical looks at Dickinson, the woman who put the “fun” in “funeral”:
 |  |
RSS Feed
