Waarom de dichter lacht: humor in de poëzie van PA. de Génestet en François HaverSchmidt

Abstract

This article has two objectives. Firstly, it aims to show that the existing models for textual humour studies must be adapted in order to be used for the analysis of poetic texts, specifically for poems in which the use of rhetorical devices plays a central role. Secondly, it seeks to demonstrate that an analysis based on insights from textual humour studies can enrich a reading of humorous poetry. By combining and expanding contemporary incongruity- resolution theories of lingual humour, I introduce a methodology, which I then use to analyse the role of humour in the poems “Niet aardig” (“Not witty”) by P.A. de Génestet and “Immortelle LXXXIV” by François HaverSchmidt. I argue that the humorous effect is caused by a shift between rhetorical schemata and that it evokes a thought process which leads to a relatively sober handling of idealistic desires.