Repercussions of Laughter in the Claudine Novels: Butler, Bergson, and Colette/Willy

Abstract This article examines the role of humour in the first two Claudine novels, drawing primarily on Henri Bergson’s theory of the comic and Judith Butler’s reflections on parodic performance. Bergson emphasizes the nature of laughter as a travelling sound, whose echoes fleetingly define the borders of a social group. This helps us articulate why laughter is associated with experiences of both exclusion and inclusion, especially for non-heterosexual individuals. However, Bergson’s work also opens the fraught question of who is laughing with whom in the case of Colette and Willy’s popular co-authored novels. I argue that both authors have a role in offering — and seeking to retract — parodic subversions of normative heterosexuality, which nevertheless remain available for new and unexpected groupings of readers. I also emphasize the importance of laughter in Claudine’s experience of sexuality, suggesting that it may reveal more than her often-cited desiring gaze.