Humor has evolved greatly between the years of 1800 and 1939. During these
years, humor used in literature has changed greatly in terms of subject matter
and the way that the author conveys humor to the audience. Also during these
years, what is considered to be humorous had evolved greatly. This is similar
to the way that the settings of these humorous stories has shifted as America
started to grow in size.
For example, the book A Knickerbocker's History Of New York by Washington
Irving reflected both the characteristics of what was considered to be humorous
at the time and showed the Irving's opinion of the conditions of Americans
during the early 1800's. In this book, Irving satirized the pretentiousness
of historians and brings to attention issues that were of importance at the
time. For instance, he pretends to justify the "rights" of European
colonists to the land that they "discovered." Through his use of
satire, Irving is able to reveal the falsity and injustice of their claims.
Irving's upbringing may have contributed to his writing. Because he spent
the early years of his life in Europe, he must have been exposed to the self-importance
of the Europeans. I feel that this led him to attempt writing in an American
style and was the reason for his sympathy with the Native Americans during
the early years of American colonization.
Eventually Americans started to move westward and as the country was changing,
humor in literature changed along with it. For instance, The Adventures
of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain was different in terms of style and method
used to produce a humorous story. Twain uses innocence to poke fun of such
entrenched systems, such as religion. He does this by observing these systems
from the point of view of an innocent and naïve boy. The settings of
Twain's stories are greatly affected by his childhood. The setting in Tom
Sawyer is a small town on the banks of the Mississippi River. Obviously,
Twain's dreams of becoming a steamboatman and living on the Mississippi River
affected his writing of Tom Sawyer. Also, Twain's experience as a journalist
in the West and in Europe affected his other writings, such as The Prince
and the Pauper and A Connecticut Yankee in King Author's Court.
Like Irving, I believe that Mark Twain was dissatisfied with the conditions
of certain oppressed people at the time, namely African Americans. This probably
led to his writing of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
By the 1900's, Americans had finished moving westward, but the culture of
humor was still developing. In New York, for example, culture was blooming
and the humorous short story was becoming extremely popular. O. Henry was
the quintessential master of writing short stories. In his book, Collected
Short Stories by O. Henry, he is able to take what people normally expect
to happen and turn it around in a strange twist of fate. O. Henry's short
stories tend to deal greatly with the character human beings. My belief is
that this subject matter was induced in part by the time that O. Henry was
convicted of embezzling money and was sent to jail. He wrote some of his short
stories while in a penitentiary in Ohio in order to support his daughter and
being in a prison must have given him time to contemplate over the character
of people.
Between the years of 1920 and 1939, the Harlem Renaissance was well underway.
During this time, two prominent African American writers, Langston Hughes
and Zora Neale Hurston, collaborated to write a play "Mule Bone."
This play was based largely on Hurston's short story, "The Bone of Contention,"
and portrays the role of religion in the lives of African Americans in a humorous
light. It tells the story of how an incident divides an African American community
into two factions: the Methodists and the Baptists. Like Twain and O. Henry,
the authors of Mule Bone analyze the character of people and the role
that entrenched systems play in their lives. Obviously, the fact that both
authors were active members of the Harlem Renaissance contributed to the way
the play was written. Their insight to issues such as race and religion is
shown in this seemingly innocent play. However, Hughes and Hurston had a dispute
over the authorship of the play, which ended their friendship and prevented
the play from being published or performed during their lifetime. I felt that
it was a shame that the two authors had a dispute because the play could have
been developed into a masterpiece had the two decided to work together and
finish it.
Thus, humor in America has changed from the satirical writings of Irving to
the plays of Hughes and Hurston. Throughout this time, however, there were
some similarities. For example, all the authors are analyzing some aspect
of society in their writing, but the subject of analysis changes as the times
and situations change. Another strange similarity that I have found is that
the writers that I have read, with the exception of Hughes and Hurston, all
used pseudonyms when publishing their writings. Irving was the ever-popular
Mr. Knickerbocker, Samuel Clemens was Mark Twain, and William Sydney Porter
was known and loved by all as O. Henry. I feel that the need for authors to
use pseudonyms during the 1800's and the early 1900's shows a change in the
way that humor was accepted during the mid 1900's. Another major difference
between the writings of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was the use
of colloquial writing. For example, Irving wrote in a very formal manner,
but as humor evolved, the way people talked added to the humor of the story.
This was the case with the writings of Twain, Hughes, and Hurston. Their use
of dialect helped to make the stories realistic and interesting.
Although the subject matter and style of literary humor had evolved over time,
one thing remains certain. Humor can be a powerful weapon when used to make
a point.
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