2005/06/01 by Douglas E. Cowan · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Aesthetics #Art #Ascription #Comics and Graphic Narratives #Deviance (statistics) #Epistemology #Humor Studies and Applications #Philosophy #Psychology #Rivalry #Social Movements and Cultural Identity #Social psychology #Sociology
paper · doi:10.3138/jrpc.10.1.001
openalex publication_date 2005/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Using a recent episode of the adult cartoon South Park, this essay explores the function of ridicule in the cultural construction of religious rivalry. Principally, this essay argues that ridicule is not a product of derision, but of the social relationships that make derision meaningful. Functionally, ridicule serves two purposes: (1) stabilization, that is, it preempts or reduces deviance within both the aggressor group and the aggressor audience; and (2) hierarchization, that is, it reflects and reinforces a dynamic of status ascription within a given domain of social interaction.