Reductio ad Absurdum: Purposeful Offence in Comedy and Religion
| Dublin Core | PKP Metadata Items | Metadata for this Document | |
| 1. | Title | Title of document | Reductio ad Absurdum: Purposeful Offence in Comedy and Religion - Religion and Senses of Humour |
| 2. | Creator | Author's name, affiliation, country | Stephen Gregg; University of Wolverhampton; |
| 3. | Subject | Discipline(s) | Religious Studies |
| 4. | Subject | Keyword(s) | religion and humour; embodied religion; religion and senses; body and religion; lived religion; religious act; performative religion |
| 5. | Subject | Subject classification | body and religion; religion and humour |
| 6. | Description | Abstract | Religion, performative comedy and offence have a long relationship in British culture, from Alf Garnett, Life of Brian and Dave Allen through to Eddie Izzard, Ricky Gervais and Tim Minchin. In this chapter, I will primarily examine the art of stand-up comedy, within a wider context of performed comedy, to trace two changes that occur from the 1960s to the present day; a shift from mocking to ridiculing, and the changing landscape of dynamism between ‘insider’ to ‘outsider’ voices. I will highlight changes in social attitudes to religion and comedy, in addition to exploring the development of comedy as a vehicle to both attack and defend religion after the rise of the New Atheism in the mid-2000s. This will include commentary upon the shift from attacking religious practices to attacking religious beliefs, and the shift from gentle mockery to outright ridicule. In so doing, I will look at the philosophical act of reductio ad absurdum as a tool in the offender’s arsenal, examining transgressions of senses of decorum, entitlement and taste on the one hand, and formations of senses of identity, community and superiority on the other. I will conclude with a reflection on religious responses to offence, and ask how this can be analysed within a Lived Religion approach. |
| 7. | Publisher | Organizing agency, location | Equinox Publishing Ltd |
| 8. | Contributor | Sponsor(s) | |
| 9. | Date | (YYYY-MM-DD) | 01-Nov-2026 |
| 10. | Type | Status & genre | Peer-reviewed Article |
| 11. | Type | Type | |
| 12. | Format | File format | |
| 13. | Identifier | Uniform Resource Identifier | https://journals.equinoxpub.com/index.php/books/article/view/43238 |
| 14. | Identifier | Digital Object Identifier | 10.1558/equinox.43238 |
| 15. | Source | Journal/conference title; vol., no. (year) | Equinox eBooks Publishing; Religion and Senses of Humour |
| 16. | Language | English=en | en |
| 18. | Coverage | Geo-spatial location, chronological period, research sample (gender, age, etc.) | |
| 19. | Rights | Copyright and permissions | Copyright 2014 Equinox Publishing Ltd |