America's faith in the laugh resistance-popular beliefs about political humor in the 2016 presidential elections

Abstract

Taking its cue from the observation that forms of aggressive humor directed against the political figure Donald Trump are not an ephemeral aspect of contemporary American politics but have been firmly embedded in American cultural discourse for more than two years, this article will explore the ways in which comedians, journalists and other contemporary observers have described and commented on the role and functions of humor and comedy with regard to the Trump phenomenon in the context of the 2016 presidential elections and its aftermath. Drawing on a selection of material from established online news resources the essay will document how popular media outlets have presented the nation's most prominent late-night comedy as an arena in which the format's popular hosts deploy humor in an attempt to undermine Trump's status and ultimately to end his foray onto America's highest political sphere. The article will then trace the popularity of the idea that political humor is subversive in the tradition of the country's intellectual history and check it against a selection of empirical studies devoted to the topic. In this context it will become apparent that the belief in the corrective power of humor is deeply ingrained in the American popular imagination and is being perpetuated by contemporary reports and comments in important segments of the media landscape.