The comic of the heroes-A case study of the role of humour in reflecting national identity

Abstract

The paper deals with the role of humour in relation to myth-making in a small nation. Analysing an essay by a modern Slovak historian, the text documents how the collective awareness of the national insignificance of a community in search of its identity can be subject to subtle comic treatment. With the help of the methodology of conceptual blending theory, I show how incongruity as the main source of humorous effect is triggered by the linguistic structures including grammatical functions and semantic roles (agent/patient) as well as the narrative structure. I argue that humour can help the community to cope with its awareness of marginality, which is articulated through the community's preoccupation with stressing its historical roots and cultural achievements to prove its European/ global significance. Humour thus contributes towards the articulation and refinement of the community's self-perception of its national identity by critically reflecting and questioning on some of the collective myths that circulate within the community.