Irony, Surprise and Humor

In this chapter we describe humor and the main humor theories outside of their natural linguistic context. Non-verbal elements and body involvement in humor expressions are taken into consideration following Darwin’s tradition and hypothesis. Aspects of humor communication and miscommunication are then examined considering that humor can be presented as a special case of expectancy violation where surprise, irony and other emotions play an important role. A passage from a situation characterized by pretending to communicate – such as seduction – to another characterized by communicating to pretend, as in irony, is described as part of a general communicative process in which surprise and emotional regulations are the two main aspects. Some analogies may be made between the cognitive and emotional process of humor and the process of art fruition, especially listening to music. In both cases subjective experiences and surprise are determinant elements to solve cognitive incongruity and regulate emotional outputs. A general model in which surprise and social sharing of emotion are both taken into account is presented in relation to humor expression and art fruition. The latest discoveries in the field of neurosciences are discussed, proposing some new suggestions that may be useful for a less reductive vision of the complex relationship between body, brain and mind. Finally, a clinical and experimental study on autistic and normal children is presented in order to stress the role of surprise in individual creativity and empathy. Potentialities in emotional expressions and discoveries are presented as important steps of adult mental life. Some facial expressions, in particular smiles, may be seen as representative of emotional potentialities where humor, irony and surprise are important factors of human growth.