In the context of its annual Awards program, the Prince Claus Fund has formulated a special interest in the field of humour and satire.
An essential quality of human existence, humour can be found in all cultures, in all communities and is experienced by all people. Humour can therefore be understood as inherently universal, yet at the same time deeply embedded in the cultural specificity of its context and the individual experience of the perceiver. It is this dependence on cultural context, language and social conduct, that makes humour such an intangible aspect of culture, and yet such a fundamental one.
In an attempt to define the comic, one could argue that humour operates on the premise of distance. That is, critical distance from the taken-for-granted organization of social life. It is this critical distance to the social order that allows for the opening up of spaces of creative freedom, in which humour can be employed in order to reflect, criticize or offer relief to the tensions of social life. Through the mechanisms of humour, social life finds itself constantly renegotiated, contested and rethought, making humour a crucial vehicle for social change. By interrupting, distorting and subverting the taken-for-grantedness of things, humour has the power to unveil the structures that underlie the reality of social life, make them visible or criticize them. In its ability to expose reality, to confront it and rebel against it, humour is a celebration of the freedom and self-mastery of the individual and therefore perhaps one of the most powerful tools for human survival. As such, humour has a strong therapeutic function, in which laughter has the power to re-incite (lost) hopes and general enjoyment of life.
By presenting a distorted – yet often an all too real – picture of social life, humour can offer relief in situations that are marked by tragedy, trauma or despair. It can function as an important vehicle for consolation, by making life – even temporarily - a little more bearable. The power of comic relief can be found in all expressions of humour, in which the comic should not only be understood as providing just ‘foolish’ entertainment, but sometimes also as providing soothing consolation and necessary diversion from the tensions of social life.
In its ability to unravel the elementary structures of social life, humour is often employed as a mechanism to give voice to the inexpressible. That is, humour often functions as an effective – if not the only available - tool to break open taboos, dogmas or other moral restrictions. Protected by the deception of the joke, humour can thus be a very allusive way to speak the unspeakable.
Another – yet equally important – facet of humour is its power to criticize. Satire, as that particular mechanism of humour that is aimed to confront, expose and rebel against the powers that be – should therefore be understood as essentially subversive. Especially in conditions that are ruled by oppression and censorship, satire can be a very effective mechanism to express fierce criticism, yet presented in a package of wit and folly. Its seemingly harmless character can make satire a very dangerous player, and therefore a widely employed tool in times of oppression and censorship. By creating enclaves of democratic freedom in realities that are dominated by repression and fear, satire usually flourishes in societies that suffer from strong censorship or general lack of freedom of speech. In many parts of the world, writers, musicians, comedians and cartoonists find themselves challenged to use satire in order to express their critiques on the conditions in which they live.
It is within this framework – however broad - that the Prins Claus Fund is looking at humour and satire as a field of special interest. In correspondence to its belief in the developmental aspect of culture, the Fund is particularly interested in those expressions of humour and satire that are not only innovative in their singularity, but also convey quality and a certain degree of social commitment.
