The Functions of Humor in Writing

Omar Sabbagh contemplates the use of humor, in fiction, and in life.

- Omar Sabbagh

My work as a novelist and short story writer inevitably involves plenty of moments in which I stare into space. In such moments, I sometimes consider the ways in which I use humor in my own writing, and these moments have prompted me to write this article. If this were a systematic discussion of the functions of humor, I might start by making distinctions between the different types of humor, such as, irony, wit, satire, and sarcasm. However, this article is no such thing. It is instead a meditation or a reflection on the different ways humor has happened to play out in my published fiction, as well as in my life and thinking more generally.

I say 'happened to play out' because there was and is nothing overly planned about anything funny I may have written (or lived). If ever humor has had a central function in my fictions, it has been a facet of the way my mind works, not a conscious strategy. So, in trying to discern and elucidate the function of humor, in life as much as in fiction, my opening gambit will involve what certainly is a central motor for humorous effects, namely, 'reflexivity'.