Veronica Phillips 
Laughtivism in Politics 
April 24th, 2016 

Humor & Laughtivism in "Humor as a Serious Strategy of Nonviolent Resistance to Oppression"

 As we learned about OTPOR and studied laughtivism during this weeks lecture, I have found that many people have used humor and laughtivism as a way to cope throughout World War 2 in the article, “Humor as a Serious Strategy of Nonviolent Resistance to Oppression” written by Majken Sorensen. This article shows how having a sense of humor during a tragic event can allow you to decrease the use of negativity. Sorensen quotes, “Although an increased pressure raises the chances of repression, paradoxically the use of humor reduces fear within the resistance movement.” This quotes shows how the posters that were portraying Hitler as very weak and un-knowledgeable also showed a sense of propaganda. This gave the viewers who had any sort of family or friend that was apart of the war a feeling of security. When propaganda was shown within the posters to individuals, it allowed them to decrease fear and increase their confidence of that particular situation. This also relates to lecture and how Dr. Tarvin explains OTPOR. OTPOR is not only used to reduce fear of the regime, but to also turn oppression upside down. This relates to the article because having humor during this time allowed everyone to view their terrible situations into a positive light, while turning oppression into something that is viewed differently. Humor and laughtivism are essential and shown throughout this article as something that makes this time period less stressful and more understandable. Using humor and laughtivism is a way to not only lighten up the mood, but to make the world a better place in situations as the described in the article.

Citation:

Sorensen, Majken Jul. Humor as a Serious Strategy of Nonviolent Resistance to Oppression. N.p.: Blackwell Limited, n.d. Print.