Dark humour and conflict

This paper examines the production of dark humour using the incongruity theory of humour. The study differentiates between two parallel but continuously interacting realms of human life: private and collective, where dark humour is created. In this paper, ‘private’ focuses on the protagonist’s experiences of conflict in the personal realm, whereas ‘collective’ refers to the social problems and issues affecting the wider community. Narratives set in conflict zones; dark humour can function as a mediating bridge between the alienated individual and the society. To illustrate this, this study looks at the novel, The Dance of the Deep-Blue Scorpion (2008) by the Palestinian writer Akram Musallam. The novel, written in a multilayered narration, explores Palestinian lives in conflict. This analysis reveals the making and employing of dark humour by using the incongruous elements which are inherent in human life.