Funny and Scary in Contemporary Children's Subculture

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Abstract

The paper reviews the relationship between laughter and fear as the specific characteristics of childhood. The authors further develop Bakhtin's idea of the psychological foundation of laughter that enables conventional, playrelated and, therefore, safe breaking of social norms. They also reflect on the attractiveness of 'scary things' for a child and on the forms of provoking fear that exist in children's subculture. The paper analyzes the relationship between funny and scary things in children's books, focusing on the phenomenon of black humor as a means of coping with fear. The final part of the paper describes contemporary tendencies in children's subculture in which 'the scary' is initially depreciated, and laughter does not become the means of handling fear.

General Information

Journal rubric: Developmental Psychology

Article type: scientific article

For citation: Romanova A.L., Smirnova E.O. Funny and Scary in Contemporary Children's Subculture. Kul'turno-istoricheskaya psikhologiya = Cultural-Historical Psychology, 2013. Vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 81–87. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

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Information About the Authors

Alexander L. Romanova, Postgraduate Student of the Faculty of Psychology of Education, Teacher-Psychologist of the City Center for Psychological and Pedagogical Expertise of Games and Toys, Moscow State Psychological and Pedagogical University, Moscow, Russia, e-mail: sasharomasha@gmail.com

Elena O. Smirnova, Doctor of Psychology, Рrofessor of the Department of Preschool Pedagogics and Psychology of the Faculty of Psychology of Education, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russia

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