When considering a subject such as quotidian humour we must also consider how we approach the subject of the everyday. In 1968 the French postmodernist writer and theorist Roland Barthes wrote the seminal essay "The Death of the Author". The essay is about how we should approach art work and how we make interpretations of art as well as construction of meaning when looking at a piece of art. Barthes argued in his essay that art should be interpreted by the viewer instead of being told the meaning of it by the "author" of the piece; however if we were to observe such pieces of work that contain background such as Deadpan (1997) that was created in response to a actor called Buster Keaton who focused on black and white films and we didn't know the background to that piece of work, we wouldn't be able to interpret our own opinion fully without any history to it.
"Deadpan" - Steve McQueen, 1997.
Barthes also argued that the background of the "author" should not be considered when observing a piece of work, for if we analyse a piece of art from the author's background, it alters our interpretation of the art work due to associations we have "learned" about the author. Barthes then argues that there is nothing original in what the "author" creates, as we subconsciously reference something else but create our own interpretation of it, which leads into the realm of post modernity; in other words "it is language which speaks, not the author" (www.tbook.constantvzw.org).
Overall Barthes concludes that all works of art make meaning from what went before and the interpretations of it; as soon as we (the viewer) interpret the piece of art in our way this results in the death of the author.
So how can this theory be considered when analysing a topic such as quotidian humour?
Well in order to derive humour from the everyday we do take our interpretations of the everyday to develop this humour, especially within art. For example in Walker Evans "Subway Passengers" (1930s), he took pictures of various people on a underground subway train with a concealed camera in order to capture the true reality of the everyday. If we focus on the woman sat on the right hand side of this photograph, we notice she has a very stern expression on her face, wearing dark clothing and an intimidating hat, making this woman appear to be menacing in some ways. But as we look to the woman on the left hand side of the photograph, she has a softer, tender look on her face, clutching on to her handbag and focusing her eye contact on the other woman. This contrast creates this humorous effect within the everyday due to the use of body language as this photograph gives this interpretation that the woman on the left is intimidated by the woman on the right side, creating this theme of quotidian humour.
"Subway Passengers" - Walker Evans, 1930s.
So continuing on the theme of the "Death of The Author", perhaps a more contemporary piece of work that could be considered similar is by photographer Paul Graham. In his photograph DHSS Emergency Centre, Elephant Castle, South London (1984), he documents the emergency centre in a hospital with a concealed camera; similar to Walker Evans. By concealing the camera, Graham's 'subjects' are arguably unaware of being photographed and therefore arguably we are given a true image of the situation.
As we direct our eye contact to the man leaning against the wall on the left hand side, suggesting a relaxed body stance, and guide our attention towards the various people slouching on the waiting chairs to the man on the right hand side of he photograph smoking a cigarette, this lifts the continuous theme of quotidian humour. The repetition of the relaxed and slouched body language of the people depicted in the photograph reflects humour from the everyday as the setting and the use of body language contrast against each other, continuing this theme of quotidian humour.
"DHSS Emergency Centre, Elephant Castle, South London" - Paul Graham, 1984.
Concluding this relation of quotidian humour to the "Death of The Author" hypothesis, this is still considered in today's society and one post modernist who is considered to continue this theoretical chain of art relating to quotidian humour is George Shaw. In his painting The Back That used to be The Front (2008), he depicts the everyday surroundings in the Tile Hill neighbourhood in Coventry, documenting the situation, similar to Paul Graham. In painting 'everyday' urban scapes, George Shaw evokes a feeling of nostalgia for his own childhood environments which are communicated to the viewer through an emptiness and absence of human life in these unremarkable, everyday buildings and scenes.
On the left hand side of this canvas we focus on a derelict green block built wall which appears to have a smudged drawing of genitalia on the wall. Our eyes are then drawn across to a yellow ochre rectangle which dissects the canvas over green board doors towards another block built wall which has three sets of initials smudged into the window. These planes of colour turn the painting into an abstract- each third of the image could almost be a Rothko. The inclusion of the crude doodles captured within this everyday scene is familiar, and the pathos and bathos of the image give the work a dose of quotidian urban humour.
"The Back that used to be The Front" - George Shaw, 2008.
