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LAUGHTER IN THE RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE OF MAN

M. Fedorova

Abstract

The article undertakes an attempt to consider laughter as a phenomenon of a personВ’s religious life, analyse the symbolic meaning of laughter in religious practices and myths. Laughter played rather a relevant role in the archaic culture: particularly ritual laughter assured the link between the sacral and secular segments of existence. The connection between laughter and religion (apart from ritual laughter) can be traced to specific aspects of laughter culture of the ancient and medieval periods, as well as in contemporary myths of global society mass culture. Within the framework of the article under consideration the meaning of laughter in the religious experience of man is interpreted based on phenomenology developed by Eliade M. From this point, laughter (certain laughter practices) may be understood as hierophany. The hermeneutic-phenomenological method put forward by Eliade M., to be more exact, his concepts of cryptoreligiousness and homo religious, allows to take a new approach and evaluate the role and implication of laughter in a new light in the question of the religious experience of modern man. The mentioned above problem acquires its critical acuteness in the context of new (postmodern) religiousness and mass culture. Active processes of consciousness neomythologisation and laughter becoming the central esthetic principle transform the borders of sacred and mundane in the contemporary world. The article provides a conclusion regarding the essence of laughter in religious practices of modern times and distinguishing the three aspects (philosophic, cultural and social) of laughter analysis as a religious phenomenon of modern society is suggested.

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DOI resolver: doi.org/10.5593/sgemsocial2017/22/S09.064

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