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What is Gallows Humor?
Gallows humor is the ability to find something funny in the worst possible circumstances — death, disaster, catastrophe. It is the humor of people who have nothing left to lose.
The function of gallows humor
Gallows humor provides psychological distance from unbearable situations. Medical workers, emergency responders, and soldiers develop dark humor as a coping mechanism — the joke creates separation between the person and the situation that would otherwise be overwhelming.
Gallows humor vs absurdism
Gallows humor requires a real situation of genuine darkness. Absurdism can be entirely benign in subject matter — the darkness comes from the form, not the content. Both reject comfort, but through different mechanisms.
Related reading
What is Dark Comedy · Dark Humor vs Absurdism · What is Absurdism