Laughing at robots: synthesising humour and cyber-paranoia in portrayals of artificial intelligence in Welcome to Night Vale

• Authors: Tereza Walsbergerová
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

This article addresses the synthesis of humour and paranoia in portrayals of artificial intelligence (AI) in the popular American podcast Welcome to Night Vale (2012-). It argues that contrary to the Relief Theory, fusing humour and cyber-paranoia does not help release the tension (anxious energy) generated within the narrative. Rather, the synthesis of humour and paranoia maintains suspense by creating within the narratives moments of ambiguity with the potential to leave the reader or audience caught between fear and laughter after the story ends

Keywords

EN

relief theory; artificial intelligence; cyber-paranoia; anxiety; anxiety-discharge; sentience-ambiguity; the uncanny valley; paranoid fiction; Welcome to Night Vale

• Publisher: Cracow Tertium Society for the Promotion of Language Studies
• Journal: The European Journal of Humour Research
• Year: 2018
• Volume: 6
• Issue: 3

Dates

published

2018

online

2018-11-13

Contributors

author

Tereza Walsbergerová

Identifiers

DOI

10.7592/EJHR2018.6.3.walsbergerova