Donoso the Humorist: A study of Entropy

Abstract

For over two millennia, humor has been the topic of philosophical discussion since it appears to be a nearly universal element of human experience and also offers different perspectives on that experience. Humor delves deep into the cultural norms governing religion, family, sex, society, and other aspects of day to day life in order to investigate the absurdities therein. Viewing such reified aspects of life in a new, humorous light is one of the principal characteristics of the Chilean author José Donoso’s novels. Oftentimes irreverent and scathing, Donoso’s dark humor reaches entropic proportions since it accentuates (and at times even seems to celebrate) the human condition’s descent into chaos. Given this downward trajectory, a selection of the Chilean author’s novels will be analyzed under the entropic humor theory originated by literary theorist Patrick O’Neill. The notion of entropy contains the very idea of a breakdown of order that tends toward chaos, so this special brand of humor is a unique fit for a study of Donoso. Within the author’s first novels, we note extreme existential angst which, as we pass into his later works, gives way to resignation, a trajectory we see mirrored in the use of humor, going from extremely dark and bitter to more playful, albeit always caustic and acerbic in nature. By delving into the psyche of man, Donoso finds much humor behind the tragedy and then uses it to expose life’s absurdities. He toys with our expectations. His use of humor externalizes alternative ways to view life – in its tragic comedies or comic tragedies.